The black hawk property is owned by the black hawk duck and goose club and is an OASIS of contiguous, undeveloped land within the heart of salt lake county

The U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service Region 6 awarded a $7,015,000 Formula Grant to the State of Utah, Division of Wildlife Resources on July 31, 2023 under the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act (CFDA 15.611) program. The grant funding will support the acquisition of the 3,000-acre Black Hawk property, which provides critical wetland habitat along the Great Salt Lake for migratory birds and other wildlife. The acquisition will permanently protect this undeveloped land from development, expand public hunting opportunities, and establish a new Waterfowl Management Area that will be managed for habitat conservation, recreation, and wildlife management. Past sub-awards through this program have funded a range of initiatives to restore, conserve, and enhance wild birds and mammals and their habitat across Utah, including species monitoring, native population enhancement, hunter education, and public shooting range development.

This area is considered a critical component to the great salt lakes designation as a western hemispheric shorebird reserve network site. In addition, this property along with several other wetland areas around the great salt lake have been declared by the national audubon society and the american bird conservancy as a globally important bird area (IBA).this property provides critical wetland habitat along the great salt lake for these and many other migratory birdspecies. While the property is incredibly valuable to birds, IT is also potential habitat for monarch butterfly, a candidate species for listing under the endangered species act. Additionally, as habitat for many waterfowl andupland game species this property also provides valuable potential hunting opportunities for the public. Thecurrent ownership has restricted this hunting opportunity to its club members however, under udwr ownership thisopportunity would be expanded to all of the public.bringing this black hawk property into public ownership would permanently protect key habitat and public greenspace within the increasing development of salt lake county. This acquisition will provide udwr and partners withthe opportunity to secure an undeveloped public land treasure that today supplies irreplaceable ecological, recreational, and aesthetic values associated with urban wildlife and waterfowl. By securing fee title of theproperty and associated water rights and water shares, the wildlife values of the property, in particularwaterfowl habitat, will be protected.acquisition of the black hawk property will protect this crucial wetland habitat from the threats of developmentand open up significant waterfowl hunting opportunities to the public. The acquisition will create a newwaterfowl management area (WMA) that will be managed for access, grazing, noxious weed control, hunting, andhabitat treatments according to an established habitat management plan specific to the property.