Land Ownership in the Virgin River Basin

Land ownership, including the percentage of ownership by category, for the Virgin River Basin is shown in Figure 6.6-2.  The principal feature of land ownership in this basin is the large portion of land managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.  A description of land ownership data sources and methods is found in Volume 1, Appendix A.  More detailed information on protected areas is found in Section 6.0.4.  Land ownership categories are discussed below in the order from largest to smallest percentage in the basin.

U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

• 91.7% of the land is federally owned and managed by the Arizona Strip Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management.

• A small portion of BLM land is managed as the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument.  The basin includes the 19,600 acre Beaver Dam Mountains Wilderness and a portion of the 87,900 acre Paiute Wilderness, located in the eastern portion of the basin. (see Figure 6.0-14)

• Primary land use is recreation, resource conservation and grazing.

Private

• 5.0% of the land is private.
• The majority of the private land is in the vicinity of Beaver Dam/Littlefield and west of Elbow Canyon Road in an area known as “Scenic.”
• Land uses include domestic, commercial and agriculture.

State Trust Land

• 3.3% of the land is held in trust for the public schools under the State Trust Land system.
• State land is located throughout most of the basin and is interspersed with BLM and private lands.
• Primary land use is grazing.

Click for Figure 6.6-2 Virgin River Basin

Land Ownership

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