Often Mirr Ranch Group Utah ranches for sale are home to rivers that are designated as wild and/or scenic. In fact, the East Fork of the Virgin River and Shunes Creek, both which flow through Trees Ranch, were recently designated “wild and scenic.” What does this mean? This designation is actually granted by Congress or the Secretary of the Interior.

Here’s a little bit of history. In 1968, Congress created the Wild and Scenic Rivers System “to preserve certain rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free-flowing condition for the enjoyment of present and future generations.” According to rivers.gov, there are three classifications:

Wild river areas — Those rivers or sections of rivers that are free of impoundments and generally inaccessible except by trail, with watersheds or shorelines essentially primitive and waters unpolluted. These represent vestiges of primitive America.

Scenic river areas — Those rivers or sections of rivers that are free of impoundments, with shorelines or watersheds still largely primitive and shorelines largely undeveloped, but accessible in places by roads.

Recreational river areas — Those rivers or sections of rivers that are readily accessible by road or railroad, that may have some development along their shorelines, and that may have undergone some impoundment or diversion in the past.

For Utah ranchland for sale as well as other river properties throughout the United States, the intent of these classifications is to protect and enhance the values that classified the rivers in the first place. It should be noted that this type of designation does not prohibit development nor grant government control over the private property. According to the program, “protection of the river is provided through voluntary stewardship by landowners and river users and through regulation and programs of federal, state, local, or tribal governments.”

Look through photos of the Trees Ranch, one of our Utah ranches for sale, to see the “wild and scenic” East Fork of the Virgin River and Shunes Creek.