Gillmor Audubon Sanctuary and South Shore Preserve
News

MEDIA ALERT

Media representatives are invited to join Audubon and its partners and Salt Lake community leaders to witness historic water release at Great Salt Lake’s South Shore Preserve.

Following introductory remarks at the Hilton, flood gates at the South Shore Preserve will be opened to re-establish water flows into abandoned channels of the Jordan River for the first time in thousands of years. This measure will create a 2,700 acre diverse wetland/upland sanctuary for birds and other wildlife.

National Audubon Gillmor Sanctuary/Mitigation Commission South Shore Preserve Project Background

Major Partners
National Audubon Society, The Mitigation Commission, The Nature Conservancy, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Rio Tinto Utah Kennecott Copper, Bothwell & Swaner Inc, Ducks Unlimited, Jennifer Speers and an anonymous donor.

History of the Jordan River
Thousands of years ago, the Jordan River flowed to Great Salt Lake via a route west of the Salt Lake International Airport. The running water of the river carved major channels, shifting distributaries, playas and river islands into the landscape. Today, the river-carved topography is still amazingly intact, but the old delta is dry, abandoned long ago by the water when the earth tilted and the river moved its course further to the east.

Establishing the South Shore Preserve
In 1993, Audubon created a vision for establishing a large wetland/upland preserve, protecting vital bird habitat, northwest of the Salt Lake International Airport on the south east shoreline of Great Salt Lake. Preserving the shoreline was important to the long term ecological functions of GSL, including migratory bird use. The largest land owner was so inspired by the concept that in 1994 they anonymously donated 1,319 acres to establish the Gillmor Audubon Sanctuary.

This generous gift proved a huge catalyst. The Mitigation Commission partnered with Audubon to establish the South Shore Preserve. Through the intervening years, slowly but consistently, individual tracts of land have been added to the preserve, protected either through acquisitions, conservation easements, or agreements. The preserve’s expansion involved many different partners and a series of complex and complicated land negotiations, most with assistance from The Nature Conservancy, resulting in the preserve’s current status, which today spans 2,738 acres along the shoreline of Great Salt Lake. In addition, rights to about 3,000 acre feet of water per year have been permanently secured.

In 2007 and 2008, after a donation to Audubon by Bothwell & Swaner Inc that allowed water to flow across their land and into the Preserve, a water delivery system incorporating the natural landscape was constructed to redirect a potion of the Jordan River back into its former channels and distributaries. This system will recreate the once vibrant wetland habitat that existed thousands of years ago for many waterbirds such as shorebirds, pelicans, swans, ibis, and ducks species that today are rapidly losing the habitat upon which they depend. This restoration was funded by NRCS, Audubon, The Mitigation Commission and private donations.

For more information visit http://gillmorsanctuary.audubon.org.

The Gillmor Sanctuary is not open to the general public. However, people who are interested in experiencing the unique habitat and wildlife of the Great Salt Lake Shoreline are invited to visit the Lee Creek Area. This site, also managed by Audubon, provides walking access to shoreline of Great Salt Lake. The area is located approximately three miles northeast of Saltair in Salt Lake County. For more information, visit the Lee Creek Area web site.