Comments from Hilary Shughart, President, Bridgerland Audubon Society:
Just a quick note to express appreciation for the Stewart Park Celebration collaboration with the City of Logan and the extended Stewart Family. It was nice to hear Mayor Holly Daines express the City’s sincere gratitude, a joy to be an honorary member of the Stewart Family, and to hear the remarkable history and family stories, from Robert’s apt idyllic vision of a cozy log cabin nestled in the beloved Riverland hillside woodland, to Jani’s recounting of the industrious 8 year old Denzil’s hard work and good fortune of having cows to milk to earn money to buy clothes!

Thanks, too, for the shade canopies, chairs, and refreshments provided by Russ Akina and the Parks & Recreation Department, to Parks Superintendent Ed Stephens, for ensuring that the tree planting spot was marked, and especially for the gorgeous Pinyon Pine provided by City Forester Rex Davis (and for the auger to excavate a suitable planting hole!). This tree will provide food and shelter for Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jays, and serve as an enduring natural monument to this celebration of 50 years of Denzil Stewart’s remarkably forward-thinking restrictive Nature Park Deed!

I also want to share a few links and some highlights of progress at the park: the first link is for the eBird checklist for the 85 species of birds which appreciate the Stewart Nature Park habitat, the second is the Logan River Taskforce brochure on the riverbank restoration project, and the third is the Bridgerland Audubon Society’s webpage work in progress documenting the stewardship of Stewart Nature Park, which includes lists of the common plants, as well as the butterflies of Stewart Park and their host plants:

eBird Field Checklist, Denzil Stewart Nature Park, Cache, Utah, US, ebird.org/hotspot/L1397248, 85 species (+10 other taxa) – Year-round, All years
https://ebird.org/printableList?regionCode=L1397248&yr=all&m=

Denzil Stewart Nature Park Riverbank Restoration Demonstration Project, Logan River Taskforce Handout (the cover photo shows the degraded riverbank which has been rehabilitated).
https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Stewart-Nature-Park-River-Demostration-Project-Handout-Final.pdf

Denzil Stewart Nature Park
https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/our-projects/denzil-stewart-nature-park/#fandf

A few highlights of our collaborative investment in the preservation of Denzil’s Riverland:
– Logan City Councilman Mark Anderson helps organize the annual Day of Service, with dozens of volunteers each fall helping to re-mulch and weed the mulched riverside pathways. They also created a new trail from Denny’s Trail directly into River Circle Park, so that bicycles can detour before approaching the pedestrian park and new stone learning circle, funded by the Utah Division of Outdoor Recreation (UDOR) grant to increase opportunities for outdoor educational engagement.
– The Bridgerland Audubon Society received a Utah Pollinator Habitat grant from the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF). Volunteers got the plants in the ground Fall 2024.
– Logan City invested in the establishment of the Logan River Taskforce riverbank demonstration landscape, and the Coyote Willow is spreading beautifully, effectively preventing erosion while also helping to filter stormwater before it reaches the Logan River.
– Ben Borgmann-Winter, Northern Regional Coordinator, Utah Conservation Corps, Utah State University has applied for a Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant for habitat restoration along the Logan River. This includes non-native weed management in the Retention basin. Mid-to-late fall is generally the best time for cut-stump treatment. Woody plants like the Common Bladder Senna transport carbohydrate reserves down to the root system in the fall.
– Last but not least:
We’ve come a long way since the Herald Journal reported on the threat of losing the park land in the Outdoors feature “New Logan nature park in the works” (3/13/1992)
 

Born in Logan, Utah, March 19,1928, Denzil Sandberg Stewart raised cows with his father and brother. On June 18, 1975, he deeded his beloved “River Land” to the City of Logan with the visionary condition that this Logan River habitat be developed and used only as a nature park, showcasing Utah native flora and fauna, ensuring a serene and ecologically sound and enduring sense of place.

Denzil Stewart Nature Park is a pedestrian urban birding hot spot with 85 species of birds attracted to the food and shelter of the riverside cottonwoods, boxelders, hawthorns, and red osier dogwood. Starry False Solomon’s Seal blooms at the edge of the moist woodlands where the Chickadees sing, Cedar Waxwings feast on chokecherries, and American Dippers feast in the Logan River. Bullock’s Orioles, Black-Headed Grosbeaks, Western Tanagers, and Lazuli Buntings tantalize with intense hues of orange, yellow, and turquoise.

The Bridgerland Audubon Society mission of protecting the nature of Utah for people and wildlife has been instrumental in honoring the Stewart Family vision with interpretive trail signage, a stone amphitheater, and native plant landscaping. Cache County built the information kiosk for the 1996 Cache County Centennial Legacy Project.