Utah parks expand life jacket loaner program as summer season begins

HEBER CITY — Utah State Parks officials are urging families to prioritize water safety this summer as the state expands its life jacket loaner program.

At Jordanelle State Park, leaders from the Utah Department of Natural Resources announced that 23 state parks and additional locations now feature life jacket loaner stations. The effort is supported by a partnership among the Utah Division of Outdoor Recreation, the Utah Division of State Parks, and Intermountain Children's Health, which donated 1,000 life jackets to help stock stations with a full range of sizes for all ages, according to a press release.

State Parks Deputy Director Chris Haramoto said the goal is simple: make safety easy and accessible for every visitor.

"Boating and swimming and a lot of those water-based activities are always fun at our state parks," Haramoto said. "We just want to make sure that when people come out, they are as safe as possible, so we've created these loaner life jacket stations, which are free of charge."

A program rooted in loss

For many, the initiative carries deep emotional weight.

In May 2020, Priscilla Bienkowski, 18, and Sophia Hernandez, 17, drowned on Utah Lake. Their deaths sparked community involvement and inspired the creation of the first life jacket stations at the lake.

Volunteer Kim Boylan Ray, through her organization Paddle With Care Utah, helps maintain the stations, and the girls' legacy continues to guide her work.

"We learn from Priscilla, we learn from Sophia. They did not die in vain. Their names are still said today," she said. "I feel like I get guidance just through different things that I'm doing around the lake."

Boylan Ray, together with a small group of volunteers, regularly checks the stations, restocking and straightening jackets.

"When I go to check on (these stations), they're hung up all over the place," she said with a laugh. "That makes me happy because that makes me know that people are using the life jacket stations."

"There are still people pulling up to the lake with no life jackets and those life jackets are there in place, and they are saving lives every day," Boylan Ray continued.

This past weekend, volunteers and families gathered for the annual Paddle With Care event, honoring the girls and others who have lost their lives on Utah Lake.

Encouraging safe summer adventures

With Water Safety Awareness Month underway, state officials hope the expanded program will help prevent future tragedies. The message: Enjoy Utah's lakes and reservoirs, but do it safely.

Haramoto also announced a new online landing page and an interactive map that can help users locate life jacket loaner stations.

"If you can plan a little bit ahead and bring your own life jackets, that's probably the best case scenario," Haramoto said. "But if you forget, we've got a good backup here in our loaner life jacket stations."

Haramoto said the stations are equipped with a new interactive check-out system that allows you to return the jackets at any state park.

"If you accidentally take it home with you, you'll get a reminder, saying 'Hey, you haven't returned it,' and the cool thing about the program is you no matter where you live, if you have a state park close to you, you can turn it in to any of the state parks," Haramoto said. "The life jackets do walk away and if they do, our hope is that they'll actually utilize those life jackets when they go out again."

For more information about the life jacket loaner program, you can visit recreation.utah.gov.

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