Utah Open Lands

Utah Open Lands As the first statewide land trust in Utah, we protect and preserve open space. Over 64,000 acres and counting.

06/08/2026

This last Saturday we parterned with for a stewardship day at Clark Ranch Preserve.

This Saturday, we're teaming up with at Clark Ranch Preserve, which was permanently protected in December of last year....
06/03/2026

This Saturday, we're teaming up with at Clark Ranch Preserve, which was permanently protected in December of last year.

The property includes 340 acres of sagebrush steppe, aspen forests, wet meadows, riparian habitat, and a trail system that connects people to the landscape.

We'll be pulling invasive weeds, picking up trash, and doing a little dirt work along the trail system.

Whether you're a trail lover, a conservation supporter, or just someone who enjoys spending time outside, we'd love to have you join us. PLEASE RSVP by going here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/954848377086322?active_tab=about

Please bring water, sun protection, closed-toe shoes, and work gloves if you have them. Work tools and instruction will be provided on-site.

Mountain Trails will be providing coffee from Silver King and bagels from Wasatch Bagel to help get the day started.

Saturday, June 6
8:00 AM – 12:30 PM
Clark Ranch / Sparky Trailhead, Richardson Flat
https://maps.app.goo.gl/fHc4zosLDCzMy2Fr5
40.672688051437056, -111.45419971721111

Come spend a few hours helping connect and care for a recently protected place.

This year’s short winter changed the rhythm of the mountains. Snowmelt arrived far earlier than usual, trails dried out ...
05/28/2026

This year’s short winter changed the rhythm of the mountains. Snowmelt arrived far earlier than usual, trails dried out faster, and people returned to higher elevations weeks ahead of what wildlife typically experiences.

Protecting landscapes also means protecting the life that lives there.

Human disruption during breeding and nesting season carries real consequences for wildlife. Closures of areas like the Bonanza Loop Trail help give animals the quiet space they need during calving, fawning, and nesting season.

This asks something of us, especially in higher-elevation areas and known wildlife habitat: giving wildlife the space they need, keeping dogs leashed where required, respecting closures, and remembering that our access is only a small part of any landscape’s story.

Thank you for being aware of the creatures that share this land with us.

Bonanza Loop Trail will open up again on July 1st.

Got your attention did we? If this sounds exciting to you go to utahopenlands.org. Travel to the “Get Involved” Tab and ...
05/19/2026

Got your attention did we?

If this sounds exciting to you go to utahopenlands.org. Travel to the “Get Involved” Tab and click on “Job Posts” listed in the dropdown menu. You’ll know what to do next.

We’re excited to meet you!

This August, we’ll gather on protected land to celebrate the places that shape our lives: the open spaces protected beca...
05/06/2026

This August, we’ll gather on protected land to celebrate the places that shape our lives: the open spaces protected because landowners, donors, and Utah Open Lands chose to make forever promises together.

Save the date for the Portraits of Preservation Gala.
August 15

Go ahead and put it on your calendar.
Future you will be glad you did.

And this year, the Portraits of Preservation Online Auction will happen the same week as the gala. More details soon.

Earth Day had everyone talking last week.About the planet.Conservation.Stewardship.What it means to care for the places ...
04/30/2026

Earth Day had everyone talking last week.

About the planet.
Conservation.
Stewardship.
What it means to care for the places that care for us.

So yes, we love Earth Day.

It gives us a chance to gather with our community and focus on the things we care about every day: land, water, wildlife, open space, and the responsibility we share for all of it.

Here’s what that looked like for us this month.

April 10–12, we were in Moab for the Spring Spruce-Up, with a day at Castleton Tower and visits to other protected properties in the area, checking in on conserved land and the promises attached to it.

On April 23, we were at the Cottonwood Heights Bonneville Shoreline Trail, giving the land a little love. We pulled invasive weeds, raked out social trails, and reseeded wherever we weeded or saw bare ground. We’re grateful to our volunteers and friends at Cottonwood Heights Parks, Trails, and Open Space.

On April 25, we were right next to Hi Ute at the Wildfire Preparedness Fair, talking about wildfire risk, the wildland-urban interface, and how stewardship can help reduce that risk.

In between, Emily and the stewardship team have been out across many other landscapes.

Different places. Different days. Same mission.

When we were at the fair, many conversations came back to the same place: the Heartland of the Heber Valley. The future people are thinking about right now.

