Officials Take Tour Of Eagle Mountain To Discuss Possible Wildlife Corridor

On August 31st, the Eagle Mountain Nature and Wildlife Alliance invited officials to tour Eagle Mountain and get a look at the open space it has to offer. The tour included a trip to the top of Turtle Hill where they could view Hidden and Cedar Valleys. Representative Ben McAdams discussed the visit on his Facebook page. “Did you know Eagle Mountain, Utah is home to incredible, diverse wildlife? City and community leaders are working hard to protect the animals living here with the creation of the Eagle Mountain Wildlife Corridor.

They’re also working to maintain open spaces for families to hike and enjoy the natural surroundings. Thank you to everyone who hosted me and others on a tour to see all the important work being done here by dedicated Utahns.”

The tour started with a meeting at the bottom of Turtle Hill. They then made introductions and were given a Fact Sheet from the Division of Wildlife Resources. They then drove to the top of Turtle hill where the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and the City of Eagle Mountain talked about the Wildlife corridor and the migration of mule deer. They then had a question and answer session and then returned to the bottom of Turtle Hill.

There has been a lot of discussion around the need for a mule deer migration path. But it should also be noted that this corridor will not only be for wildlife. Bettina Cameron, a Co-Founder of the alliance stated, “There will be equestrian, running/walking, hiking, biking, and educational trails.” The location of the corridor and the path it will take through the Cedar Valley is still being discussed, there are a lot of moving parts on the back end and work is still being done with the landowners. I am not going to post any maps at this time because they are subject to change and the corridor could be in a different location. They are currently looking at a couple of options.

Marian Burningham, also a co-founder of the alliance, state that the purpose of the visit was to,

” the purpose of engaging government elected officials, State and Federal agencies whose interest and responsibilities relate to the proposed wildlife corridor — as well as private foundations — that shared common goals with the Alliance. We also wanted to create a networking opportunity between those guests and the City staff most directly engaged in the corridor. The proposed corridor completely traverses Eagle Mountain City and crosses both private and public lands. It became apparent to the Alliance members early on that the best way for anyone to understand both the scope and importance of the corridor was to give them a first-hand opportunity to see for themselves. We understood how impactful the beauty of Eagle Mountain is and how important it is to act now to preserve these critical land areas for both wildlife and the residents. Turtle Hill was the perfect overlook point. From there one can see the entire corridor — from the West Mountains to the Lake Mountains. The Alliance members discovered very early in the process that people quickly shared our passion when they actually put their feet on the ground, walk the terrain, and see all that we stand to lose. Maps and drawings are effective tools for initial exposure to the wildlife corridor but hardly do justice to what we want to preserve.”

Marian continued,

“The Alliance has always been committed to not only preserving the corridor in a way that benefits residents and all aspects of nature. We are committed to doing all we can with the least amount of financial demand upon our City and fellow residents. From the beginning of our vision, we have explored various avenues to do this and we recognized the individuals who were invited to join us on our Inaugural Tour were not only potential funding and resource partners but who themselves would need to see the value of what we were proposing to all stakeholders.

At the conclusion of our tour, we were gratified to hear all the positive statements from our invited guests. Without exception, they saw the wisdom of acting now and were impressed and appreciative of all the foresight and effort Eagle Mountain City and the Alliance have demonstrated. Each guest gave meaningful and specific advice regarding the project and each one also offered a variety of ways they and their various organizations could offer. It was apparent that all our guests have seen the value of what we are doing and are, to quote at least one distinguished guest, “excited to help make this happen !”

There was a long list of people that attended, those in attendence included the following:

• Ben McAdams – United States Representative
• Christian Mower – Field Representative for Representative McAdams
• Jefferson Moss – Utah State Representative
• Clay Crozier – Eastern Utah Director for Senator Romney
• Shane Hill – Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
• Danial Olsen – Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
• Jason Robinson – Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
• Brad YOrk – Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
• Matt Howard, UDOT Natural Resource Manager
• Dave Cook – BLM State Wildlife Biologist
• Stephanie Graham – BLM Assistant Field Manager SLO
• Tom Westmoreland – Eagle Mountain Mayor
• Steve Munford – Eagle Mountain City Community Director
• Pete Kane – Eagle Mountain Long-Range Planning Director
• Brad Hickman – Eagle Mountain Parks & Recreation Director
• Brett Wright – Eagle Mountain Planning Commissioner
• Nick Ricci – Eagle Mountain Community Relations
• Darren West – Mule Deer Foundation Conservation Project Coordinator
• Ben Marolf – Utah Open Lands Stewardship Director
• Bettina Cameron – Co-Founder Eagle Mountain Nature & Wildlife Alliance
• Marian Burningham – Co-Founder Eagle Mountain Nature & Wildlife Alliance
• Kevin Burningham – Co-Founder Eagle Mountain Nature & Wildlife Alliance
• Shon Reed – Eagle Mountain Kestrel Project and Eagle Mountain Nature & Wildlife Alliance
• Trista Torson – Eagle Mountain Nature & Wildlife Alliance
• Chad Welch – Eagle Mountain Nature & Wildlife Alliance