CEDAR CITY — Beginning in late December, the Bureau of Land Management-Utah’s Color Country District will begin a rangeland restoration project on public land in Iron County. The project area is approximately 100 acres, located west of Cedar City in the Three Peaks Recreation Area and the Cedar Valley Estates Subdivision.

Land managers designed the project to provide community wildfire protection, protect recreation opportunities and facilities in Three Peaks and improve watershed conditions.

“By removing encroaching pinyon and juniper trees, favorable shrubs and grasses will return to the site, increasing rangeland productivity,” BLM Natural Resource Specialist Melanie Mendenhall said.

She also said the treatment’s primary objective is to open and expand existing pockets of understory vegetation using mechanical equipment.

The project is scheduled to be completed by Mar. 1, 2016.

Landscape restoration projects like these are supported and funded by Utah’s Watershed Restoration Initiative, a variety of private, state and federal cooperators including the Mule Deer Foundation, Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, Safari Club International, Utah Forestry Fire and State Lands and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

While the projects are in progress, the public is asked to adhere to safety signs surrounding the treatment area.

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