Critical Lands Planning Implementation

Utah's communities need to first identify their critical lands and then implement measures designed to protect them.  The GIS component of this project can help with the identification, but it is up to each community to follow-through with conservation measures.

Two most common methods that have found success in Utah are purchasing conservation easements and applying protective zoning designations.  It is probably best to do both in order to protect private property rights.

A conservation easement (or conservation restriction) is a voluntary legal agreement between a landowner and a land trust or government agency that permanently limits the uses of the land in order to protect its conservation values. It allows the owner to continue to own and use their land and to sell it or pass it on to heirs. There are a number of non-profit entities that are interested in investing in critical land conservation projects.  Learn more about conservation easements on the LeRay McAllister Critical Land Conservation Fund website.

A zoning ordinance is designed as an overlay zone for sensitive areas. Its depends on a map, such as the one generated by this site, and adopted as a zoning overlay map. The map should identify the approximate areas where the sensitive lands will be located.  The model ordinance presented here is largely based on the work of Envision Utah.

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