Park City, UT
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City News: December 7, 2018
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Regeneration
Park City’s natural setting is the reason why we live here. Our open spaces are at the core of who we are. Park City has 9540 acres of land that has been set aside as open space, protected from development with conservation easements.
Not only do these lands the Park City lifestyle represent the Park City lifestyle, they can help us reach our carbon neutral goals.
Carbon sequestration explained:
Park City’s open spaces, if managed properly, can pull out vast amounts of carbon away from the atmosphere and store it in vegetation and soils. This carbon storage capability can help balance our carbon footprint and help balance those emissions that we cannot eliminate.
Park City is working to quantify how much carbon is stored in the vegetation and soils on its open spaces, and how much additional carbon is pulled away from the atmosphere on a yearly basis. According to a study completed in 2017, our open spaces are soaking up 7,686 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MT CO2e) per year. If you are interested in knowing more about our methodology, get in touch.
Regenerative agriculture:
In the summer of 2018 Park City decided to initiate regenerative agriculture on the iconic piece of land at McPolin Barn. This piece of land had remained relatively undisturbed since it was set aside under easement in 1991. The lack of disturbance on the land led to the grasses that grow and die each year to thatch together, never properly decomposing into the soil. To restore the function of returning nutrients and mixing soil, cattle were reintroduced to the former dairy. Rather than allowing them to spread out and graze on their favorite species, the cattle were herded together which forced them to eat down the grasses and weeds indiscriminately. The disturbance by the cows hooves, as well as what comes out of their tail ends, helped to mix dead matter with the soil and facilitate the decomposition process. This accelerated decomposition is key in releasing nutrients, thus creating a healthy environment for microbiota to trap more carbon away from the atmosphere and build up the health of our soils. The healthy soils are also more able to retain water, and allow for better growth of native species instead of noxious weeds.
Regenerative Agriculture on City Property
Tree planting: