Wetland Restoration Funding Returns Ecological Health to One Habitat
This blog was originally posted on the Great Salt Lake Watershed Enhancement Trust website on October 23, 2025. The Trust is co-managed by National Audubon Society and The Nature Conservancy.
In 2023, the Great Salt Lake Watershed Enhancement Trust, co-managed by National Audubon Society and The Nature Conservancy, opened its inaugural round of funding for projects that would protect or restore wetlands and habitats in Great Salt Lake’s surrounding ecosystem to benefit the hydrology of the lake. Eight projects were awarded more than $8.5 million in funding over the next two years for work that spanned more than 13,000 acres of wetlands and habitat. One of those projects is now complete: The Nature Conservancy’s Peregrine Pond. As Program Director for the Trust, I had the opportunity to visit the site—I was amazed by the transformation.
Walking along Peregrine Pond’s shore, I observed Curlews and American Avocets thriving, a small group of White-faced Ibis delicately plucking prey, Snowy Plovers exploring the moist sands, Black-necked Stilts tip-toeing through the shallows, and even a Great Blue Heron patiently statuesque on the far shore.