Inventory, Assessment and Preliminary Management Planning for Utah\u27s Sovereign Land along the Bear River

ABSTRACT Inventory, Assessment and Preliminary Management Planning for Utah’s Sovereign Land along the Bear River by Matthew S. Coombs Master of Science in Bioregional Planning Utah State University, 2017 Major Professor: Richard E. Toth Department: Environment and Society The Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands (FFSL) is responsible for the management of state-owned sovereign land in Utah, which includes the bed and banks of the Bear River in Cache and Box Elder Counties. The purpose of this project is to provide relevant background information and data to support the future development of a comprehensive management plan for the Bear River. This project develops a methodology and process to describe the Bear River Corridor, summarizes and integrates existing information regarding important biophysical and socio-cultural attributes of the river, delineates lands along the river into identified management classes, and recommends management goals and objectives to be carried forward into the future development of a comprehensive management plan. While this project is not the most comprehensive or detailed report for any individual attribute of the Bear River, it is currently the most comprehensive resource addressing sovereign lands along the Bear River. Furthermore, it provides a methodology and process that is highly adaptable and can be replicated for use in other planning efforts for sovereign land resources or carried forward to be improved upon as new data and information is discovered or developed