Transcript Utah’s Great Outdoors Open Space Project Institute for

The Challenge of
Meeting Open Space Needs
in Utah
Steve Burr and Dale Blahna
Institute for Outdoor Recreation and Tourism
Utah State University
Rapid Growth
Cities and
communities
experiencing
growth rates
exceeding the
national average
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A Number of Problems
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Lack of infrastructure
Increased cost of living
Changes in land values
Lack of planning
to manage growth
• Resulting environmental
and social impacts
• Perceived decline in
quality of life
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Certainly True
in the State of Utah
• High rate of in-migration
• Highest birthrate
in the nation
• Concentrated growth-sixth most urban state
• High rate of land
and resource use
• Poor zoning regulations
encouraging sprawl
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The State of Utah
A Metropolis
More than four-fifths
of Utah’s population
now lives in a metropolis,
--The Greater Wasatch-a ten county region of
urbanization.
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The Greater Wasatch
By 2020...
•67% increase in GW-1.6M to 2.7M people
•Adding 43,000 people
every year
•84% increase in
developed land
(590 square miles)
By 2050...
•Five million people
in Utah
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A Perceived Quality of Life
Amenity Values
Values placed on the
natural resource amenities of:
Clean Air and Water
Scenic Beauty & Aesthetics
Wildlife & Habitat
Outdoor Recreation
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Critical to These
Natural Resource Amenities
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Protection and preservation
of Open Space:
• Undeveloped land that retains most,
if not all of its natural characteristics;
or
• Land that is managed for the
sustainable development of
natural resources.
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Utah’s Great Outdoors
Open Space Project
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Purpose: Identify open space needs,
priorities, and initiatives for each of the
seven Planning Districts in Utah.
Focus on issues related to:
• outdoor recreation
• amenity values
• ecological services
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Utah’s Great Outdoors
Open Space Project
• Seek input from key stakeholders:
• land management and
planning professionals;
• state and local officials;
• community leaders and residents.
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Identify action strategies for
addressing open space needs.
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Utah’s Great Outdoors Open Space Project
Three Phase Process
1. Utah’s Great Outdoors Conference
2. Statewide Key Informant
Mail Survey
3. Public Meetings-Presentations of Findings and
Opportunities for Stakeholder Input
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Utah’s 7 Planning Districts
and 29 Counties
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Bear River
Wasatch Front
Mountainland
Uintah Basin
Central
Southeastern
Southwestern
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Utah’s Great Outdoors Open Space Project
Utah’s Great Outdoors Conference
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176 participants in 19 different groups
responded to these two questions:
• What are the most pressing outdoor
recreation and open space needs in your
region of the state for the next 20 years?
• What are the most pressing outdoor
recreation and open space needs for specific
towns and communities in your region for the
next 20 years?
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Utah’s Great Outdoors Open Space Project
Utah’s Great Outdoors Conference
Results:
 Question #1--414 items identified:
“Preserve the wetlands and wildlife areas
surrounding the Great Salt Lake.”
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Question #2--242 items identified:
“Small communities have insufficient funds for
purchase of critical lands or development of
recreation facilities.”
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Utah’s Great Outdoors Open Space Project
Statewide Key Informant Survey
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To further validate and prioritize the
importance of outdoor recreation and
open space needs for each Planning
District that were identified at the
Conference.
To obtain stakeholder attitudes toward
25 open space protection tools.
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Utah’s Great Outdoors Open Space Project
Statewide Key Informant Survey
Utah’s
Great Outdoors
A survey
conducted by
Utah State University’s
Institute for Outdoor Recreation and
Tourism
and
the Utah Division of
Parks and Recreation
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287 Surveys Mailed
182 Returned
63% Response Rate
Spring 1999
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Statewide Key Informant Survey
Results--Open Space Needs
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Statewide
• Cooperation/partnerships in planning for and
provision of open space
• Trails/corridors for recreation and access
• Education for children and adults directed at
proper use, minimizing impacts, and
importance of open space
• Developing access and managing open space
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Statewide Key Informant Survey
Results--Open Space Needs
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Northern Utah
• Water quality and quantity, wetlands, riparian
areas, and wildlife habitat
• Protecting access to mountain canyons
and public lands
• Open space protection in urban, suburban,
and developing areas
• Land acquisition-identification and funding
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Statewide Key Informant Survey
Results--Open Space Needs
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Rural Utah
• Long-term, reliable funding for development
and maintenance
• Long-range planning-cooperation and assistance
• Specific projects with economic benefits
• Community quality of life as one result of
economic benefits
• Historic/heritage sites
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Utah’s Great Outdoors Open Space Project
Public Meetings
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Present prioritized listing of outdoor
recreation and open space needs for
each Planning District.
Seek out stakeholder comments
on these findings.
Ask participants to identify existing and
potential projects addressing outdoor
recreation and open space needs.
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Utah’s Great Outdoors Open Space Project
Public Meetings
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Presentations:
• To approximately 350 individuals at 19
different meetings throughout the state;
• Association of Governments (AOG) meetings
in each Planning District;
• Travel Region meetings;
• City/County Councils meetings;
• Special Groups (e.g. Public Lands Forum)
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Utah’s Great Outdoors Open Space Project
Results of Public Meetings
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Over 300 specific outdoor recreation
and open space projects identified for
the seven Planning Districts in Utah.
A broader picture of the social and
political context in which open space
planning must occur in Utah.
