Programs

  • Land Conservation Projects

    LAND CONSERVATION: The importance of perpetuity begins with the crafting of the conservation easement and a full understanding of the conservation values and the public benefit of each landscape under consideration for conservation. Utah Open Lands continued considering, investigating, discussing and negotiating more than twelve separate conservation projects this year. It is anticipated that 4 of these projects will result in a conservation easement in the coming year. This year Utah Open Lands successfully raised the final dollars or were donated 6 projects for a total of ~640.5 acres. Among the six is the Albert Kohler Legacy Farms, 102 acres, fourth generational Legacy Farm, is one of the last remaining dairy farms in Midway and the cornerstone for the Heber Valley's tourism, as the landscape is the gateway view into the Wasatch Mountain State Park.
    Geographies
    Not indicated
    Dates
    May 1, 2021 – Apr 30, 2022
    Source
    990
    No causes provided
    No populations provided
    –
    $3.7M

  • Stewardship and Monitoring

    STEWARDSHIP: Utah Open Lands' stewardship division has monitored all the ever increasing lands Utah Open Lands has protected over the last 31 years. Our role in monitoring these projects is to ensure their compliance with the conservation easement that governs these landscapes. Utah Open Lands' monitoring reports identified the trajectory of the conservation values to ensure the conservation purposes are protected. Utah Open Lands is continuing to work with several state and local agencies and landowners to improve public access, ecological and wildlife health, scenic values, and public trails. This year our commitment to stewardship and defense of our projects found us working with the landowner, a local municipality, against an attempt to invalidate the conservation easement, successfully. Utah Open Lands continues to work diligently with Park City Municipality to create new and improved public trails and trailheads on Bonanza Flat, a 1500-acre, much treasured and visited, passive recreational area for the residents of Park City, Summit and Wasatch counties, the Salt Lake valley, and the many area visitors. Utah Open Lands' Stewardship Division also in conjunction with Park City, has established for visitors to the area a ride-share shuttle program, Transit to Trails, which reduces the amount of traffic and passenger vehicles and parking limitations. This program will be repeated next year as it has received much acclaim by the local residence.
    Geographies
    Not indicated
    Dates
    May 1, 2021 – Apr 30, 2022
    Source
    990
    No causes provided
    No populations provided
    –
    $165.5K

  • Education and Outreach Initiatives

    EDUCATION and OUTREACH: Utah Open Lands is committed to working with landowners and communities interested in ensuring the protection of the lands they love; from working landscapes, ecological refuges, to heritage values and the 'sense of place' as described by Wallace Stegner' vision of quality of life. This year the organization provided leadership and presentations, virtually and in person, to town and county councils and local community meetings. Utah Open Lands continued with our annual Gaining Ground: Trying Times Symposium hosted by the University of Utah's SJ Quinney Law School and with assistance by a grant from the Cultural Vision Fund in an effort to educate elected officials, state and local agencies, students, landowners, and other conservation professionals. The presentation provides information from appraisers, IRS representatives, UOL staff and board members, and conservation specialists and attorneys, in order to review land trust latest requirements, laws, and legal cases affecting land trusts, local conservation and professional scholarship.
    Geographies
    Not indicated
    Dates
    May 1, 2021 – Apr 30, 2022
    Source
    990
    No causes provided
    No populations provided
    –
    $58K