Utah Conservation Corps Secures Community Forestry Partnership Grant

LOGAN, Utah —The Utah Conservation Corps has secured a grant to remove invasive species and reduce fuel loads on the Wuthrich property, 32 acres owned by Utah State University near the mouth of Logan Canyon.

The Utah Conservation Corps, an AmeriCorps program based out of USU’s Center for Community Engagement, secured $28,031 through the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands’ Community Forestry Partnership Grant.

The project, just south of USU’s Logan Campus, will treat invasive Russian olive, Siberian elm, and several dead and hazard trees while making way for native species. Utah Conservation Corps crews will work with USU Forester Dane Gyllenskog to start this project in October.

The project is expected to have significant habitat restoration, fuel load reduction and recreational benefits. This project will return water to the Bear River watershed and ultimately the Great Salt Lake.

Russian olive removal alone could result in peak water savings of 4,500 gallons/day. Removal of invasive species as well as dead and hazard trees on the property will reduce the potential for wildfire within the Logan City limits.

This project will have additional positive impact on local recreation, because much of the project work will occur along the Canal Trail, a heavily trafficked public path that represents an important walkable thoroughfare for numerous users.

Utah Conservation Corps Regional Coordinator Benjamin Borgmann-Winter said this funding opens the opportunity to make positive ecological, recreational and wildfire fuels-related improvements on USU’s own campus.

“These improvements will directly benefit our neighbors right here in Logan,” he said.

Since 2001, more than 2,700 UCC AmeriCorps members have served over 1.9 million hours creating or maintaining 4,660 miles of trail and 505 miles of fence, restoring 67,118 acres of public land and reaching 477,980 individuals with environmental education. For more information about UCC please visit www.usu.edu/ucc.