Open Spaces Initiative

NEW!! -- Wyoming's State of the Space report now available online!

Visit the Wyoming Open Spaces Initiative Web site.

The Wyoming Open Spaces Initiative is a long-term project that has spanned the last eight years and was designed to support working landscapes for agriculture, wildlife, and sustainable communities through applied research, information, education, and community-based decision making.

In fall of 2008, the Open Space Advisory Committee finalized a paper on the state's open spaces entitled, Wyoming's State of the Space. The report summarizes the Open Spaces Initiative's eight years of work, and will be an important resource for Wyoming communities as they address rural growth and development while working to maintain the state's natural heritage. The report will be released spring 2009 and available on this Web site.

Background

Most of us are aware of the changing western landscapes that have accompanied the growing population and the expansion of development onto lands that were once open space. Recent articles in several newspapers and magazines have profiled the population pressures and the conflicting concerns about preserving rural communities, agricultural open space, wildlife habitat, and clean air and water, as well as the concerns of private property owners who are wary of restrictions on how they use the land.

In Wyoming, many people have become increasingly alarmed over the past decade about urban and rural sprawl, the associated loss of open spaces, and changes in the tangible and intangible values that Wyoming's wide open spaces provide. Early on, concerns were triggered by observing the explosive growth in neighboring states, particularly the developments along Colorado's front range and those around Salt Lake City. But more recently the causes for concern have been closer to home, extending from the proliferation of 40-acre ranchettes around our southeastern communities to the skyrocketing real estate values and trophy homes in northwestern Wyoming.

To help address the growing concerns in Wyoming about open space loss, one of former Governor Jim Geringer's priorities was to provide information to citizens on available tools and resources for open space conservation. Under Geringer's Open Lands Initiative, a guidebook entitled Ways to Conserve Wyoming's Wonderful Open Lands was completed in 1997 and made available throughout the state.

These issues were the focus of a one-day forum held at the University of Wyoming in September 2000 entitled Wide Open Spaces: Conserving Working Landscapes and Wildlife Habitat in Wyoming and the West. The forum agenda included discussion on private initiatives to promote open space conservation; local, state, and federal land use policy; and private and public mechanisms to pay for open space conservation.

Following the forum, the Institute Board discussed potential ways for the Institute and the university to contribute to informing the debate and to assisting individuals and communities working on open space conservation issues. As a next step, we have compiled a bibliography of resources and selected references for open space initiatives. Over the next several months, Institute staff will be working with UW faculty and others to support research, provide baseline data and related information to the public, and develop partnerships with communities upon request.

Publications 

The Wyoming Open Spaces Initiative and the UW Cooperative Extension Service are producing a series of publications related to open space issues.  Copies can be obtained for no charge by calling (307) 766-5080, by sending an email to ienr@uwyo.edu, or online by following these links:

Wyoming Public Opinion on Natural Resource Conservation and Development (February 2008)

Population Change in Wyoming:  2000-2005-- (August 2007)

Conservation Easements:  Wyoming Update

Public Opinion in Wyoming on Conserving Agricultural Lands and Open Space (December 2004)

Second Home Growth in Wyoming 1990 - 2000 (April 2002)

Other related information and publications, such as the Cost of Rural Community Services and the Results from a Land Use Survey in Sublette County can be found in the Publications section of the Wyoming Economic Atlas.

"Perpetuity" -- What Does It Mean for Conservation Easements and the Wyoming Constitution? (November 2004)

Big Game Migration Corridors in Wyoming  (April 2004)

The Role and Economic Importance of Private Lands in Providing Habitat for Wyoming's Big Game (March 2004)

Conservation Easements: An Introductory Review for Wyoming

Supplement:  Recent Questions on Conservation Easements (February 2005)

The Role of Agriculture in Maintaining Open Spaces in Wyoming (September 2003)

The Cost of Community Services for Rural Residential Development in Wyoming  (December 2002)

Population Change in Wyoming 1990 - 2000 (April 2002)

Public Funding Mechanisms for Open Space Protection: An Introduction for Wyoming (December 2002)

Last Updated on 9/3/2009 2:12:19 PM