Summit County, Utah (March, 19, 2024) — County Lands and Natural Resources Director, Jess Kirby, attended the Utah Trout Unlimited State Council annual banquet on March 14 where she accepted two awards that recognize Summit County for outstanding efforts in the conservation and restoration of Utah's watersheds.
Summit County is the second ever recipient of the Community Action Towards Conservation Habitat (CATCH) award that spotlights dedication to the overall health of the Weber River watershed, years of collaboration on millions of dollars of grants, and, most recently, habitat restoration efforts associated with the acquisition of the 8,588-acre 910 Ranch property and the four miles of East Canyon Creek that flows through it.
"Being recognized for our work in conservation is a true honor,” Kirby said. “This achievement would not have been possible without the invaluable contributions of so many partners: the World Resources Institute, USFS Kamas Ranger District, Utah’s Forestry Fire and State Lands, and of course, Trout Unlimited. Together, our collective efforts deserve celebration.”
Upper Weber Project Manager for Trout Unlimited, Scott Catton, also presented Kirby with the “Community Conservation Partner Award” during the event, recognizing her pivotal role in leading these watershed conservation initiatives for Summit County.
“This award was created by Trout Unlimited staff to honor the community leaders like Jess that are going above and beyond in local conservation and embodying the mission of their organization to bring together diverse interests to care for and recover rivers and streams for future generations,” Catton said.
Kirby has teamed up with Trout Unlimited for many years to secure funding for a variety of projects ranging from improving fish passage infrastructure, to building beaver dam analogs on small tributaries to improve water quality. These are initiatives that have positively impacted the health of Summit County’s watershed and over 700,000 downstream residents to the Weber River that depend on our upstream action.
Trout Unlimited is a national non-profit organization with 300,000 members and supporters dedicated to conserving, protecting and restoring America’s cold-water fisheries and their watersheds. Visit summitcounty.org/countylands to follow the latest efforts of Summit County’s Lands and Natural Resources Department.