Why You Should Visit
The Scott M. Matheson Wetlands Preserve is an oasis in the desert. This lush preserve is a stark contrast to the surrounding redrock cliffs and arid desert. To this oasis flock over 200 species of birds, amphibians, including the northern leopard frog, and aquatic mammals such as the beaver, muskrat and elusive river otter.

Location
This preserve is located in Moab, Utah along the banks of the Colorado River. Historically the area was, and still often is, referred to as the Moab Sloughs.

Hours
Open year-round, dawn to dusk.

Size
890 acres

Conditions
A well-defined, handicapped-accessible, mile-long loop trail exists in the southern portion of the preserve. A boardwalk, made from recycled train trestles, spans the trail’s wet areas and leads to a two-story wildlife viewing blind. Additionally, there is a wetlands teaching circle and map station where several brochures are available including bird and wildlife lists as well as brochures for self-guided tours.

How to Prepare for Your Visit
Bring water, your binoculars and bird guides to identify a wide variety of birds - especially during spring and fall!  Call the Moab Project Office for information regarding tours, or pick up a brochure for a self-guided tour, with interpretive stops along the way. Mosquito repellent is advised in the late spring and summer.

What to See: Plants
There are large expanses of bulrush and cattail, black willow and Fremont’s cottonwood.

What to See: Animals
There are more than 200 species of birds occur in the preserve, including spring migrants: songbirds, shorebirds, waterfowl, summer nesters: yellow warblers, common yellowthroat, black-headed grosbeaks, lazuli buntings, song sparrows, great blue herons, fall migrants and winter waterfowl. You can also see beavers, muskrat, mule deer, northern leopard frog and raccoon.

Why the Conservancy Selected This Site  
The rarity of the wetland ecosystem in an arid environment, the area’s diversity that attracts a wide variety of wildlife species and the utilization of the wetlands by migratory birds, were the main reasons The Nature Conservancy became involved with the Moab Sloughs.

What the Conservancy Has Done/Is Doing
The Nature Conservancy and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources purchased the wetlands starting in 1990, with the agreement that The Nature Conservancy would manage the preserve. Though many people visit the preserve to bird watch, others come to enjoy the sounds and sights of nature. School groups also visit the preserve to study wetlands and the creatures that inhabit these wetlands. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources has conducted a mist-netting program to analyze bird usage in the preserve. Other studies have looked at population trends of northern leopard frogs, waterfowl and breeding birds.

The Conservancy is also battling the invasive species, tamarisk, at Matheson Wetlands Preserve.  Find out what we have already done, and learn more about the ongoing battle.

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photos © Harold E. Malde; © Neil Herbert