Organizers say the foundation’s objective is to engage the community and work to expand recreation and improve the ecological health of the lake.

“It’s not like we can go and raise taxes on the fish,” said ULF manager and ULA Development Director Shelby Kozak. “Instead, we wanted to find a way to have the community feel like they are a part of improving the (lake.)”

Much of the ULA’s efforts to restore the lake’s health comes from $1.5 million in annual state allocations, as well as additional grants and federal sources.

The ULF seeks to generate a new source of private funding, which the ULA said will go toward supporting educational programs, conservation projects and recreational amenities. The foundation has oversight from several overlapping board members of the ULA.

“Utah Lake has made great strides in recent years, but without community support, progress will plateau,” ULA Executive Director Luke Peterson said in a news release. “This foundation will let Utah Lake continue to rocket toward full recovery.”

Kozak said there is a lot of energy around supporting the Great Salt Lake, and she hopes Utah Valley residents will turn their attention to the lake in their own backyard that also needs support.

“A third of the waters of the Great Salt Lake comes from Utah Lake,” Kozak said. “So if there isn’t a healthy and robust Utah Lake, there is no Great Salt Lake.”

One early engagement method has been to offer Utah Lake apparel in exchange for a donation. Kozak said they are doing limited in-person shirt drops at events such as the Utah Lake Festival and the upcoming beach day at American Fork.

These shirts display the various wildlife at Utah Lake, such as fish, flowers and birds.

“We’ve seen a really good response to that,” Kozak said. “It’s fun to be able to see, while also promoting the ecology and the wildlife that is at Utah Lake.”

The foundation is also restarting a newsletter to engage people about various lake topics such as the June sucker health and addressing what Kozak described as myths about the lake.

In November, the foundation plans to launch a monthly sustainer program, which will offer exclusive volunteer events and opportunities like releasing the June Suckers alongside the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

“Think of the newsletter as like the trailer, then the sustainer is kind of the paid packaging,” Kozak said.

She said the foundation’s overall goal is to offer individuals an opportunity to make an impact.