Swaner Preserve & EcoCenter advocates can wear their love for the organization on not just their sleeves.
The nonprofit is currently taking pre-orders through April 30 for limited-edition T-shirts that celebrate Earth Month, said Executive Director Lewis Kogan.
“Janna Coulter (community engagement manager) came up with the idea,” he said. “She has been taking the lead on our Earth Month activities, including our annual Kimball Junction Trash Cleanup project for years, and thought it would be cool if we had another way to increase community pride.”
Adult short-sleeve shirts are $25. Long-sleeves cost $30. Youth shirts are $18, and they all can be ordered by visiting extension.usu.edu/swaner/support/annual-tshirt, and orders will be ready for pick up or shipping by May 13, Kogan said.
“Janna reached out to Tiny Zoologist Illustration to design a set of these ‘Preserve, Educate and Nurture’ shirts for us,” he said. “‘Preserve, educate and nurture’ is our simplified mission and why Swaner exists, and these shirts turned out so well. We are so excited about them. If I’m dreaming it would be so fun to see these things all around Park City and Summit County.”
Tiny Zoologist Illustration was founded by Frances Ngo, a queer artist, biologist and Mexican and Chinese poet, said Rhea Cone, Swaner’s director of conservation.
“It was fun working with Frances on the design that has all species that are to be found on the Preserve,” she said. “There are animals like beavers, fox and sandhill cranes, and plants like American bistort and flax. So it was fun to pick different species for a shirt that is cute, represents Earth Day and helps our conservation programs. There are a couple of shirts hanging up at the EcoCenter for folks who want to see what they look like or touch them.”
These shirts are specifically created for the Swaner Preserve & EcoCenter’s Earth Day fundraising effort, according to Kogan.
“So, this is the only chance for them to order and purchase them,” he said.
The fundraising is more crucial than ever because the nonprofit recently lost $65,000 in grant funding, Cone said.
“A state grant that we have gotten in the past was cut, and I know other nonprofits that have had that grant cut program as well,” she said. “We’re still hopeful that funding will return in the future.”
The grant’s money supported the Swaner’s invasive weed management efforts and the purchasing of native seeds for seeding, Cone said.
“Those projects are the foundation of the ecosystem of the preserve,” she said. “The invasive weed management is the biggest and most expensive ongoing project we do as land managers here.”
Maintaining the preserve’s ecosystem is at the heart of the Swaner’s mission, Kogan said.
“Although the preserve is protected from development forever, the difference between having a thriving, beautiful haven for wildlife and a dusty weed patch is our conservation programming,” he said. “It takes an enormous amount of year-around effort by Rhea, the conservation team and our volunteer’s hundreds, if not thousands, of hours of ecological restoration work. Making this place what it is requires a lot of investment every single year.”
The grant money represented about one-third of the Swaner Preserve & EcoCenter’s conservation budget, Kogan said.
“Over the past year, a lot of people lost access to grants they’ve relied on, and Swaner is fortunate because we haven’t lost more than that,” he said.
Still the loss of the funding plus the warm winter spells a crucial time for the 1,200 acres of Swaner land, Kogan said.
“Warm winters like this is where we see invasive plant species go crazy,” he said. “The native plants tend to hunker down, and the invasives go gang busters. So this is a time we know we are going to have to work extra hard to keep things under control.”
Pre-ordering T-shirts is just one way of helping the nonprofit fulfill its mission, Cone said.
“If you don’t want a T-shirt but still want to donate, there’s a link on the T-shirt page where you can designate donations for Earth Month,” she said. “And if you’re not able to give financially, volunteering is so helpful. We have hundreds of volunteers who help with conservation projects, and we expect those to kick off in May.”
Every set of hands is important, Cone said.
“Even taking care of invasive plants in your own areas is critical for the ecosystem as a whole and our watershed because seeds don’t respect boundaries,” she said.
Supporters can also donate to the Swaner Preserve & EcoCenter’s conservation endowment that was put in place in 2019 to “ensure restoration, research and a home for native wildlife on the Swaner Preserve in perpetuity.”
“There is also a link on our website for people who want to donate directly to the endowment. If they have any questions, they can also reach out to me through email,” he said.
Kogan’s email is [email protected], and he said land stewardship is more important than ever.
“We’re at a time when our planet needs us to know how to be stewards, and at the same time there are fewer people than ever who are connected with nature,” he said.
Land management isn’t the only program at the Swaner Preserve & EcoCenter. It also offers
Saturday morning walks and hikes on the preserve, Sunday Nature Craft exhibits, outreach and forges partnerships with other community organizations to reach between 15,000 to 20,000 people each year, Cone said.
“It’s all about connecting people with environmental education,” she said. “Just like the shirts say, ‘preserve, educate and nurture,’ our mission is three-pronged, and education is a key piece of what we do. While the preserve isn’t open to the public for access anytime, we love getting people out there on birding tours, field trips or other educational programs and letting them connect with this important place.”
For information about the Swaner Preserve & EcoCenter’s Earth Month T-shirts and programs, visit extension.usu.edu/swaner.