U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service To Hold Public Meetings For Proposed Conservation Easement Program In Bear River Watershed
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) will host a series of open house meetings to provide information about and receive public comment on the Service's proposed Bear River Watershed Conservation Area project. The proposed project would establish a new 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 program in parts of Wyoming, Utah and Idaho. The program would allow the Service to purchase easements in the Bear River watershed from willing sellers whose lands provide important habitat for fish and wildlife resources.
Service staff will share information, answer questions and take public comments about the proposed easement program at the following open house meetings from May 16 to May 24, 2011.
The meeting schedule is as follows:
Cokeville High School
435 Pine Street, Cokeville, Wyoming
May 16, from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Beeman-Cashin Building
1200 Main Street, Evanston, Wyoming
May 17, from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge
2155 Forest Street, Brigham City, Utah
May 18, from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Cache County Fairgrounds
450 South 500 West, Logan, Utah
May19, from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Franklin Fire Protection District
55 West 1st South Street, Preston, Idaho
May 23, from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Bear Lake County Senior Citizens Center
115 South 4th Street, Montpelier, Idaho
May 24, from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
The meetings will give the public opportunities to learn more about the Service's proposal to purchase conservation easements from willing sellers whose lands provide important habitat for fish and wildlife resources in the Bear River watershed. Service conservation easements, in combination with easements acquired by partner organizations and other agencies, have previously proven to be effective tools for maintaining the rural character and agricultural land base vital to wildlife habitat conservation in other areas of the country.
Previous efforts by a number of organizations and private landowners led to the successful conservation of important wildlife habitat in various locations throughout the watershed. Using a variety of conservation agreements, The Nature Conservancy, Sagebrush Steppe Regional Trust, U.S. Department of Agriculture's Grassland Reserve Program and Farm and Ranchland Protection Programs, and private landowners have worked cooperatively to conserve wetlands and wildlife habitat in Idaho, Utah and Wyoming.
The Service is initiating a collaborative planning process which will include the development of an environmental assessment (EA) to analyze the potential impacts of a conservation easement program in the Bear River watershed. The open-house meetings are part of the scoping phase for this process. During this time the Service will work with county commissioners, the state governments of Idaho, Utah and Wyoming, conservation organizations, landowners, other agencies, and individuals to collect additional information about the Bear River Watershed Conservation Area project, wildlife and wildlife habitat, and the potential impacts of a conservation easement program. Following the scoping phase, the Service will complete the EA, the outcome of which will assist in determining whether the Service should proceed with the proposed conservation easement program, and if so, the areas that may be included within such a program.
For more information on the Bear River Watershed Conservation Area project, please visit: http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/planning/lpp/ut/brr/brr.html. To provide scoping comments on the proposed Bear River Watershed Conservation Area project, please send comments to brwca_comments@fws.gov.
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 program in parts of Wyoming, Utah and Idaho. The program would allow the Service to purchase easements in the Bear River watershed from willing sellers whose lands provide important habitat for fish and wildlife resources.
Service staff will share information, answer questions and take public comments about the proposed easement program at the following open house meetings from May 16 to May 24, 2011.
The meeting schedule is as follows:
Cokeville High School
435 Pine Street, Cokeville, Wyoming
May 16, from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Beeman-Cashin Building
1200 Main Street, Evanston, Wyoming
May 17, from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge
2155 Forest Street, Brigham City, Utah
May 18, from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Cache County Fairgrounds
450 South 500 West, Logan, Utah
May19, from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Franklin Fire Protection District
55 West 1st South Street, Preston, Idaho
May 23, from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Bear Lake County Senior Citizens Center
115 South 4th Street, Montpelier, Idaho
May 24, from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
The meetings will give the public opportunities to learn more about the Service's proposal to purchase conservation easements from willing sellers whose lands provide important habitat for fish and wildlife resources in the Bear River watershed. Service conservation easements, in combination with easements acquired by partner organizations and other agencies, have previously proven to be effective tools for maintaining the rural character and agricultural land base vital to wildlife habitat conservation in other areas of the country.
Previous efforts by a number of organizations and private landowners led to the successful conservation of important wildlife habitat in various locations throughout the watershed. Using a variety of conservation agreements, The Nature Conservancy, Sagebrush Steppe Regional Trust, U.S. Department of Agriculture's Grassland Reserve Program and Farm and Ranchland Protection Programs, and private landowners have worked cooperatively to conserve wetlands and wildlife habitat in Idaho, Utah and Wyoming.
The Service is initiating a collaborative planning process which will include the development of an environmental assessment (EA) to analyze the potential impacts of a conservation easement program in the Bear River watershed. The open-house meetings are part of the scoping phase for this process. During this time the Service will work with county commissioners, the state governments of Idaho, Utah and Wyoming, conservation organizations, landowners, other agencies, and individuals to collect additional information about the Bear River Watershed Conservation Area project, wildlife and wildlife habitat, and the potential impacts of a conservation easement program. Following the scoping phase, the Service will complete the EA, the outcome of which will assist in determining whether the Service should proceed with the proposed conservation easement program, and if so, the areas that may be included within such a program.
For more information on the Bear River Watershed Conservation Area project, please visit: http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/planning/lpp/ut/brr/brr.html. To provide scoping comments on the proposed Bear River Watershed Conservation Area project, please send comments to brwca_comments@fws.gov.
