Skunk Creek
1950
2003
Description:
Plate 283X. Skunk Creek 1950 - 2003 Viewed west-northwest up Skunk Creek on the Paunsaugunt Plateau. Shown is the base of the second, sediment-retention dam shortly after it was built by the Forest Service in 1949 - - see Plate 282x. The banks have stabilized and are more heavily vegetated today than they were in earlier times. Kentucky bluegrass is the most common plant, while native sedges and rushes grow in wetter areas below the dam. Spruce, ponderosa pine, and juniper have all increased. The low shrubs are mostly shrubby cinquefoil. Part of the dam face failed sometime after 1950, but otherwise the dam has worked as planned - - sediment transport has stopped and headwall cutting has been eliminated. The drier meadows above the stream were contour-trenched and reseeded by the Forest Service to control erosion and improve range conditions. Planted species include smooth brome and intermediate wheatgrass. The area had not been grazed by livestock in 2003 when the site was revisited.
Photo Information:
U.S. Forest Service photograph (460983) taken on April 24, 1950; retake by Charles E. Kay on August 7, 2003 - - Photo No. 5225-4. Original photograph held by the Utah Historical Society, Reed W. Bailey Collection (Box 11), Salt Lake City, UT.
Vegetative Community:
Riparian, Conifer, Juniper, Dry Meadow
Location:
South West: Section 24, Range 4½ West, Township 37 South; UTM 387200E, 4158900 N; elevation 7,990 ft.