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Show Volume II, Issue XVI THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Page 13 15 August 2000 The Wildlife Lands Project: Working With Landowners to Protect Wildlife Habitat By Dwight Bunnell, Project Leader of the Utah Wildlife Lands Project The face of the American West, and some fear the very character of western living, is rapidly changing. And nowhere is that change more evident than in Utah, which has experienced unprecedented growth during recent years. While this growth has brought about changes in the way we live, we may not consider that many of the factors that impact us also impact wildlife and the places they live. After all, wildlife and humans require the same limited land base. Put yourself in the position of an elk trying not only to survive, but also to thrive and reproduce in Utah’s wilds. To survive you’ll need food, water, shelter and security and you’ll need these components every day, year after year. If you don’t obtain these items continually, you’ll have a difficult time surviving, not to mention reproducing. Partnerships between private land owners and organizations dedicated to protecting wildlife habitat are helping assure that elk and many other Utah wildlife species continue to not only survive, but thrive. Partnerships All Utahns and Utah’s wildlife are partners on the landscape. However, decision making in this partnership is one-sided. Humans make the decisions and wildlife live or perish as a result of our decisions. Humans are also partners with each other. Our individual actions affect our neighbors. Group actions that result from partnerships can have results that are multiplied beyond the number of partners, as different partners contribute a unique resource not common to all. The Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (RMEF) are natural partners in protecting Utah’s wildlife habitats. During the last several years, the DWR and the RMEF have cooperated on numerous successful and significant conservation projects in Utah. Both organizations strongly support sport hunting as a traditional and beneficial use of wildlife and as a necessary tool in the management of wildlife populations. Both recognize that significant and sometimes critical wildlife habitat is located on private lands and desire to become partners with private landowners to benefit wildlife inhabiting those lands. Utah Wildlife Lands Project Recognizing the potential benefits to wildlife, landowners, and the public through a formal partnership, the Division of Wildlife Resources and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation have joined together to form the Utah Wildlife Lands Project. The Wildlife Lands Project provides information and assistance to landowners who may benefit from entering a conservation easement partnership or other land protection arrangement to protect habitat. It also assists local governments and citizen groups who want to protect open space wildlife habitat. Because decisions concerning the future of private lands are very personal and each piece of land and each landowner’s situation is different, information and assistance are provided on a one-to-one basis. The project’s services are available upon the landowner’s request and are strictly private and confidential. The decision to enter into a conservation partnership is the landowner’s individual decision. The Utah Wildlife Lands Project is designed to assist the landowner in making the best decision for his land and needs, and for wildlife. The RMEF and DWR both contribute significant resource to this unique Wildlife Lands project arrangement. The DWR is the legally mandated wildlife authority and wildlife steward for the state. As wildlife steward for Utah’s citizens, the DWR attempts to minimize actions that will be detrimental to wildlife habitat and works with Utah citizens to improve wildlife habitat. As part of its mission the DWR gathers, interprets, and maintains the largest and most detailed sets of data available on Utah’s wildlife resources. The DWR also has a statewide staff of biologists, land managers, researches, and conservation officers who understand the opportunities and threats Utah’s wildlife populations face. The RMEF is among the fastest growing, and in many ways most successful, conservation organizations in the West. In just 15 years the RMEF has grown to become an international conservation organization of more than 110,000 members. The mission of the RMEF is to ensure the future of elk and other wildlife by conserving, restoring, and enhancing natural habitats. There are more than 3,000 RMEF members and 16 RMEF chapters in Utah. These local volunteers raise money and complete habitat projects to benefit wildlife. The foundation has a very successful habitat protection program and has partnered with private landowners on more than 40 conservation easements throughout the West. Land Conservation Partnerships The coming together of private landowners and conservation organizations to protect and preserve land for wildlife creates a conservation partnership. These partnerships are based on mutual understanding, common goals and shared benefits. In general terms, the landowner protects his land and the right to use it in a beneficial manner. The conservation partner (in the case of the Utah Wildlife Lands Project, either the DWR or the RMEF) agrees to assist the landowner in protecting important wildlife and other natural values on his land. The partnership is based on mutual benefits and mutual responsibilities. To use a well-worn cliché, a conservation partnership is a win/win arrangement. No single land conservation strategy may involve more than one land conservation tool. Land conservation strategies, or tools, include: Conservation easement, life estate, charitable remainder trusts, bargain sales, leases, options, fee title purchas- es, and combinations of the listed options. The conservation easement is one of the most versatile and useful arrangements available to protect wildlife habitat and benefit landowners. Though largely unknown, conservation easements are a powerful and versatile way to preserve wildlife habitat on private lands while maintaining the land’s productivity, open space, and traditional land uses, such as grazing and timber management. Every conservation easement is different because each easement is written for a specific piece of land and for an individual landowner. The concept is simple, though. The landowner agrees to restrict the use of his land (easement) for the purpose of preserving conservation values identified in the easement. For example, a landowner may agree to limit his right to subdivide his land, thereby maintaining wildlife habitat and watershed values. In return, the landowner may receive tax and estate planning benefits that will help him and his heirs maintain ownership and use of the land. Easements for conservation, or conservation easement, are based on partnerships between landowners who value their lands and desire to maintain ownership and use of their land, and a conservation organization that works with land owners to protect wildlife habitat or other conservation values on their land. A conservation easement may be the ideal tool for a family that values their land beyond just owning the d e e d . Landowners who practice good stewardship of their land and want to pass it on to their heirs may reap large benefits from a conservation easement. Benefits to landowners may be both monetary and personal. Landowners who have recently purchased land and are making land use changes may benefit by using a conservation easement as part of their new land management plan. The public also benefits when a landowner enters into a conservation easement because of the resources protected on the private land. Conservation easements are based on federal laws that recognize the donation of a conservation easement as a charitable gift. To qualify as a charitable gift, a conservation easement must protect significant conservation values. These values may include wildlife habitat, scenic views, open space, or habitat for a rare plant or animal. Like other easements, conservation easements are recorded on the deed and define some limitations on the future use of the land. Once a conservation easement is granted, the agreement is binding forever. To donate a conservation easement, a landowner must find a suitable conservation organization that is willing and able to accept a conservation easement. An organization that holds a conservation easement accepts some significant and continuing responsibiliHABITAT cont. on page 15 dickd@wardleygmac.com WASATCH PAVING & EXCAVATION Located in Huntsville ‘WE MAKE IT BLACK’ Asphalt Driveways Patching Sealcoat Application Sealcoat 16 cents per sq. ft. LAY NEW*REPLACE OLD*RESTORE EXISTING CALL BEFORE THE WINTER PANIC FOR A FREE ESTIMATE WITH A LICENSED CONTRACTOR. 745-3006 email: kthompso@slkc.uswest.net |