Nature Conservancy buys Utah land to protect rare poppy

ST. GEORGE (AP) — A 161-acre swath of southern Utah that was damaged by illegal off-road vehicle use will now be used to preserve a rare, endangered poppy.

The Nature Conservancy's purchase is the latest step in plans to create the 800-acre White Dome Nature Preserve south of St. George. Among other things, the preserve would protect the dwarf bear poppy, which only grows in Washington County and was listed as endangered in 1979.

The conservancy bought the land for $535,000 from the state's School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration.

"It's exciting to add more critical acreage to this preserve," said Elaine York, the conservancy's west desert regional director. "With each purchase and partnership, we move closer to protecting this unique Mohave Desert habitat for the plants, animals and the people of Washington County."

The preserve area falls within St. George city limits where it abuts the Utah/Arizona state line. In addition to the dwarf bear poppy, the preserve area is home to the threatened Siler pincushion cactus, the zebra-tailed lizard and the loggerhead shrike, a type of bird.

Most of the deal was funded by a grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and private supporters.

So far, about 350 acres have been purchased for the preserve. The conservancy says it's in talks with SITLA to buy an additional 300 acres.

Since its initial purchase of land in 2005, conservancy ecologists have worked to restore degraded habitat by compacting soils and planting seeds from native plants.

SITLA is an independent state agency that manages a checkerboard of 3.4 million acres of trust lands granted at Utah's statehood. It leases and sells the land for development to raise money for public schools. Proceeds of the Nature Conservancy sale will go into SITLA's Permanent School Fund, a perpetual endowment that annually distributes income to K-12 public schools.