What began as a friendly NFL wager between Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson and West Valley City Mayor Karen Lang ended with both leaders rolling up their sleeves for a service project at Tracy Aviary.

While attending a Kansas City Chiefs/Atlanta Falcons game in 2024, the women agreed that whoever’s team lost, the losing mayor would do a service project benefiting the winning mayor’s city. Although Wilson’s Chiefs were trailing for the first half, they pulled off a 22-17 win over the Falcons.

Atlanta Falcons’ fan and West Valley Mayor Karen Lang (left) attends a game with Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson in 2024, where they placed a friendly bet. (Photo courtesy of Salt Lake County)

Wilson decided some real falcons could benefit from the wager, so in August, both mayors volunteered at Tracy Aviary, creating food enrichment activities for falcons at the nature center.

“We’re here to do our service project, which is awesome,” Lang said. “They have a falcon for us to play with and, as a sidenote, there is my dad who raised falcons when I was young. They used to ride in the car with us. They’d be in the house all the time. So I’m really excited about that part of it.”

Wilson became a Chiefs fan after following University of Utah quarterback Alex Smith’s career. When Smith landed with the Chiefs, and ultimately helped train current quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Wilson formed an allegiance to the team. 

A fan of both college and NFL football teams, Lang followed Russell Wilson when he became quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks and wanted to see him play in person. Lang and her husband traveled to Atlanta for a playoff game but couldn’t find any Seahawks fan gear, so she changed her allegiance to the Falcons and has been a fan ever since. 

The Langs attended the 2024 Falcons/Chiefs game with the Wilsons and felt pretty confident in their team, but the game didn’t turn out the way they’d hoped. 

“When we were at the Chiefs/Falcon game, I was feeling bad the first three-quarters of the game because the Falcons were up,” Lang said. “But then [the Chiefs] came back. It’s the same thing that happens in every Falcons game during the fourth quarter.”

Wilson felt working with falcons at the aviary was a fitting way to complete the wager. The mayors put together foraging bags, filled with shredded paper and treats, to help the birds work for food. They also filled plastic eggs with treats for crows, to strengthen their problem-solving skills. 

West Valley Mayor Karen Lang (left) and Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson make enrichment activities for falcons at Tracy Aviary. (Peri Kinder/City Journals)

After completing the project, the mayors were allowed to hold and feed Phoenix, a 15-year-old aplomado falcon that flew from handler to mayor.

“Enrichment is an engaging activity for our flock,” said Tracy Aviary Marketing Coordinator Jaquelin Ortiz. “It’s something that helps the birds engage in actual behaviors here and keeps them happy and healthy.”

Wilson said she’s been going to Tracy Aviary since she was a child, when her aunt had the concessions contract at Liberty Park. She thanked the staff for their work in keeping the bird refuge beautiful, clean and safe. Wilson also mentioned the Tracy Aviary’s Nature Center at Pia Okwai, located in South Salt Lake at 3310 S. 1000 West. Learn more at TracyAviary.org. 

“[The nature center] is right on the river bordering South Salt Lake, but across the river is West Valley, and it’s a treasure for the broader community,” Wilson said. “We’re happy that the aviary expanded its mission and its site…so hats off to the aviary team.”