Utah Wetland Working Group
The Utah Wetland Working Group was established in 2015 as a statewide forum for coordination and collaboration on wetland science, management, and policy. The goal of the working group is to raise awareness of the Utah Geological Survey’s wetland program and to provide a structured space for state, federal, academic, consultant, and nonprofit partners to share information, identify needs, and coordinate efforts. Since its formation, the Wetland Working Group has also helped guide the development of Utah’s Wetland Program Plans, which outline statewide goals and strategies for wetland research, protection, assessment, and restoration.
For more information about the working group, meetings, and getting involved, contact Jess Stern, Utah State Wetland Coordinator, at jstern@utah.gov.
Upcoming Meetings:
Wetland Working Group Annual Meeting
December 4th, 2025 – Location TBD
Previous Meetings
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Presentation Downloads
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Agenda
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Presentations
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| November 14, 2023 |
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| April 19, 2023 |
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| November 8, 2022 |
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| December 1, 2021 |
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| April 29, 2021 |
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| November 4, 2020 |
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| April 20, 2020 | No presentations available |
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| November 20, 2019 |
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| February 25, 2019 | No presentations available |
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| March 8, 2017 | No presentations available |
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| February 26, 2015 | No presentations available |
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Newsletters
Wetland Working Group newsletters are sent twice a year to members of the Wetland Working Group. These newsletters are for sharing and highlighting important wetland news, research, and information across Utah and the Intermountain West.
Working Group History
The Utah Wetland Working Group’s origins can be traced to a large wetland conference organized by Jennifer Jones in 2013 during her tenure as State Wetlands Coordinator at the Utah Geological Survey (UGS). The conference brought together a wide range of stakeholders from Utah and neighboring states, including practitioners, researchers, and agency staff.
Diane Menuz, who worked alongside Jones at the UGS, assumed the coordinator role following Jones’s departure and used the conference contact list as the foundation for launching the working group. The group’s first meeting was held in February 2015, and the group has since played an integral role in shaping priorities, sharing information, and advancing collaborative wetland work across Utah.
Members of the Wetland Working Group have helped identify research needs for Utah’s Wetland Program Plans. The first two Wetland Program Plans were co-written by the UGS and the Utah Division of Water Quality (UDWQ). The first Plan was authored by Jennifer Jones and Toby Hooker (UDWQ) and covered work from 2011 to 2016, and the second was written by Diane Menuz and Becka Downard (UDWQ) for 2018–2023. These documents have been instrumental in defining the direction of wetland efforts throughout the state and in securing continued EPA Wetland Program Development Grant funding. Members of the Wetland Working Group are currently assisting in the next iteration of the Wetland Program Plan by participating in surveys, interviews, and focus group workshops.
