Red Butte Creek comes to town: Riparian revitalization at the urban-rural interfac

Background/Question/Methods

The campus of the University of Utah is located at the mouth of Red Butte Canyon, a watershed and USFS Research Natural Area (RNA) that has been studied by biologists and geoscientists for five decades.  The RNA has a unique land use history as it was protected from grazing, homesteading, and mining because it served as a protected military water supply in the 19^th and 20^thcenturies.  As a result, the RNA is widely recognized as an asset to the campus and scientific communities as well as the general public as a rare example of a relatively undisturbed, natural watershed.  Upon leaving the RNA, Red Butte Creek passes through the University of Utah and residential neighborhoods of Salt Lake City before flowing into the Jordan River and the Great Salt Lake. As urban ecology has gained recognition as a discipline, there has been increasing awareness of the urbanized sections of Red Butte Creek.  This segment has been far less studied than the RNA, and was largely neglected in the early history of campus and land use planning.  As a result, immediately below the RNA the creek is considered highly degraded, with high rates of erosion, a prevalence of invasive species, and declining water quality.

Results/Conclusions

We chronicle the conceptualization of Red Butte Creek from its beginnings as a "pristine" natural ecosystem, through initial calls for restoration of the urban segments, to the current focus on more broadly revitalizing the creek through an ecological planning process.  This history essential parallels the recent history of ecology from its emphasis on studying pristine, protected areas, to advances in restoration ecology, the emergence of urban "ecology in the city," and the current emphasis on integrating ecology and urban planning.  This transition has greatly influenced both the structure and function of the creek itself, as well as the datasets that scientists from various disciplines have chosen to collect over time.  Going forward, we describe the key research themes that have emerged from interdisciplinary collaborations among scientists from biology, geoscience, engineering, and social science, as well as strategies for implementing urban riparian restoration, green infrastructure, and recreational amenities as "designed experiments."  In this sense, Red Butte Creek is one of the many living laboratories emerging in cities nation- and worldwide in which scientists, designers, and planners are testing new methods for merging ecology, planning, and design.