Utah Gives is happening now. Every gift helps move land protection forward through our Heartland of the Heber Valley campaign. If this work matters to you, and you don’t already give to Utah Open Lands, please consider a gift at www.utahgives.org/organization/Utah-Open-Lands.

Landowners choose conservation.Donors help make it possible.Every protected acre requires both.That’s how land gets prot...
04/22/2026

Landowners choose conservation.
Donors help make it possible.
Every protected acre requires both.

That’s how land gets protected. And how it stays that way.

You can be part of it by sharing our work, helping fund it, donating through our Utah Gives page, or coming out on the land with us to help steward it.

Tomorrow, we’ll be at the base of Little Cottonwood Canyon working on the Cottonwood Heights BST land from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. If you’d like to join us, email [email protected].

Happy Earth Day.

Earth Day is this week.Maybe you have been thinking about how you want to take part. Maybe you want to do something that...
04/22/2026

Earth Day is this week.

Maybe you have been thinking about how you want to take part. Maybe you want to do something that feels worthwhile and are not quite sure what that looks like this year.

Here are three ways to get involved with Utah Open Lands.

1- Give through UtahGives
UtahGives is live. To donate, go to utahgives.org/organization/Utah-Open-Lands.
Every dollar we raise helps move current land protections forward in the Heartland of the Heber Valley. Protected land takes landowners willing to conserve it and donors willing to help make that possible.

2- Start your own fundraiser
This one is underrated.
There are probably people in your world who care about land like you do and just have not met us yet. Starting your own fundraiser is a simple way to bring them into work that matters to you.
Go to utahgives.org/organization/Utah-Open-Lands and click Fundraise to create your own page and share it with your people.
Questions? [email protected]

3- Come out on the land with us
Earth Day looks like rain, so we are heading out Thursday evening instead.
April 23, 5:30 to 7:00 PM
Cottonwood Heights Bonneville Shoreline Trail property
We will be raking out social trails, planting seed, pulling invasive weeds, and picking up trash.
RSVP: [email protected]
If you can't make it right at 5:30, come when you can.

We are grateful to have you as part of the Utah Open Lands community.

About once a month, we'll head to a different landscape in Utah that has been permanently protected through Utah Open Lands and the support of this community. Sometimes it is a service project. Sometimes it is a hike, a ride, or something else. We'll let you know where we are headed next.

Last weekend at the Midway Open Space Open House, presented a $33,000 check raised by the community through last year’s...
04/17/2026

Last weekend at the Midway Open Space Open House, presented a $33,000 check raised by the community through last year’s .

With additional pledges secured by Utah Open Lands, including UOL’s full $50,000 matching grant, that total grew to $85,374 toward preserving the Heart of Midway.

The Heart of Midway is one project within our Heartland of the Heber Valley campaign. It is part of the working lands, water, and open space that give this valley its character.

The recent protection of Flying A is one example of what this campaign can do. Other properties are still moving toward permanent protection.

This is how the work happens: a landowner chooses conservation, and donor support makes that protection possible. Every protected acre requires both.

We recently received a $2 million matching gift. It gives us a real chance to move current projects closer to permanent protection, while building momentum for other landowners who are also considering conservation. We need your help to meet that match and keep this work moving forward.

Make your donations at: utahopenlands.org/donate

Because open space is essential. To the land. To the people. To the future.

There are places in Utah that only stay the way they are if people choose to protect them.That doesn’t happen by acciden...
04/07/2026

There are places in Utah that only stay the way they are if people choose to protect them.

That doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because, at the right moment, people step in.

The question is whether we are willing to do what it takes to protect them.

Once a project is moving forward, the hardest part is often raising the funding needed to secure the protection.

That’s the work Utah Open Lands is doing every day. Not in one place, but across Utah.

We are helping move projects forward in places like the Heber Valley, the Moab area, around Bear Lake, in Utah County, and beyond. In the Heber Valley alone, we have multiple conservation projects already underway, and we recently secured a $2 million matching grant to help move that work forward.

You may be seeing something called Utah Gives. It’s a statewide day of giving on April 30, and early giving is already open.

Utah Gives feels fitting, because this work that we do belongs to the whole state.

If this work matters to you, this is one of those moments when a community helps decide what happens next.

We invite you to be part of that by making a gift here https://www.utahgives.org/organization/Utah-Open-Lands or sharing this post.

Address

1488 S Main Street
Salt Lake City, UT
84115

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

(801) 463-6156

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