Central Wasatch funding backs Summit County trail and habitat projects

The Central Wasatch Commission approved funding for 12 short-term projects on June 24, putting new money behind trail, habitat and watershed work in Summit County’s canyon corridors. Several of the awards touch the county’s most visible land-use pressure points, from the East Canyon Creek drainage to Tri-Canyons recreation routes and the newly protected 910 Ranch.

The commission opened the call for ideas in March. The program targets work that is already shovel-ready, with planning, communication and permits in hand before contracts are signed. Projects must be completed within 12 months of contract, a timeline meant to push results out quickly. The 2026 finalist pool asked for $193,550, while the grant pot totaled $100,000. In choosing awards, the board gave added weight to new projects, infrastructure work and requests that covered a smaller share of total project cost.

For Summit County, the sharpest local link is the 910 Ranch-East Canyon Creek Corridor Cooperative Priority Weed Management Project. The work targets invasive weeds that accelerate erosion, reduce soil-water availability, increase fire risk, threaten livestock and wildlife forage, and create hazards for trail users. That effort now sits beside a much larger land-management story: Summit County finalized its acquisition of the 910 Ranch on Jan. 27, 2026, calling it the largest land purchase in county history. The deal permanently protects 8,588 acres in Summit and Morgan counties, backed by a $15 million open-space bond commitment and a $40 million Forest Legacy Program grant. The land is not open to the public yet, and access remains limited to East Canyon Road, which closes to vehicles every year from Dec. 1 to April 30.

The commission also renewed support for East Canyon Creek Restoration, a Swaner Preserve and EcoCenter effort aimed at streamside habitat and safer wildlife movement along upper East Canyon Creek. Swaner previously used a short-term grant to remove more than a mile of old fencing along the creek, and the program gave the preserve $5,000 in 2025 for trained crews to pull tangled wire and t-posts from the bank. Swaner has tracked 163 bird species in a recent month and 96 species at Spring Creek Trailhead.

Other awards support Cottonwood Canyons Foundation education programs, the Central Wasatch Watershed Education Program, the Tri-Canyons Sustainable Trail and Habitat Restoration Program, vault-toilet pumping in the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, fixed-anchor maintenance for Wasatch climbing routes, a youth symposium and a Wilderness Stewardship Project. The Tri-Canyons stewardship work has already received CWC grants in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.