Past the metal detectors, steel automatic doors and towering razor wire, the sound of shovels hitting gravel rang out across the Utah State Correctional Facility. Ryan Parker, an inmate of 24 years, wiped his brow as he filled a wheelbarrow.
“You want to do something that's going to continue to help not just the facility but your state even after you're out,” he said.
Parker is in charge of a massive landscaping project underway at the prison to remove up to 750,000 sq ft of grass and replace it with gravel. The goal is to save water and reduce the mosquitoes that breed in the grass. According to the Utah Department of Corrections, the project will save an estimated 3.25 million gallons of water this year. Eight incarcerated men, including Parker, do the labor.
“I don't know that I'd appreciate it when I was younger,” he said, talking about the water conservation impact the project is having on the state.
At almost 50 years old, Parker has been incarcerated for half his life. That means he hasn't had many opportunities to contribute to the world outside the tall, looming fence that surrounds the facility off the southeast tip of Great Salt Lake. But leading a project that saves water allowed him to do so, and offered a rare sense of pride.
“Look at the risk we have, the health risk if the Great Salt Lake gets too low,” he said. “All the chemicals and everything. We have to make those changes, and this is something we're able to do. It's not just saving money, it's also hopefully, you know, saving lives down the road, too.”
One underlying feature of the project that can't be quantified in gallons of water or money saved is the benefit to the men’s mental health.
“Growing up wasn’t always the easiest,” Parker said. Mental health wasn’t something he spoke about with his family. And while he doesn’t make excuses for his crime, he does point to poor mental health as a factor in his past violent behavior.
This work program has only been around for two years, so he doesn’t attribute all his progress to it — but to him, it’s been one of the most effective tools for his mental health.
“Doing this job really helps you too,” he said. “Because maybe you're having a bad day and you really don't want to talk. Come shovel some rock and move some sod, you'll get it out of your system real quick.”
The correctional facility was built on marshlands, and before the Utah Department of Corrections began this project, mosquitoes inhabiting the surrounding grass were a serious problem for both inmates and employees.
“Absolutely it makes a huge difference, because it's like you're outside getting bit by mosquitoes all day, you come back to the section where you're already aggravated,” Parker said. “Now you're mad. Now something little turns into a physical altercation over something that didn't need to be.”
Parker is what you might consider a model inmate. Since being incarcerated, he said he’s never been written up or disciplined, and because he’s been inside for so long, he’s taken on leadership and mentoring roles.
One of his mentees is Alexander Wardell. He’s been incarcerated for around four years.
“I've been an addict my whole life, and you know that was a result of a string of terrible relationships,” he said. “You know, domestic violence. Me being not a very good guy, and you know, not something that I'm proud of.”
For Wardell, the mental health and rehabilitation benefits of the work program have been life-changing. He said he’ll never forget the first day, when he and the new crew got to work pulling out grass with bare-bones equipment.
“We had a couple wheelbarrows and a truck, and we pulled all of this sod by hand, and it was 100 degrees, and it was really hard,” he said.
“But I came back.”
Wardell has taken on a mentorship role himself now.
“I've had the opportunity to pick guys that I thought were struggling, and also bring them out here and give them an opportunity to build a little self-worth, build a little confidence,” he said.
When the team pulls out grass and replaces it with gravel, they aren't just spreading it and moving on. They create intricate designs with the rocks representing famous Utah landmarks like the Colorado River gooseneck or Delicate Arch. They’ve even done a feature piece using the design of the new Utah State Flag.
It’s painstaking, Wardell said, to be on hands and knees lining up the two-toned gravel perfectly to create these works.
Both he and Parker note the respect other inmates have for the designs. It would be easy for them to kick or shuffle through the gravel and destroy the art as they walked between appointments, to dinner or parole hearings. But that’s never happened.
“Like, they respect it, like it's one of their peers that's doing it, so they show it the same respect that we do, and so that's kind of cool to see,” Wardell said, as he turned to the massive pile of gravel and reached for his shovel.
By now, it was nearly midday and other inmates began to move through the yard between the gym, rehab courses or other appointments. As the small team of landscapers shovelled gravel into the wheelbarrows, other inmates called out to them, complimenting their work.
The workers smiled, waved back and kept shovelling.