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Utah’s Great Outdoors Open Space Project
Major Themes Evident
1. Two broad types of open space needs:
• Specific Purpose Projects
• individual trails
• visitor centers
• parks
• water projects
• heritage sites
• wildlife habitat
• General Concerns
• funding
• education
• partnerships
• planning
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Utah’s Great Outdoors Open Space Project
Major Themes Evident
2. There are two different orientations
toward open space values.
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Some major differences in opinion
exist between stakeholders in
urban/suburban and rural planning
districts regarding the purpose and
value of open space.
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Utah’s Great Outdoors Open Space Project
Major Themes Evident
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Urban/Suburban stakeholders emphasize
protection of open space for non-use or
intrinsic values, along with recreational
and access needs.
• For community aesthetics and amenities
• For controlling growth and development
• For providing ecological services
-wildlife habitat -wetlands/riparian protection
-water quality
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Utah’s Great Outdoors Open Space Project
Major Themes Evident
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Stakeholders in rural areas are more
concerned with the use value or
instrumental value of open space.
• To help meet local economic needs through
outdoor recreation and tourism development
• To retain public access for recreation
• To retain traditions of multiple use of
natural resources on public lands
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Utah’s Great Outdoors Open Space Project
Major Themes Evident
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Key challenge to successful,
long-term, statewide funding
and planning efforts…
…is providing opportunities to
enhance both the use and
environmental protection roles
of open space simultaneously.
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Utah’s Great Outdoors Open Space Project
Major Themes Evident
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Need to meet recreational
access/use and wildlife/habitat
protection needs simultaneously,
whenever and wherever appropriate
and possible.
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Utah’s Great Outdoors Open Space Project
Recommendations
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Linking these two orientations
is possible.
Will require an explicit and balanced
effort to bring these together.
Especially important to encourage
support and collaboration with rural
areas of the state.
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Utah’s Great Outdoors Open Space Project
Major Themes Evident
3. Open space linear corridors and
water-related resources are critical.
•Linear corridors mentioned most often:
-trails and paths
-bikeways -OHV routes
•Corridors implied by projects identified for:
-parkways
-riparian corridors
-riverways
-wildlife corridors
-canyon protection & access
-corridors linking communities & towns
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Utah’s Great Outdoors Open Space Project
Major Themes Evident
• Water-related projects are considered
important throughout the state.
• In rural areas, focus is on providing or
improving reservoir and river recreation.
• In urban/suburban areas, water quality,
wetlands/riparian protection, and wildlife
habitat are of equal or greater
importance.
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Utah’s Great Outdoors Open Space Project
Recommendations
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To enhance long-term benefits from
statewide coordination and funding
will require Specific Purpose Projects
to be designed to simultaneously
meet recreational development and
use goals along with natural resource
and environmental protection goals.
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Utah’s Great Outdoors Open Space Project
Recommendations
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Many types of linear recreation
lands and open space, such as
greenways, need to be viewed in
a wildlife context as providing
corridors for migration and access
to other habitat blocks.
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Utah’s Great Outdoors Open Space Project
Major Themes Evident
4. Funding, funding, funding…
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Stakeholders throughout the Planning
Districts view funding as a key role for
state agencies.
Not simply providing funds, but also
providing technical advice and
coordination for identifying and
acquiring funds.
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Utah’s Great Outdoors Open Space Project
Recommendations
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Provide a larger portion of funds to
rural Planning Districts.
• Distributing funds on per capita basis
is problematic.
• Many urban/suburban residents travel to
rural areas of the state for recreation.
• Tourists visit many of the rural areas.
• Puts a higher level of pressure on rural
resources and infrastructure.
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Utah’s Great Outdoors Open Space Project
Major Themes & Recommendations
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Long-term and consistent sources
of funding important for rural areas.
Long-term resource protection and
amenity/ecological service values
are statewide concerns.
Funding should be used to encourage
Planning Districts to help protect
these broader social values.
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Utah’s Great Outdoors Open Space Project
Major Themes Evident
5. Local Control--State Coordination
In general, stakeholders see great value
in statewide coordination of open space
planning and funding efforts, but at the
same time want to retain local control.
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Utah’s Great Outdoors Open Space Project
Recommendations
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Focus on projects that meet local needs.
• Large pool of existing and potential open
space projects in all planning districts.
• Priorities can be identified by
local stakeholders.
• Local needs should be a starting point for
statewide planning and funding priorities.
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Utah’s Great Outdoors Open Space Project
Recommendations
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But also emphasize that such projects
must meet broader state needs.
• Funding criteria should recognize both use
and non-use values of open space.
• Funding should help meet local needs as well
as broader state level needs.
• Open space planning and funding must be a
joint effort between local and state agencies
and stakeholders.
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Utah’s Great Outdoors Open Space Project
Major Themes & Recommendations
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Planning and funding criteria for a
project might include evidence that it:
• Meets both local and state level needs;
• Has local community support;
• Is part of larger scale planning efforts;
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Utah’s Great Outdoors Open Space Project
Major Themes & Recommendations
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Planning and funding criteria for a
project might include evidence that it:
• Meets objectives related to amenity
and ecological service values...
even if the project focuses on use;
• Is part of a collaboration or partnership;
• Has an educational component.
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Utah’s Great Outdoors Open Space Project
Major Themes & Recommendations
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New methods for combining human
values of open space and
wildlife/habitat protection in project
planning, funding, and
implementation are needed.
Will require more collaborative
efforts in social and ecological
research.
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The Challenge of
Meeting Open Space Needs
in Utah
Steve Burr and Dale Blahna
Institute for Outdoor Recreation
and Tourism
Utah State University
5220 Old Main Hill
Logan, Utah 84322-5220
(435) 797-7094
[email protected]
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