Local governments and citizen groups are becoming increasingly concerned with the effects of urbanization, especially as it relates to loss of wildlife habitat. The Sonoran Desert Protection Plan (SDPP) is a citizen-initiated planning effort to develop a regional reserve system that protects biotic communities unique to the Sonoran Desert. SDPP objectives include using GIS to identify and map areas of high biological resource value in a cost-surface modeling environment. I will describe an intuitive, transportable methodology developed to form the foundation of a community-based conservation plan. The results reflect both community and biologic values in identifying areas important for conservation.