Join Alta Ski Area’s Environmental Center and partner TreeUtah on Saturday, September 3RD for their 7th annual tree planting. This year with the help of 100 volunteers, the partners hope to plant 1,300 native Douglas fir trees (Pseudotsuga menziesii), trees sponsored by Young Auto Group.

These 2-year-old seedlings were specially grown from seed picked in Alta by ski area employees in 2013. Every year employees will monitor Limber pine, Douglas fir and Englemann spruce trees and their available cone crop for seed collection. Once the difficult task of collecting the cones is completed, they are laid out on tables indoors to dry for weeks. When the seed is mature, Alta employees will complete the tedious task of separating the seeds from the cone. If the crop is plentiful, they may retrieve 5 to 10 pounds of seed, which usually adds up to thousands of seeds. Next, the seed is sent to a nursery to grow for one to two years to reach a healthy height of 8 to 12 inches. Lastly, these seeds return home to Alta as seedlings to be caringly planted by employees, TreeUtah and tree enthusiasts with the hopes that they will live far beyond their own years.

Rugged and rewarding, this will be a fun day to enjoy and give back to beautiful Little Cottonwood Canyon protected watershed and Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest. The event will be a morning half day and includes a light breakfast sponsored by Young Auto Group and a Collins lift ride to the top where 100 volunteers will divide and conquer tree planting throughout Alta’s hardy terrain.

Event: Alta Ski Area TreeUtah Planting

Meet: Albion Base, Alta, Utah

Time: 8:00am to 1:00pm (We hope to be back to Albion Base by 12:30pm to enjoy a well-earned lunch with all).

Bring: Water bottle, sunscreen, sturdy shoes, snacks, hat, and a raincoat

Lunch: Albion Grill will be offering a special 40% lunch discount to all volunteers