St. George • Envisioned as a haven for shoppers, golfers and globetrotting sightseers, a $2 billion hotel and mega-resort under construction in southwest Utah is already providing a home for one of the state’s most endangered species.
Black Desert Resort is a 630-acre resort taking shape in Ivins about 8 miles northwest of St. George. In collaboration with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources and Utah Tech University last week, resort officials released 400 Virgin River chub into one of Black Desert’s six lakes.
The Virgin River chub, a silvery fish that ranges in size from eight-to-18 inches, is protected under the federal Endangered Species Act. The fish species, which is native to the Virgin River, is under threat from habitat loss, drought and the introduction of illegal fish species.
In the 1980s, for example, Red Shiner fish illegally introduced in the Colorado River spread to the Virgin River and decimated chub and other native fish. State fish and wildlife officials say its partnership with Black Desert is a positive step in its longstanding effort to recover the Virgin River chub to its former numbers.
“This endangered fish species is only found in the Virgin River system, and we are grateful to have partners invested in helping these fish by providing an off-channel refuge in a pond on their property,” Melinda Bennion, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Southern Region Native Aquatics Biologist said in a prepared statement.
Providing safe harbor
Dr. Joseph Platt, an ecologist and the resort’s head of environmental affairs, said the 11-month-old fish introduced into the one-acre lake at Black Desert are between four and six inches in length and came from DWR’s Wahweap Fish Hatchery at Big Water near Lake Powell. Providing chub safe harbor away from Red Shiners and other predators enables the fish to mature out of harm’s way before being inserted into their native habitat.
(Black Desert Resort) Black Desert Resort and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources officials transplant 400 endangered Virgin River chub into a lake at the Southern Utah mega-resort.
“By breeding and keeping them in a safe place like our lake, the chub get bigger and can be put into the Virgin River because they are large enough to protect themselves against predators,” Platt said.
Currently, the chub occupy just one lake but Platt is hopeful that the fish will spread to a smaller adjoining lake via the 16-inch pipe that connects the two bodies of water. Chub could also be introduced into three more lakes at the resort. A sixth lake, which is used for irrigation purposes and has fluctuating water levels, isn’t suitable for the fish.
Platt said the resort could provide some of the chub with a permanent home, as a reserve population that could serve as a kind of insurance policy in the event “a catastrophe” decimated the fish at the hatchery or in the Virgin River.
Black Desert is paying for the transplants and for the costs associated with maintaining the bodies of water. Students with Utah Tech University’s Department of Environmental Science are conducting studies on the lakes’ water quality, entomology and food supply to ensure an optimal environment for the successful adaptation of the chub. Platt said the resort will also be providing internships to UTU students, which will enable them to gain hands-on experience in environmental science and aid them in securing jobs in the field after they graduate.
Protecting tortoises, safeguarding Monarchs
Aside from helping with efforts to restore the Virgin River chub, Black Desert is also working with the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve officials to help protect the endangered Mojave Desert tortoise indigenous to the area and planting “pollinator gardens” to help safeguard the Monarch butterfly, which are also at risk due to pesticides, habitat loss and climate change.
Black Desert is nearly four times the original size of Disneyland, which opened on 160 acres in Anaheim, California, in 1955, and still eclipses that resort’s 500 acres today. Once construction on the resort finishes in several years it will feature a combined 3000-plus hotel rooms and residences, a concert venue, miles of recreational trails, a waterpark and a wellness spa, a 19-hole championship golf course designed by golfing great Tom Weiskopf, and more than 250,000 square feet of shops and restaurants.
Despite the resort’s large environmental footprint, Black Desert officials are proud of their efforts to protect the area’s flora and fauna.
“It is part of Black Desert’s ethos that we are a pioneering model of environmental stewardship across the board—from our golf course and resort to our residential spaces and environmental practices,” Patrick Manning, managing partner of the resort, said in a recent statement.
