STORY BY KAREN BOSSICK

PHOTO BY GINNA PARSONS LAGERGREN

The Wood River Land Trust will unveil newly added amenities to the Colorado Gulch Preserve at a Colorado Gulch Party from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 7.

The party will include a ribbon cutting for the new trail system, refreshments and a chance to create seed bombs to benefit pollinators.

The Land Trust’s Student Conservation Council, a group of high schoolers who conduct conservation projects each year for the benefit of wildlife and the community, will lead the project to create the seed bombs.

The bombs will contain the first native pollinator seeds needed to start the Colorado Gulch Pollinator Meadow.

The Wood River Land Trust seized upon an opportunity to permanently protect the Colorado Gulch Preserve located in the vicinity of Colorado Gulch and Broadford roads at Hailey’s south end in 2016. The project added to the Hailey Greenway, which extends north to Lions Park and the Draper Preserve.

The Land Trust recently completed a new trail system and got a new preserve sign to match.

TOUR THE DRAPER PRESERVE EXTENSION

The Wood River Land Trust will conduct a community tour of the property it hopes to conserve between Draper Preserve and Mountain Humane from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 9. Refreshments will be provided.

The Land Trust kicked off fund raising for the 118-acre preserve, which was acquired by Hailey’s first Mayor S.J. Friedman in 1869, at a fundraiser in August. It’s nearly reached its goal, according to Matthew Steinwurtzel, the Land Trust’s community engagement coordinator.

The acquisition of the property would help the Land Trust and other organizations deal with the cause of flooding downstream in the Della View neighborhood, said the Land Trust’s Executive Director Scott Boettger. It would ensure that wildlife could utilize its artesian springs in perpetuity. And it would provide more green space for people to enjoy nature close to town.