Logan Mitigation Wetlands, Courtesy & © Linda L’Ai, Photographer
- Contents:
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- Overview: Logan Mitigation Ponds a.k.a. Sue’s Ponds
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- Location
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- Flora & Fauna
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- Fauna-Animal Life at and near the ponds
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- eBird
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- Jose Pacheco’s Bird Photos from Sue’s Ponds
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- Flora-Native and Introduced Plants
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- Surveys
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- History
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- Planning
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- Funding
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- Implementation
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- Enhancements
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- Replacement Pump
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- Viewing/Photography Hide a.k.a. Blind
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- Management
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- External References
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- Birding in Cache County, Sue’s Ponds, Logan Mitigation Ponds, Logan River Wetlands, UtahBirds.org
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- Cache Valley Birding Trails, A Self-guided Tour, Cache Valley Visitors Bureau, Bridgerland Audubon, Logan Canyon National Scenic Byway,
We are under construction – Please send questions, updates and pictures to webmaster@bridgerlandaudubon.org
Overview
The City of Logan and Bridgerland Audubon Society created the Logan River Wetlands, a.k.a. Logan Mitigation Ponds or Sue’s Ponds. There are 3 ponds against the 1900 West. A playa west of those ponds can be reached by walking the road from the ulocked gate near the sign. Bridgerland Audubon supplied the sign, the pump and secured the water rights from Logan City for the playa. This is often called “Sue’s Ponds” because Sue Drown coordinated creation of the playa with Logan City.
Location
Drive west from Logan on 200 N Street, US Highway 30 towards Tremonton.
After you pass the Cache County Detention Center and Logan Environmental, turn south at 1900 West, between DD Auto & Salvage and Axis Automated Ironworks.
About 500 feet south on 1900 West, turn right and stop before the gate.
Read the instructions and walk in, or open the gate and carefully drive in.
We recommend you walk during breeding season, as many shorebirds will nest in the roadway.
Mitigation Ponds (Logan River Wetlands) on Google Maps
Flora & Fauna
Fauna-Animal Life at and near the ponds
eBird
Sue’s Pond–Logan River Wetlands and Shorebird Playa, eBird, https://ebird.org/hotspot/L586105
eBird lists 177 species recorded for this location https://ebird.org/hotspot/L586105/bird-list
Printable Checklist https://ebird.org/printableList?regionCode=L586105
Jose Pacheco’s Photos of Birds from Sue’s Ponds
Common Tern, Courtesy & © Jose Pacheco, Photographer |
Franklin’s Gull, Courtesy & © Jose Pacheco, Photographer |
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Bullock’s Oriole, Courtesy & © Jose Pacheco, Photographer |
Western Kingbird, Courtesy & © Jose Pacheco, Photographer |
Female Yellow-headed Blackbird, Courtesy & © Jose Pacheco, Photographer |
Common Yellowthroat, Courtesy & © Jose Pacheco, Photographer |
Flora-Native and Introduced Plants
Plantings
Frank Howe’s Recommended Riparian Species (Downloads File)
Linda L’Ai & Wayne Wurtsbaugh’s Photographs of The Logan Mitigation Ponds a.k.a. Sue’s Ponds
Looking south towards Sue’s Pond |
Looking east from the observation mound |
Looking NW. Phragmites and tamarisk in pond. Industrial buildings to the north |
Looking SE. Teasle in foreground |
Logan Mitigation Wetlands, October 23, 2020, Courtesy & © Linda L’Ai, Photographer |
Logan Mitigation Wetlands, October 23, 2020, Courtesy & © Linda L’Ai, Photographer |
Logan Mitigation Wetlands, October 23, 2020, Courtesy & © Linda L’Ai, Photographer |
Logan Mitigation Wetlands, October 23, 2020, Courtesy & © Linda L’Ai, Photographer |
Courtesy & © 2008 Jason Pietrzak, Photographer |
Courtesy Logan City, Tyler Richards & Issa Hamud
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| “Much of the land in and around the [City of Logan- Integrated Municipal Waste Management Facility] study area has been identified as wetland by the National Wetland Inventory (NWI). Much of this land is privately held and is seasonally wet, limiting agricultural operations.
