Confluence Park Land Disposal All Documents

Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) and Final EA available as of August 25, 2025.
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The Region 6 Office of Conservation Investment (CI) of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is seeking public comment on a Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) regarding the proposed disposal of a 1.457-acre parcel from the Utah Department of Wildlife Resources’ (UDWR) Confluence Park Conservation Easement in Washington County, Utah. Funding for the project administered by the Service constitutes a federal action subject to the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended.  

The conservation easement conservation easement
A conservation easement is a voluntary legal agreement between a landowner and a government agency or qualified conservation organization that restricts the type and amount of development that may take place on a property in the future. Conservation easements aim to protect habitat for birds, fish and other wildlife by limiting residential, industrial or commercial development. Contracts may prohibit alteration of the natural topography, conversion of native grassland to cropland, drainage of wetland and establishment of game farms. Easement land remains in private ownership.

Learn more about conservation easement is located approximately 1-mile west of La Verkin City and is managed for the protection of riparian riparian
Definition of riparian habitat or riparian areas.

Learn more about riparian and upland habitats associated with the Virgin River and its confluence with the Ash and La Verkin creeks. Region 6 CI has received UDWR’s notice proposing the disposal of a 1.457-acre parcel from the conservation easement due to the encroachment of surrounding residential development. If approved, UDWR will acquire 20.702-acres of equal habitat value that are contiguous to the existing conservation easement. 

The 149.4-acre conservation easement was acquired in 2002 by UDWR, in part, with ESA Section 6 Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation funds for the protection and enhancement of fish and wildlife habitat. Wildlife habitat within the 1.457-acre parcel proposed for disposal has been adversely impacted by surrounding residential development and no longer meets the authorized purpose of the original federal award. 

The Draft EA prepared by the Service and UDWR analyzes the environmental effects of the disposal and provides an opportunity for all interested stakeholders to review and comment on the proposed action. In the Draft EA, the Service concluded that the proposed disposal would not have impacts to wetlands, floodplains, or farmland; would not affect historical and cultural resources; may affect, but is not likely to adversely affect threatened, endangered or candidate species; and would not have any effect on the vegetation in the area or on local fish and wildlife or their habitats. 

Public comments will be accepted for a 30-day period which ends August 20, 2025. Copies of the Draft EA and Appendices, which include details of the proposed action, and the alternatives considered, are available online by clicking on the title of the document at https://www.fws.gov/library/collections/mountain-prairie-region-office-…. Those without internet access may request copies by calling the Services’ Office of Conservation Investment Program at (720) 654-6390. Comments will be accepted until August 20, 2025, and can be sent by email to: Jay Ogawa at jay_ogawa@fws.gov or via mail to: Office of Conservation Investment, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, P.O. Box 25486, Denver Federal Center, Denver, Colorado, 80225.