Protestors oppose moving Provo River to save sucker

PROVO — Around 100 protesters gathered outside the Utah Lake State Park Visitors Center Thursday night to oppose a proposal to shift the last 1.5 miles of the Provo River channel to the north, and restore it to a more natural delta environment.

Officials say the proposal, while still in the planning stages, is key to reviving the June sucker population, a fish native only to Utah Lake that has been on the federal endangered species list since 1986.

The crowd had gathered under bright construction-style lights holding placards that read, "Save the Provo River," before the start of a public "working meeting" set up to gather input for what to do with the land remaining once the river channel gets moved.

One protestor, Taft Kayz, of Provo, questioned the need to restore a delta habitat. "For thousands of years that June sucker has gone up the Provo River and they're doing it today," he said.

Kayz said he believes the real motive for the delta restoration proposal is to extend the state park's system of trails and campgrounds, so the government can make money.

"They're hiding behind this little idea that we're saving the June sucker," he said.

Benjamin Allen owns a ropes course and canoeing rental business along the Provo River. He said he supports efforts to save the June sucker, but would like to see a smaller, less costly project that keeps some water in the current channel.

Biologists estimated that only around 300 spawning adult June suckers in existed in 1986, and those numbers had increased to around 1,400 in 2010, said Mark Holden, projects manager for the Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission, a federal agency.

The lake was home to millions of June suckers in the early 1800s, according to the junesuckerrecovery.org website.

Reed Harris, of the Utah Department of Natural Resources, said tens of thousands of June suckers have been stocked into the lake from hatcheries, but it can take three to five years to grow to adulthood.

Because of spring flooding in 2011, wildlife biologists could not get a count of the populations, Harris said, but his hopes are high the population numbers will reach into the "thousands" this year.

And since compliance with the Endangered Species Act is tied to future development of the Central Utah Project needed to increase the supply of water to the Wasatch Front, there isn't really an alternative, Holden said.