The vision of a wetland and upland corridor along the Great Salt Lake shoreline, preserved for resident wildlife and migratory shorebirds, is a desired future condition the Mitigation Commission set in its first Plan. The Commission is partnering with many government organizations, landowners, conservation groups, agencies and others to help make it a reality.

An example of this is the Commission's involvement in Davis County's planning effort that resulted in the Wetlands Conservation Plan: A Plan for Protection of the Great Salt Lake Wetlands Ecosystem in Davis County. The Plan was adopted by both the Mitigation Commission and Davis County Commission. It helps identify wetland acquisition priorities and provides important background for the more comprehensive Davis County Shorelands Master Plan. The Shorelands Plan is being uniquely implemented by each city in Davis County using innovative approaches such as transfer of development rights, which encourages open space preservation along with development, while compensating participating landowners.

The Commission funded a similar planning effort in Box Elder County. The Box Elder County Comprehensive Wetlands Management Plan was completed in August 1999. It was adopted by the Box Elder County Commission in August 1999 and by the Mitigation Commission in November 1999. The key Wetlands Plan recommendation - to develop a "Special Area Management Plan" (SAMP) for the Brigham City and Perry City area - is to be developed by Box Elder County and the cities through a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The SAMP process provides the opportunity to look at a contiguous area and collectively (with the public and landowners) determine those areas most important for wetlands protection and those more suitable for development. The SAMP includes strategies to mitigate financial impacts to wetland owners where the desired outcome is wetlands protection.

Drawing from experiences in Davis and Box Elder Counties, the planning process has been refined to also map wetlands and develop SAMPs for wetlands at risk to development in Salt Lake and Tooele Counties.

In Salt Lake County, the Commission partnered with Envision Utah to develop a Great Salt Lake South Shorelands Plan. Work on detailed mapping and a Functional Assessment was carried out through 2005. Based on the outcome of the Shorelands Plan, a SAMP and General Permit are expected by 2006 for the areas where wetlands are most at risk to development. In Tooele County, mapping and a Functional Assessment have been completed and a SAMP and General Permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was anticipated in 2005.