Protecting Our Environment

City staff members work with several regional committees, workgroups, and special projects to address environmental concerns, such as grading, open space preservation, trails development, and riparian habitat restoration. Development and implementation of the Virgin River Habitat Conservation Plan (VRHCP) is also underway.

Virgin River Conservation

The Virgin River is located in the tri-state area of Utah, Arizona, & Nevada

• It supports a variety of resource values including special-status species, riparian habitat, fisheries and wildlife, water quality, cultural resources, and recreation. Riparian communities, found along the Virgin River and its tributaries, have the highest species diversity of wildlife within the Mojave Desert Ecoregion. The riparian habitat type is extremely limited in this eco-region. The City is currently working on several projects and related planning efforts to preserve the integrity of this ecosystem, while securing the future development of the community.

Virgin River Conservation Partnership

• The Virgin River Conservation Partnership is a stakeholder group composed of federal, state and local agencies, conservation organizations, and other interested entities or individuals working to share information and make recommendations to planning efforts along the Virgin River.

Charles Hughes Middle School Mitigation Parcel

• This project consists of securing the boundary, removing trash and tamarisks, as well as other invasive species, and planting native vegetation; additionally the site must be monitored and maintained to limit tamarisk regrowth.

Virgin River Habitat Conservation Plan (VRHCP)

• The City and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), along with other governmental entities in the Lower Virgin River Basin, have sought to develop the Virgin River Habitat Conservation Plan (VRHCP), which would reduce resource management conflicts while providing resource conservation and community development.

Endangered Species

Two species of fish and two species of riparian birds, native to the Virgin River Basin in Nevada, have been warranted for protection under the endangered species act and are covered under the VRHCP:

• Virgin River chub (Gila seminuda)
• Woundfin (Plagopterus argentissimus)
• Yuma clapper rail (Rallus longirostris yumanensis)
• Southwestern willow flycatcher(Empidonax traillii extimus)

What is a Habitat Conservation Plan?

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