Updates to our Project Pipeline
This section would not be possible without the generous support of our founders and our long-time donors. Thank you for your vision and your investment in our early years. While we are hopeful that we will be able to complete all of these projects, we are all too aware of the complexities involved. Some of these projects may hit snags, road bumps, or impassable barriers, but this is why we need your help (see below; Staff Capacity). Our projects are on privately owned property and we respect the landowners’ rights to privacy. For this reason, we can only speak of our potential projects in vague terms.
Project 1: This project provides us with a unique opportunity to connect many thousands of acres of public lands by protecting a few thousand acres of private land. Projects like this are increasingly rare. It will preserve critical elk and mule deer migratory corridors as well as sage grouse habitat. This project will also allow us to protect scenic views and showcase our work due to the public roads running through the property.
Project 2: Similarly, this project allows us to conserve land near other conservation easements and help preserve habitat connectivity. As we prioritize projects, this is one of the many important factors we consider, especially due to urban sprawl and the pace of development. If we are able to secure additional project funding, we may be able to open up additional migratory pathways for elk through this property. This is a time-sensitive project which needs to be completed in the next 12 months due to an expiration date on some of the project funding, so your financial support of our search for staff will help immensely!
Project 3: We’ll let our new Executive Director talk about this several thousand acre project in the Bear River Range, “This project really excites me. It is unique because it connects several diverse habitats, including uplands, sagebrush steppe, dense highland forests, and riparian meadows which are so important for biodiversity here in the arid high desert. This project also preserves scenic views; it has it all, and I’m honored to have an opportunity to work on preserving these values for future generations.”
Project 4: We are incredibly proud to have been able to work on the decades-long initiative to pass an Open Space bond in Cache valley, and we are actively pursuing projects which highlight the heritage and sense of place we are working to preserve here in Northern Utah. We have identified one such project which may preserve scenic views visible from a public highway, a working ranch first settled in the mid-1800s, as well as a riparian corridor and an annual nesting site for migratory Sandhill Cranes. We can't say much more about it at the moment, but we can't think of a better project more deserving of public, local funds.
CONSERVATION & STAFF CAPACITY
Our staff pay for themselves sixty times over when comparing their salaries to the project funding they secure. Unfortunately, most of that project funding cannot be used to pay their salaries! We are currently expanding our staff by searching for a Conservation Project Manager to help us complete the projects on this page.
This is where you come in. Your donations will help us attract and retain qualified, professional staff who can move these permanent conservation projects forward.
Will you help us secure the future of open space, critical habitat, and working farms and ranches in Northern Utah? Please consider making a charitable donation today.