Swaner Preserve volunteers tame new plants and name new animals

Volunteers getting the privilege of being let through the gates of the Swaner Preserve and Ecocenter. Photo: Michele Roepke

PARK CITY, Utah. — This small army, armed with trash bags, weeding tools, gloves, snacks, and bug spray, all provided by the Swaner Preserve and Ecocenter, are on a mission. The volunteers on this particular day are a gathering representing Temple Har Shalom, that said, conservation coordinator for Swaner, Rhea Cone, said, “We can never have too many volunteers.” Cone, who was born and raised in Park City, welcomes corporate groups, private groups, locals, and visitors alike. Today, they’re tasked with pulling the “meanie” weeds as she puts it, dyer’s woad.

“Invasive weeds like dyer’s woad are the most expensive and time-consuming conservation-restoration project that we take on at the Swaner Preserve and we rely on the efforts of volunteer groups, no experience necessary. The Preserve is 1,200 acres and we have weekly, open to the public, volunteer groups,” Cone said.

This season, in addition to the human-made beaver dams around the property, three new beavers have organically built a new dam mere feet from the Ecocenter. They don’t have names yet which invites the unique opportunity for people to submit name suggestions to Cone via email.

When asked what gender they are she said, “We’re not quite sure as the physical science involved in that process is quite complicated and frankly above our pay grade here,” therefore, any and all non-gender-based name submissions will be considered.

Cone’s, on-the-fly weed-pulling orientation is interrupted by the faintest of chirps emanating from a nearby nest as the group’s attention is drawn to a mama feeding her newborns for all to spectate and enjoy.

‘Zen and the Art of Weed Pulling’ could replace this headline. One of the volunteers blissfully made it a twofer as he was performing the task at hand while his well-used binoculars dangled from his neck careful not to disturb the sand-hill cranes grazing just feet away.

Another volunteer, Jumi Kim, moved to Park City from Los Angeles a little over two years ago. She said, “Volunteering here is the perfect way to get to know the natural land. Swaner is an amazing resource, it’s just there for anybody to utilize. My kids are young and when we go on hikes they ask questions about the beautiful plants along the trails and by me coming here, I can get the education about them and pass the knowledge I’m getting here on to them.”

Often, visitors to town leave the airport, get off the freeway at the Kimball Jct. exit, travel SR 224, often in the winter, never truly knowing that an entity like the Swaner even exits. Cone hopes to share the many benefits of one of Park City’s largest passive attractions with more and more people each season, especially, as she says, “After the snow melts and before the snow flies.”

People can volunteer by simply signing up on the website.

The Ecocenter operates as an extension of Utah State University and is located in Summit County, adjacent to Maxwell’s East Coast Eatery.