Twelve other ranchers have expressed an interest in protecting their property from development with conservation easements, bringing the total to as many as 17 property owners with 11,000 acres on Kanarra Mountain. Funding for the first five easements is not yet in place, although the Nature Conservancy is working to raise the $3.7 million from private and public sources. As much as $12 million is needed if all 17 ranches are to have the easements, said the conservancy's Utah director, Dave Livermore.

"In this era of rapid development and every man for himself, it is quite remarkable that a group of ranchers would want to work together in this way to protect the summer range they love," Livermore said.

But some environmentalists say the Virgin River Headwaters Project is looking for additional money in all the wrong places.

A dangerous precedent?

Sen. Bob Bennett is seeking $2.8 million in federal Forest Legacy Program funds for the project, although there's no guarantee the money will be included in the Interior Department's 2007 budget.

Bennett, R-Utah, and Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, also are sponsoring the Washington County Growth and Conservation Act of 2006. The two lawmakers introduced the bill in Congress this past week.

The proposed legislation would sell off about 25,000 acres of public lands and use the proceeds for various conservation and growth-related projects in the county. The original draft of the bill included the Virgin River Headwaters Project as one of the benefactors of the public-land sale.

But the final version of the bill introduced in Congress includes no mention of the project. Various environmental groups, including the Nature Conservancy, had criticized the draft bill after it was unveiled in March. The Nature Conservancy cited "unacceptable water developments," among other worries.

Barber, of the Oquirrh Institute, said he believes that contributed to the Virgin River Headwaters Project being dropped from the bill.

"It's unfortunate, but I think the Nature Conservancy's position on the bill probably had something to do with it," Barber said.

Utah representatives with the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and the Sierra Club said they are wary of selling public lands to fund private conservation projects.

"While it's been said that some of the proceeds will go toward private conservation efforts, there's no guidance on where the money would go and no prioritizing of projects," said Scott Groene, executive director of SUWA. "In general, we're leery of selling public lands to meet other needs. We would prefer that Congress appropriate funds separately to fund those needs."

Lawson LeGate, senior Southwest regional representative of the Sierra Club, said the authors of the bill are "in grave danger of overreaching" in their attempt to solve a problem.