UTAH OPEN LANDS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION INC

LAND CONSERVATION: From community backed protection campaigns to critical habitat for species of greatest concern, Utah Open Lands crafted conservation easements to ensure land protection on incredible resource lands, community open spaces and lands of ecological significance. Ongoing negotiations include land that surrounds the Great Salt Lake and the wetlands that sustain the Lake, landscapes that buffer our national defense at Camp Williams as well as provide community trails, open space and agricultural lands and lands adjacent to stunning landscapes that capture state, international and national visitors. Four projects were finalized this reporting period and the organizations is continuing the consideration, investigation, discussion and negotiation on more than 20 projects. The Beard Family conservation easement include a rare and valuable ecosystem value called a fen. This nutrient rich, peat like wetland provides multiple ecosystem services and on the Beard Family conservation easement the fens are protected along with multiple natural springs that flow directly to Willard Bay. Close to Utah Lake, lands surrounding Camp Williams are considered part of the West Traverse Sentinel Landscape. This Sentinel Landscape Designation is part of a concerted effort to buffer Camp Williams and its role in the readiness of our National Defense by protecting lands that contain wildlife habitat, working agricultural lands, scenic viewsheds and public trail system opportunities. As Utah Open Lands continues to work with the officers at Camp Williams and the landowners in the area we completed three conservation easements with our partner the Conservation Fund and Utah Open Lands as grantee will defend and steward these conservation easements in perpetuity.

STEWARDSHIP: Utah Open Lands has continued to expand its stewardship responsibilities by monitoring every property it has protected. As new lands are acquired and permanently conserved, they are incorporated into the organization's perpetual stewardship and monitoring program. Through regular site visits and documentation, stewardship staff verify compliance with conservation easements and track the condition and direction of each property's conservation values over time, ensuring that the purposes of protection are upheld year after year. Utah Open Lands has also continued collaborative work with state and local agencies, as well as private landowners, to enhance public access, ecological integrity, wildlife habitat, scenic resources, and trail systems at Bonanza Flat Conservation Area (1,500 acres) and the adjacent 45-Star Preserve (3,120 acres) - both highly valued landscapes that support passive recreation and conservation. Building on the success of a free transit pilot program developed in partnership with Park City Municipal Corporation, the city has formally incorporated the program into its transportation system. Since then, Utah Open Lands has continued working to expand free transit access to Bonanza Flat for residents throughout the Wasatch Front. Additional stewardship initiatives during this period included invasive species mitigation, trail reroutes on public conservation properties, and larger-scale forest health and habitat improvement projects on privately protected lands.