IVINS — “I’m a bird guy,” Joseph Platt says.
The environmental consultant and professor of environmental studies at Utah Tech has made being a conservationist his lifelong work. But as a bird and wildlife guy, Platt says an oasis for golfers and tourists under construction in Ivins will also be an oasis for birds and other wildlife.
Last month, Audubon International selected the under-construction Black Desert Resort to begin the process of becoming a Platinum Certified Signature Sanctuary. If the resort is able to fulfill the requirements of the yearlong process, not only would it become the first Audubon Signature Sanctuary in Utah but also one of the first platinum sanctuaries in the world.
Platt said many bird species that previously have flown right over St. George are now nesting there. This might explain why some social media users have reported sightings of cardinals and other birds usually not seen locally.
Platt Environmental is the consulting firm that has been working for the resort for the last three years as its director of environmental affairs. And Platt said even a golf course can be an environmental hub.
“Golf courses are kind of an oasis,” Platt said. “Even in St. George, the golf courses that are wedged in amongst all the houses and everything become a magnet for wildlife. I think every golfer has seen a coyote cross the fairway in St. George. So how can we maximize that?”
As VIPs and dignitaries were taken around the completed golf course at Black Desert during announcements that it would be hosting LPGA and PGA tournaments, many noted how the lava rock and sagebrush surrounding the pristine greens were left in their natural state.
Platt said that was deliberate.
“The question was how can we make a golf course friendly to native species whether it be songbirds or coyotes and raccoons and everything else that should be here but is kind of pushed to the edges in developed areas like St. George,” Platt said. “There’s this mentality of the old golf courses, and some of the ones here in St. George typify it, where there’s massive amounts of grass and it’s mowed right to the edges. There’s no kind of natural vegetation habitats.
“But you could, with a little bit of effort, make a water feature in a golf course to be a resource for wildlife.”
Audubon International, according to its mission statement, works on environmental protection practices for communities, developments, resorts and golf courses worldwide. It is a separate entity from the National Audubon Society, which is known for its bird-watching and other services focusing on the protection of birds in the United States.
There are 77 resorts, developments and golf courses worldwide that have received the Signature Sanctuary designation from Audubon International. Designations are arranged Olympics style with bronze, silver and gold. There are none in Utah and 20 with the highest gold ranking worldwide.
In May, Audubon added a new platinum standard with more stringent standards than the other three. And it is this never-achieved platinum level for which Black Desert is gunning.
Audubon said it will be sending a team of environmental specialists in the coming months to confirm if Black Desert is worthy of platinum status.
“We’re not certified. It’s going to take a year to do that. But we have qualified for the process and we’ve begun that process,” Platt said. “If you read through what some of the requirements that we have to be platinum-certified, we have to have an education program, we have to have a public outreach program.”
Platt said outreach will go beyond a place for local schools to take students on field trips. Although it’s still in the development stage, plans include a nature center that will be open to the public and will include live animal exhibits. Platt is quick to caution it won’t be a zoo but something that will allow people to see animals in their natural habitat.
There will be signage along the seven miles of trails inside the resort to identify fauna and animal habitats.
Christine Kane, the CEO of Audubon International, said she sees the Black Desert Resort as a model for the nation — and the world.
“As the development takes shape on some of the West’s most ecologically diverse and visually stunning landscapes, we will partner with them to create a lasting and groundbreaking model of environmental stewardship on all fronts: golf course, resort, retail and residential,” she said.
Regardless of whether humans determine if Black Desert is certified, the birds and other animals already have.
“We’ve already got all kinds of birds showing up here that you don’t find normally,” Platt said, adding some species of ducks and other fowl that normally don’t see Southern Utah as more than a road stop are now using Black Desert as a breeding ground.
“They’re flying across this desert, and suddenly they look down and there’s hundreds of acres of green and water and vegetation. So it becomes a place that is important not only for us to enjoy the birds, but for the birds to survive as they consistently lose habitat.”
Platt and his team have set up remote cameras with night vision throughout the resort to capture some of its furry residents who may be too shy when humans are around but don’t mind a camera close-up.
Among them have been bobcats, foxes, roadrunners, chuckwalla lizards more than a foot long and what Platt said are “happy” coyotes.
“I’ll tell you, the happiest animals we have out here are the coyotes,” Platt said. “We are growing cottontail rabbits like it’s a farm and the coyotes all have grins on their faces when you see them.”
With native milkweed growing throughout the resort, Platt also expects migrating monarch butterflies – considered a vulnerable, nearly endangered species – to set up camp at Black Desert.
“Several of those species are native here, and they are critical to the survival of monarchs. They only lay their eggs on milkweed, and that’s why they taste so bad when the bird tries to eat the monarch butterfly because they taste like milkweed,” Platt said, saying the circle of life will be on full display. “It’s just this phenomenon of a beneficial wildlife habitat that we’re creating.”
There will be a monthly monitoring report submitted to Audobon International for at least the next year, Platt said.
Reef Capital Partners, the investment firm funding the resort, said in a statement that it was conscious “from day one” about the impact the resort and the golf course would have on the environment and welcomes having the eyes of Audubon on it.
“We’re looking for them to help us develop a product that all can be proud of, that shows we’re environmentally conscious and that the product is sustainable years from now,” Ross Laubscher, executive director of construction and Agronomy for Reef Capital, said.
When the resort was gaining approval from the Ivins City Council in 2020, some residents expressed concern about whether the resort would retain the natural lava rock and other natural landscapes of the area.
Critics might wonder whether Platt has any autonomy as far as recommendations he makes about conservation and the environment.
However, Platt said the proof of that commitment will be seen in the butterflies likely to populate the milkweed around the hotel. Platt said he approached resort leaders about planting specific milkweed plants around the hotel and resort to attacking the monarch butterfly.
“I said, ‘Look, we’re going to landscape around the hotel and all these rooms and everything. Let’s plant pollinator gardens and do the milkweed plants because the federal government has just listed the monarch butterfly as an endangered species,” Platt said. “‘That’s fine,’ they said. Nobody asked, ‘Well, how much is that going to cost?’ It’s just, ‘No, we’ve got a plan, let’s do that.’ That was the kind of commitment that was just, ‘That’s the right thing to do, let’s do it.’”
Photo Gallery
Some of the untouched terrain of lava rick and brush surrounding some of the holes of the golf course at the Black Desert Resort, Ivins, Utah, May 30, 2023 | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News Some of the untouched terrain of lava rick and brush surrounding some of the holes of the golf course at the Black Desert Resort, Ivins, Utah, May 30, 2023 | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News An undated night vision-image of a bobcat through a remote camera at the Black Desert Resort, Ivins, Utah | Photo courtesy of Joseph Platt/Black Desert Resort, St. George News A roadrunner seen in an undated image through a remote camera at the Black Desert Resort, Ivins, Utah | Photo courtesy of Joseph Platt/Black Desert Resort, St. George News An undated night vision-image of a grey fox through a remote camera at the Black Desert Resort, Ivins, Utah | Photo courtesy of Joseph Platt/Black Desert Resort, St. George News A roadrunner seen in an undated image through a remote camera at the Black Desert Resort, Ivins, Utah | Photo courtesy of Joseph Platt/Black Desert Resort, St. George News A coyote seen in an undated image through a remote camera at the Black Desert Resort, Ivins, Utah | Photo courtesy of Joseph Platt/Black Desert Resort, St. George News Bobcats seen in an undated image at the Black Desert Resort, Ivins, Utah | Photo courtesy of Sean Collins/Black Desert Resort, St. George News
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