Arboretum Plan Adopted by Sugar House Park Authority

In the March 2024 Sugar House Park Authority board meeting, Dustin Wiberg, Park Development Project Manager of Salt Lake County Parks and Recreation, presented an Arboretum Plan for Sugar House Park.

The goal of an outlined Arboretum Plan is to submit for Level 1 Arboretum Certification with ArbNet.org. Level 1 accreditation has six required elements.

1. Arboretum Plan

2. Organization or Governance Group

3. Staff or volunteer support

4. Public Access

5. Labeled/signed specimen trees

6. One event held annually

The Park Authority agreed to be the organization or governance group for the Arboretum. Sugar House Park has completed items 1-4, with items 5 and 6, installed signage and an event, expected within the next 12-15 months.

The exciting Arboretum Plan outlines 15 distinct areas to guide and plan future tree growth in the park. Following the outlined plan, patrons can work with our partner TreeUtah to plant a commemorative tree in the park.

The 15 tree zone themes are —ordered alphabetically:

1. Demonstration Garden

2. Evergreen Forest (West to East)

3. Farm Life

4. Great Shade Trees

5. Hardwood Forest

6. Marvelous Maples

7. Native Riparian

8. Ornamentals

9. Riparian

10. Sensory Forest

11. Specimen

12. The Grand Alee

13. The Mighty Oak

14. Utah's Own

15. Water Loving

The Arboretum Plan will be expected to list the types of trees per zone.

Sugar House Park Authority wants to thank Salt Lake County Parks and Recreation and TreeUtah for their work on the plan and Salt Lake City Urban Forestry and Utah Community Forest Council for their review and input.