Date of Award

8-2018

Degree Type

Report

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning

Committee Chair(s)

Barty Warren-Kretzschmar

Committee

Barty Warren-Kretzschmar

Committee

Keith Christensen

Committee

Karen Beard

Abstract

Forests, wetlands, grasslands, lakes and deserts make up the natural lands that humans and nature rely on. In the Bear River Range, these lands are becoming smaller and more disconnected due to residential and commercial development, agriculture, energy production and transportation corridors. In addition, natural lands are owned and managed by a variety of groups representing different values, priorities and traditions. For large-scale conservation to be successful, it needs to incorporate multiple priorities. The purpose of this study was to provide a process for identifying the remaining network of natural lands within the Bear River Range that indicate high ecological value and to identify natural lands within the network that multiple stakeholders agree are important for conserving. Using the green infrastructure and bioregional planning processes, three stakeholders groups—planners, ranchers and environmentalists—were interviewed to identify and assess the landscape based on their group’s priorities. Geospatial modeling was then used to develop three stakeholder green infrastructure networks and to identify areas of consensus among the groups. This process provided a method for identified regionally important networks of natural lands for each stakeholder group and areas of consensus between the groups.

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