Bear River Land Conservancy

In 50 years, will Utah still be beautiful? Will kids still have locally grown food and a love of nature?

YES! That is what your donations to Bear River Land Conservancy will achieve. We protect important land forever. We do this by working with private landowners who want to answer YES! as well. These landowners work with us to protect critical lands that provide:

• Public Recreation (Trails, Waterways, fishing, hunting, birdwatching, hiking, biking)
• Working Farmland
• Ranches
• Open Space
• Scenic views
• Habitat

In the arid west, the most valuable land is land that lies next to rivers. Because of its value, it was settled first and is now private land. This is why we value private land that provides public benefit.

Is Bear River Land Conservancy going to use my money well?

Bear River Land Conservancy recently completed a massive planning effort that allows us to pinpoint which lands are most valuable so that your donations are spent protecting lands that are as important as your money.

We have also have a proven track record of qualifying for funding from many sources including:

• UDOT, Army Corps of Engineers – wetland mitigation
• Private Companies – Cirrus Ecological Solutions, Juniper Systems, Bio-WEST, Providia Management Group
• The Nature Conservancy
• Intermountain West Joint Venture – capacity grants
• Utah DWR and Wildlife Conservation Groups
• Utah DWQ – funding for water quality protection
• USFWS Partners Program – funding for boundary control
• NRCS – WHIP – weed control, fencing, native plantings

 

In addition, we can attract the volunteers to truly get our work done, and have worked with:

• Over 140 volunteers who have provided more than 5000 hours: that is over 1000 hours a year spent matching your important donation
• Utah Conservation Corps – fencing and tamarisk crews
• USU – student projects, staff volunteers, faculty research
• Neighboring Farmers and Ranchers
• Cache County – removed tamarisk in exchange for weed control

Why does it matter?

In the next 50 years (or less), the population along the wasatch front and in northern Utah will double. That is a lot of development that needs to be done, and done right. We want to work with development in order to protect the right lands, leaving the lands that provide clean water, habitat, open space, and recreation intact.

Your children and your grandchildren will look back and say, "Of course they saved this land, look how important it is to us in so many ways!"

What do you mean, "forever"?

Our primary tool of protecting land is to work with the landowner in order to place a 'conservation easement' on the land, which is a permanent legal agreement to donate some but not all of the development rights to the public good. These conservation partnerships last forever (yes, forever), and will protect land. Landowners can protect their land only while they are alive. A land trust can protect land long after they have passed away. Your donations will have an effect forever.