Restoration keeps our wild places beautiful
Over the last 15 years TreeUtah has planted over 132,000 native trees and shrubs on various restoration project sites along the Jordan River in order to repair wildlife habitat.
The Jordan River is a migration and habitat corridor between Utah Lake and the Great Salt Lake, and a biological sanctuary between Utah’s West Desert and the Wasatch Range. It is also located at the heart of the Great Salt Lake flyway and is a crucial stopover for hundreds of thousands of migrating birds each season.
Research shows that approximately 75% of the estimated 270 bird species that breed in the state (about 200 species) one way or another make use of riparian habitat, the corridors of trees and shrubs that grow along our streams and rivers like the Jordan River. Local avian ecologists have determined that 98 species of birds in Utah require lower elevation riparian habitat. So if this habitat disappears from an area, these 98 species of birds will also disappear from the area. In the western United States we have less than 2% of our riparian habitat remaining in its natural condition.
The degradation and loss of the Salt Lake Valley’s wetland habitats and riparian zones during the last 150 years makes remaining waterways, such as the Jordan River and its adjacent wetlands, vital to the survival of birds.
For more information contact us at 801.364.2122 or email your questions to planting@treeutah.org
