Conserving the Greater Zion Landscape

As visitors travel to, from, and around Zion National Park, their experience is quietly shaped by privately-owned lands adjacent to the boundary. Both inside and outside the park border, undeveloped land is prized. As a part of the greater Zion landscape, these acres sustain wildlife, provide scenic vistas, and serve as the corridor for the Virgin River. Through decades of work, thousands of acres have been protected through conservation easements, protecting the integrity of the Zion experience for everyone. As current land-owners look to the future, many multi-generational families with strong ties to the land desire to see their land preserved, as it now stands, for generations to come. Aligned with Zion’s highest land protection priorities, a collective of partners, including the Trust for Public Lands, are working together to conserve these heritage lands.

This project unites the efforts of public, private, and nonprofit partners, including the Virgin River Land Preservation Association, a community organization formed 25 years ago by Southern Utah residents seeking to protect high-priority open space for public use. Working in partnership with landowners, this project will help close funding gaps and provide a pathway for families to retain ownership while voluntarily protecting critical lands near the park by permanently retiring them from development with a conservation easement. Contributions to this project will leverage participation by other organizations and government agencies in conservation efforts to protect the most critical lands in and adjacent to the park. This initiative will provide targeted funding to fully leverage federal, state, and private sources— protecting the greater Zion
landscape and our western heritage forever.