BRWC Receives $2,500 Grant to Continue Forest Restoration Work

Salt Lake City (UT) – Patagonia has announced that the Bear River Watershed Council of Richmond, Utah had been awarded “First Place” in their second annual environmental grants program. The announcement came on Saturday, October 31, during a celebration at its Salt Lake City Outlet store.

The “Voice Your Choice” program allows Patagonia customers to vote for one of three conservation organizations that were previously chosen by Patagonia employees. The First Place ranking comes with a $2,500 grant from Patagonia. 

Two other participating organizations non-profits, Tree Utah and Hawk Watch International, received $1,500 (2nd place) and $1,000 (3rd place) respectively.

”It’s an honor to be recognized for the great work that we and our volunteers do when it comes to monitoring and restoring impacts from motorized use on public lands," said Dan Miller, Executive Director of BRWC. “We also want to recognize the many individuals and organizations that helped make this award possible. Without them, these large restoration projects, both completed and in the future, wouldn’t be possible.”

Miller’s list of organizations that have provided resources and volunteers for the many completed restoration projects included the Utah Four Wheel Drive Association, Audubon Society, Dedicated Hunters and the Wasatch Outlaw Wheelers.

Maureen Kent, manager of the Salt Lake Patagonia store praised the three groups for their efforts and thanked them for getting involved at the local level.

“Every day, local environmental organizations make a difference in the community. Our Voice Your Choice program helps them continue their work as well as spreading the word about projects taking place in our backyard,” said Kent. “Seeking community input in how to distribute the funds is our way of raising public awareness about local environmental issues and hopefully getting more people involved in protecting the planet.” 

We Made A Difference Again!
Smithfield Dry Canyon

In cooperation with:
• Sportsman for Fish and Wildlife
• Bear River Watershed Council
• Smithfield City
• Friends of Smithfield Canyons
• Camp Chef

See photos here:

Friends of Providence Canyon / Deb Roghaar at:
droghaar@gmail.com

Friends of the Smithfield Canyons / Kayo Robertson at:
kayorobertson@hotmail.com

Friends of Green Canyon / Chris Conte at:
chris.conte@usu.edu

Friends of High Creek / Leslie Erikson and Greg Stewart at:
highcreekvolunteers@gmail.com

Friends of Millville Canyon / Terrel Huppi at:
millvillecanyonusers@gmail.com

Blog with Friends of Our Canyons

Come lend a hand on a restoration project in Providence Canyon (map) on September 6, 2008 and after the work get a chance to attend a FREE concert. (Concert site in photo above. The target has since been removed)

9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Restoration Projects
1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Restoration Projects
3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Canyon Litter Clean-up
4:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Free Awareness Concert / Food / Information Booths

Music:
4:30 to 5:00 Bruce Moulton
5:00 to 5:15 Guest Speakers
5:15 to 7:00 Way Way East Bay
7:00 to 8:00 Strictly Naïve
8:00 to 9:00 DJE Band

Speakers:
Logan District Ranger, Jennefer Parker
Columnist, Garth Barker
Utah 4-Wheel Drive Association President, Steve Edmunds
Providence City Mayor, Randy Simmons

For more information contact Jeremey Nivison at: (435) 764-6813 or jeremynivison@msn.com

For restoration information contact Dan Miller at: (435) 258-4432 or
dmiller@brwcouncil.org

Please lend a hand with this important event. The project has been organized to unite the citizens of Providence and surrounding communities with the hope to restore the canyon from its current situation to a family and wildlife friendly recreation area. In cooperation with the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest and Utah Division of Wildlife Resources

Items to bring: A camp chair for the concert, work gloves, hat, sun screen, lunch, water, long pants & shirt, warm clothes for later in the day, a leaf rake (for litter). Optional tools: shovels, picks, hand saws, large pry bars for moving large rocks, and please mark them with contact information. There could be broken glass around the concert area. Shoes are mandatory.

Sponsors:

It is with great pleasure that the Bear River Watershed Council offers it's warmest thanks to those responsible for the restoration of seven miles of unauthorized routes in Millville Canyon (map). The illegal, user-created routes have impacted wildlife habitat and the watershed for years. (photos before the event)

The tremendous turnout of over 100 volunteers on Saturday May 31 was due to the following organizations and citizens trying to make a better place:

Cody Mozingo with the Boy Scouts of America working on an Eagle Scout project along with his advisor Keith DeHart.

Camp Chef who provided a Dutch oven dinner for the volunteers and Guy Perkins a Bowhunter of Utah who prepared the dinner.

Utah Backcountry Volunteers with organizer Dave Pacheco who backpacked to the top of the canyon with seniors Bill and Vi Corkle. They spent three days and two nights restoring the upper reaches of the canyon.

Other groups include the Utah Division of Wildlife Resource's Dedicated Hunters Program, Bridgerland Audubon Society, and the Back Country Horsemen with an extra effort by Travis Sparks.

A special thanks to our motorized friends with the Utah 4-Wheel Drive Association, Bridgerland Trail Riders Association, and the Wasatch Outlaw Wheelers and their organizer Larry Olsen. If not for their support and machine hauling capabilities this project wouldn't have been completed. Wes Thompson a hydro-geologist with Bio-West and a member of BTRA orchestrated a massive effort to remove the altered stream channel from the authorized route. THANK YOU WES!

Behind the scene efforts by Hart Evans and Larry McCormick were extraordinary.

Breakfast and lunch came from local businesses Caffe Ibis, Einstein Bros Bagels, and Macey's Food & Drug.

Last we want to thank Martha Balph who (for years) has walked the canyon 5 days a week keeping it litter free.

Of course, none of this would have happened without the cooperation and experience of the Logan Ranger District.

Thank you all for making a difference.

Dan Miller
Executive Director
Contact us at: brwc@xmission.com

Travis Taylor was our 2007 summer MUD coordinator hired through the Utah Conservation Corps to coordinate our data collection. Travis did a superb job and we want to thank him.

GOOD LUCK!