Why Water Belongs in Every Land Use Conversation
As someone who's spent years working with rural communities at the edge of public lands, I’ve learned that water access quietly shapes many of the planning decision we make.....
Gateway & Natural Amenity Region (GNAR) Initiative
What Is The Gateway & Natural Amenity Region (GNAR) Initiative?
The GNAR Initiative exists to help gateway communities, their regions, and the public lands around them, thrive and preserve the things that make them special – across Utah, and the Intermountain West. Our goal is to help community leaders and land managers prepare and respond to the numerous challenges facing them by leveraging our three pillars: research, education, and capacity building.
Our Three Pillars:
Check out our GNAR Network or Toolkit Pages for more info.
Our Top Resources:
What is a "Gateway" Community?:
Small cities and towns outside of significant natural amenities such as national parks, public lands, ski areas, and scenic rivers throughout the western United States are becoming increasingly popular places to visit and live. As a result, many of these "gateway" and natural amenity region ( or GNAR) communities grapple with “big city” issues, including severe congestion, lack of affordable workforce housing, and concerns about sprawl.
Read the Latest from The GNARly Blog
GNAR in the News:
How Breckenridge reserved almost 75% of its full-time housing for workforce
Jake Carter is only 27, yet he already owns a home in Breckenridge, Colorado, where the average listing price is $1.85 million. His two-bedroom condo is surrounded by trees, just half a mile from the ski town’s world-famous slopes. But Carter isn’t a mill...
Senate Republicans want to sell 3 million acres of public land
Over 3 million acres of public land could be sold in the next five years, after Senate Republicans on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee reintroduced land sales into the party’s major spending bill. Released on Wednesday night, the megabill text
Rural Remix: Getaway Episode 1 - How to Build a Recreation Economy
In our first episode we talk to a few people who study the recreation industry and how it intersects with rural communities. We start out in Montezuma County, Colorado, Ilana’s home in Southwest Colorado and also visit Monte Vista, Colorado, another small...
The GNAR Initiative is a program of:
