Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Work done in the early 1900s in the High Uintas Wilderness is being undone, starting this summer as the U.S. Forest Service begins restoring 13 lakes to their natural, smaller size.
Earthen dams that created a series of backcountry reservoirs are being removed to stabilize and restore the high mountain lakes in the eastern Utah wilderness.
"These are reservoirs that were basically built by the pioneers 80 years ago with primitive tools to provide irrigation water," said Mike Elson, acting district ranger for Ashley National Forest.
Three lakes on the south slope -- Farmers, White Miller and Water Lily -- are scheduled to be restored this summer. Fox and Crescent reservoirs to the east are scheduled for repairs as part of the project to return 13 lakes to their natural condition over the next few summers.
The water will flow down to Big Sand Wash Reservoir in Duchesne County.
"This is going to provide steady lake levels, which will provide better fisheries," said Reed Murray, program director of the Central Utah Project, which is funding the project.
Conservationists have also been asking for the mountain lakes to be restored, but there were problems agreeing on where to put the water downstream. Dick Carter, coordinator with the High Uintas Preservation Council, said everyone could agree on Big Sand Wash.
"This is a project we've been pushing for decades," Carter said.
Because mechanical, motorized implements are prohibited in the wilderness area, project workers will be working with hand tools and stock-drawn equipment -- like the original builders used.
Ken Strayley, Ashley National Forest wilderness program manager, said it may be possible to use "some mechanized transportation to get some of the equipment in, but the objective is to use the least intrusive means possible."
------
Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
