Arboretum Startup Selected for Community Forestry Partnership Grant by Utah Division of FFSL

In July 2024, Sugar House Park Authority co-wrote with Salt Lake County Parks & Recreation a grant application to the 2024-2025 Utah Community Forestry Partnership Grant for monetary support to set up an arboretum in Sugar House Park.

The Utah Community Forestry Partnership (CFP) Grant

This reimbursement grant is administered through the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service and the Utah Community Forest Council. Payment is made upon completion of the grant project and submission of a final report.

Alignment of Arboretum to CFP Grant

The scope of the Arboretum Start-up Project applies to these grant categories:

1. Tree maintenance and replacement

2. Public education

3. Biomass recycling

4. Mulching

The proposed project began with pruning the specimen trees to be included in the Level 1 Accreditation application. Using the wood chip byproduct from the pruning efforts, volunteers added a mulch ring around the specimen trees as a critical buffer and protection against mechanical injury from mowers and to increase water and nutrients to the trees. Education from TreeUtah will be a foundational element during the volunteer event, future arboretum tours, and tree planting events.

SavATree staff use a boom lift to reach the high branches of a Honeylocust Tree

The debris of the tree pruning was turned into mulch for the mulch rings at the base of the trees

Volunteers at Mulch Madness removed sod and spread a ring of mulch at the base of the London Plane

Arborist installs the arboretum tree tag, a requirement for Level 1 Arboretum Accreditation

Result of the Arboretum Start-up The start-up project's main goal was to implement changes that satisfied the level 1 arboretum requirements to submit Sugar House Park for accreditation. This project helped provide:

1. Tree pruning services

2. Purchase of tree tags

3. Creation of an interactive online map and printable PDF documents

Future Alignment

The Sugar House Park Arboretum's long-range goal is to cultivate a deeper appreciation and understanding of the social, economic, environmental, and aesthetic values of trees in the urban environment. The Sugar House Park Authority's goal, working with Tree Utah, is to qualify for a Level 2 Accreditation, which requires:

1. Growing the number of species in the park from 78 to 100.

2. Tree Utah as a designated paid management organization for the Sugar House Park Arboretum.

3. Enhanced public and educational programs led by Tree Utah

4. Organize and implement a collections policy, including inventory and record-keeping practices.