Lands west of the landfill (across 1900 West) have been identified for the construction of mitigation wetlands (approx. 141 acres). Currently about 21 acres of this land has been used as a source for extracting capping material for the current landfill operations and for leachate treatment and monitoring. There are existing design proposals for developing grades and plantings more likely to attract shoreland birds that have been developed by others, but no detailed design development for a constructed wetland system has been developed in the study area.” Page 26, Logan City Integrated Municipal Waste Management Campus, 2010, https://cms9files.revize.com/loganut/departments/enviromental/Documents/IMWMP_Current.pdf |
Mudflat Planting Plan for the Logan Mitigation Ponds
Document prepared by Craig Johnson and Alissa Salmore
Courtesy Hilary Shughart
View the above as a PDF in a separate tab
| BAS Wins RAPZ Tax Funding for the Logan Wetlands ParkWord’s just in from BAS Treasurer Sue Drown that Bridgerland Audubon has been awarded $30,000 in RAPZ tax funds towards work on a planned wetland park to provide bird viewing opportunities on Logan City property on 1900 West just west of the landfill.
Drown said the wetland park will benefit both birds and birders, as well as help to fulfill one of the City of Logan Environmental Division’s goals, to increase public access to birding sites on city property. Plans for the park, which has been dreamt of since the 1990’s, call for excavation of a 14-acre shallow wetland playa, west of the existing ponds along the road. The property is part of the city’s wetland mitigation bank, Drown said, and Logan City is partnering with Bridgerland Audubon to make the area more attractive to migrating shorebirds. BAS has pledged $10,000 towards the collaborative effort, and the funds raised by the Birdathon will go towards that pledge. Work already completed on the wetland park includes preparation of landscape plans donated by Dr. Craig Johnson of Utah State University’s Landscape Architecture and Evironmental Planning Department and graduate student Alissa Salmore. The plans include a bird viewing deck, improved access road, and plantings of native grasses. Drown said the plans were a key element of her successful grand application. “They made it all tangible.” she said. –Miriam Hugentobler
Stilt Editor Summer 2006 Stilt, https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/documents/BAS-Stilts/Stilt-2006/Vol%2035%20Issue%206.pdf |
Cache County 2006 RAPZ Tax Projects, Click on #12 for Bridgerland Audubon Society, https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/16592e31fe3043479dd052fb2511bcb6/page/-2006/
Implementation
The Logan Mitigation Ponds a.k.a. Sue’s Ponds were built with Bridgerland Audubon Recreation, 2006 Arts, Parks, and Zoos (RAPZ) grant and Logan City Environmental Funding by Logan City and KCA Construction. In Sue’s words: “Assuming the dates on the photos were correct, then there was some road construction in 2006. If I recall, we did plan a parking area and a raised viewing area made by building up a bit of a berm, both on the north side of the pond. To be honest, I don’t recall that we did that before the more careful contour work on the playa pond itself, but I guess so. That work was probably done by the City. I know BAS did not pay for that.
The photos dated May 2007 are of the building of the pond itself and the pump installation and piping. I believe that Craig Allen of KCA Construction is the guy who knew how to run that triangular-wheeled excavating equipment, which was designed for working in wetlands/sensitive grading areas. Craig is the guy in the white tee shirt holding the post with what is likely an elevation sensor that looks like a cell phone (pink-capped paint can in his other hand), photo dated 5-11-2007.
The City did not do the pond construction. KCA did. That was paid for by the $30,000 RAPZ tax grant that Bridgerland Audubon won. We identified, hired, and paid for the pump and the construction.” [Sue Drown via email Oct 4, 2021]
The following images of the construction excavation and construction process are courtesy Sue Drown.
