Every time the weather is nice you can find at least someone out on the trails in Farmington. The fresh air, the sound of birds flying around and of course the greenery. But something that people might not know, is that some of those trees on the trails are there thanks to one person. A Farmington local, Sam Dunford.

“I wanted to plant these trees in Farmington because I found out that Giant Sequoias and Dawn Redwoods do well here, but are rarely planted since most people don't know that,” he said. “I also wanted to test if the Coast Redwood could survive here. I asked the city about it, and they suggested the trail and Woodland Park.”  

Not only are these trees beautiful and great for shade, but they have a lot of great benefits for the environment as well.

“I hope that these trees will help mitigate climate change by capturing and holding carbon for thousands of years, and by providing lots of shade and wildlife habitat with their size. Additionally, once they get big enough to survive on their own, I want to name some of them after relatives who have died.” Dunford said. 

By planting all of these trees for the trails Dunford has become a pretty well-known expert on sequoias and redwoods. 

“There’s three species of Redwood The Giant Sequoia, the Dawn Redwood and the Coast Redwood,” said Dunford. “Giant Sequoias are native to the Sierra Nevada, in a climate similar to ours. There are quite a few in downtown Salt Lake, and a few in residential yards in Farmington, as well as two that the city planted a couple of years ago to the south of the courthouse. They have reddish spongy bark and juniper-like needles. The tallest in Utah was planted in 1933 or 1943 and is 118 feet tall as of 2019. They're somewhat drought tolerant once established and are hardy to -10° F.

The Dawn Redwood is a deciduous conifer, with soft, fern-like foliage. They can grow several feet a year. They're flood-tolerant and grow best next to bodies of water. Lagoon has them planted by their parking lot and in front of the covered footbridge at the entrance to their section of the trail. They’re the most cold-tolerant Redwood, to about -25.° 

“People in the U.S. originally knew them from fossils until they found some in a remote part of China in the 1940s.” Dunford said. “The Coast Redwood, as far as I know, doesn’t grow in Utah except where I planted them. They’re native to the fog belt of central and northern coastal California but can grow elsewhere as long as they get enough water.” 

They’re the least cold hardy Redwood, down to about 0° F except for certain cultivars, but it rarely gets that cold here anymore, and they’re unusually good at recovering from damage, he said. “My oldest has survived six Utah winters so far. They can also resprout from the roots and the base. Several of mine did when a vandal cut them down in February 2022. Plus all three species have recent fossil records in or near Utah.” 

All in all, the Farmington trails are now even more diverse with the plant life thanks to Sam Dunford.