GALENA SOO'NKAHNI Preserve

Protected in 2009
 

Acreage: 252

Salt Lake County, UT

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The Galena – Soónkahni Preserve comprises approximately 250 acres adjacent to the Jordan River between 12300 South and 14600 South in Draper City, Salt Lake County. The preserve, which is owned by the Utah Department of Forestry, Fire and State Lands with a conservation easement held by UOL, includes approximately 100 acres of riparian and wetland habitat on the east side of the Jordan River and approximately 150 acres of drier upland. Approximately 2 miles of the Jordan River run along and through the Galena – Soónkahni Preserve forming meandering bends with associated bars and oxbows. The paved Jordan River Parkway Trail runs through the property along the approximate edge of the riparian area, bordering the unused Galena Canal. An unimproved equestrian trail branches from the parkway trail at Corner Canyon Creek and then parallels the parkway trail to the property boundary. Near the center of the property, 25 acres of land adjacent to the Jordan River is being used to create wetlands by the Utah Department of Transportation as part of a wetland mitigation banking understanding with the Utah Department of Natural Resources. Currently this mitigation area consists of a constructed meandering stream channel through which flows Corner Canyon Creek, and several acres of wetland with open, standing water. The Galena – Soónkahni Preserve includes an archaeological site of tremendous importance historically: dwellings and artifacts ranking among the oldest known in Utah and are valued very highly by many people, including Native American people whose ancestral lands included this area.