The Logan Mitigation Ponds a.k.a. Sue’s Ponds Built with Bridgerland Audubon RAPZ Funding by Logan City and KCA Construction, Image Courtesy & © Sue Drown, Photographer |
Craig Allen, KCA Construction, Creating the Logan Mitigation Ponds a.k.a. Sue’s Ponds Courtesy & © Sue Drown, Photographer |
Case Tractor Treads |
Scraper Tires, |
Reference Level for the Logan Mitigation Ponds a.k.a. Sue’s Ponds |
Case Tractor and Pull Scrapers |
CAT Belly-loading Earthmover, |
Earthmovers, |
Earthmoving with the CAT, Creating the Logan Mitigation Ponds a.k.a. Sue’s Ponds Courtesy & © Sue Drown, Photographer |
Earthmoving in the background, |
Initial contours for the Logan Mitigation Ponds a.k.a. Sue’s Ponds |
Contours for Creating the Logan Mitigation Ponds a.k.a. Sue’s Ponds Courtesy & © Sue Drown, PhotographerCreating the Logan Mitigation Ponds a.k.a. Sue’s Ponds Courtesy & © Sue Drown, Photographer |
Observation Berm |
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Water for the Logan Mitigation Ponds a.k.a. Sue’s Ponds |
Installed Pump for the Logan Mitigation Ponds a.k.a. Sue’s Ponds |
Installed Pump for the Logan Mitigation Ponds a.k.a. Sue’s Ponds Courtesy & © Sue Drown, Photographer |
Pump for the Logan Mitigation Ponds a.k.a. Sue’s Ponds Courtesy & © Sue Drown, Photographer |
Pump Controls and Timer for the Logan Mitigation Ponds a.k.a. Sue’s Ponds Courtesy & © Sue Drown, Photographer |
Pumped Water for the Logan Mitigation Ponds a.k.a. Sue’s Ponds Courtesy & © Sue Drown, Photographer |
Pumped Water Initially Filling the Logan Mitigation Ponds a.k.a. Sue’s Ponds Courtesy & © Sue Drown, Photographer |
Pumped Water Initially Filling the Logan Mitigation Ponds a.k.a. Sue’s Ponds Courtesy & © Sue Drown, Photographer |
June 25, 2007, Initial Flooding of the Logan Mitigation Ponds a.k.a. Sue’s Ponds Courtesy & © Sue Drown, Photographer |
June 25, 2007, Initial Flooding of the Logan Mitigation Ponds a.k.a. Sue’s Ponds Courtesy & © Sue Drown, Photographer |
Courtesy & © 2008 Jason Pietrzak, Photographer
| There’s a brand new shorebird pond in Cache Valley! BAS (Sue Drown, really) has been working with Logan City to establish a shallow playa-type pond for shorebirds west of the Logan Landfill. It will have water for spring and fall migration seasons, but will go dry during the summer months. Despite initial appearances, it is open to the public. The access will be marked with signs soon. For now, pedestrian access is OK any time. Driving access is OK when the gate is not locked. Beware of mud! Turn south on 1900 West from Valley View Highway (200 North) and drive a few hundred yards to the first gate and dirt road on your right. There is a small pullout just south of that gate where you can observe a roadside pond. The new pond is just west of the roadside pond, not visible from the road. Logan City as also built a nice wetland at the west end of the dirt road. These are accessible wet spots – a rare thing for Cache Valley.
As the new pond “matures”, the plant and insect populations should provide good feed for migrant shorebirds. Right now, it’s just being filled for the first time, so it will be interesting to see what birds find it. If you see anything particularly interesting, email Nancy Williams, our local hotline coordinator, at nanwill@cc.usu.edu. Thanks, Sue, for all the diligent work! This project was made possible by a substantial grant from the Cache County RAPZ tax fund. –Brandon Spencer
Stilt Editor October 2007 https://bridgerlandaudubon.org/documents/BAS-Stilts/Stilt-2007/Vol%2036%20Issue%208.pdf |
Enhancements
Viewing and Photography Hide (a.k.a. Photography Blind)
The photo above is from a structure built at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. This was the model for the structure built at the Logan Mitigation Ponds |
In-Progress View of Photo Window |
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In-Progress View of Photo Window |
Access View of Completed Structure |
In August 2022, Bridgerland Audubon partnered with the Cache Valley Chapter of Delta Waterfowl (Chair Kevin Booth) to build a photography hide at the Logan River Mitigation Wetlands, a.k.a. Sue’s Pond. We partnered on the materials costs, which exceeded $1,400. The viewing hide or photography blind location is based on the original plans for the playa.
Management
After Sue moved, Bob Atwood managed the site for Bridgerland Audubon Society and coordinated with Logan City. The site is currently managed by Wayne Wurtsbaugh.
External References:
Sue’s Pond, UtahBirds.org, http://www.utahbirds.org/counties/cache/SuesPonds.htm
| Logan River Wetlands GPS Approximate N41º 43.876’, W111º 52.800’ (Sp, F) From the Visitors Bureau, head west on 200 North (Hwy. 30) for 2.2 miles. Turn left on 1900 West just past the landfill. After a few hundred yards, look for a gate and dirt road on the right. Two ponds can be scanned from the road. Read the sign at the gate before entering. There is a shallow playa pond behind the roadside ponds that is not visible from the road. Check this pond often in spring and fall, as it is the most accessible spot for shorebirds including Great Blue Herons, Dowitchers and Baird’s, Western and Least Sandpipers. Enjoy the black-headed Franklin’s Gulls, delicate Black-necked Stilts and a variety of ducks. In cold months, scout these ponds for Herring, Thayers and other visiting winter gulls. Cache Valley Birding Trails, A Self-guided Tour, Cache Valley Visitors Bureau, Bridgerland Audubon, Logan Canyon National Scenic Byway, https://www.explorelogan.com/assets/files/brochures/birdingtrails.pdf |