The Summit County government started what will likely be a multi-year process to restore wetland habitats on a portion of the 835-acre Ure Ranch property known as “The Swamp,” which was previously drained to accommodate grazing cattle.

“The beauty of wetlands are that they’re natural recharge areas for groundwater,” explained County Lands and Natural Resources Director Jess Kirby. “From the wildlife perspective, thousands and thousands of birds use wetlands every year as migrating stopover spots. We have the sandhill cranes that come through every year and so many other species that utilize these spots as they migrate.”

The Swamp covers approximately 20 acres of the overall Ure Ranch site, but only 3.5 acres are involved in the restoration process. Kirby said the Ure family, who owned the property before the county purchased it in an open space acquisition last year, built ditches to drain the area so it would be usable for grazing cattle.

“There is still a portion of that property that is ungrazable because cows just sink into the ground,” Kirby said. “When we took ownership, (the family) told us about The Swamp and the issues that we were going to have keeping it dry, so that caught our attention. It’s a wet meadow, so why would we want to keep it dry?”

Ecological studies of the property showed the presence of an unusual soil type called histosol, which contains 20% to 30% more organic matter than regular soil and is often found in wet or cold conditions. Histosols are commonly found in Canada, Russia and northern Europe, with the Florida Everglades serving as the best example of the soil type in the United States.

“We started thinking, ‘Well, wouldn’t it be great if we could bring this back as a native landscape?’” Kirby said. “What’s happened over time is a particular grass, which is not noxious but is not native, took over the entire Kamas Meadows. It’s called reed canary grass … and it does choke out a lot of the native species because it covers everything.”

Kirby said the restoration efforts could look concerning to those unfamiliar with the project because trucks and other equipment are on site. However, she reaffirmed the equipment is being used to remove reed canary grass, plant native species and fill ditches that were previously draining the wetlands.

She said there are currently no development projects on the Ure Ranch property, and the purchasing agreement only allows for the construction of a single-family home, an educational center and recreational trails.

“There’s a possibility we can still flash graze it once it’s established, but we need to take a couple years off to let everything get established,” Kirby said. “We haven’t done anything like this that’s so visual, and it’s a big project. It’s going to be over the next five years. It’s not instant, and stuff like this takes time to grow.”

The county hired water consultants to help with the project and protect neighboring properties’ water rights as the restoration progresses. But Kirby said restoring the wetlands should increase the area’s overall water quality.

“It’s counterintuitive because it seems like we’re holding back water, but we’re holding it longer in the system so that it slowly trickles out,” Kirby said. “Wetlands are also great for cleaning water because they let water trickle through different sediments in the ground, so they can really purify (it). It’s not only water quantity but water quality that they enhance.”

Bio-West, a Logan-based environmental planning and consulting firm, and WestWater Research, an Idaho-based economic firm focused on the water market, are also partnering with Summit County on the project, Kirby said.

Summit County acquired the Ure Ranch property in December 2025 for $25 million. The area is divided into five separate pieces, each with its own conservation easement: Ure North Meadows, Ure Homestead, Ure Recreation, Ure South Meadow and The Swamp.

Kirby previously said she expects the Ure Ranch to open to the public by the summer of 2027.

The post Summit County starts multi-year wetland restoration project at Ure Ranch appeared first on Park Record.

Sheila Probst Siggard’s big, red barn on nearly 8 acres in Midway has been in her family for as long as she can remember. All that time, it has been a muse for artists across the Heber Valley. 

During the Midway Art Association’s annual plein air contest, painters flock to the public roads surrounding her property to set up easels. There seems to be at least one artistic depiction of its two silos and Park City pine logs for each of the four seasons. 

“With all the development coming in Midway, I’ve thought about leaving, but I said, ‘I can’t leave my barn,’” Siggard said. 

The 73-year-old owner even considered having the barn moved to a new location, possibly by dismantling and reconstructing it. But Siggard has found another solution to preserve her barn: by establishing a conservation easement on her and her neighbors’ properties. 

The conservation easement, referred to as the Heart of Midway Project, encompasses more than 17 acres from four neighboring properties north of 250 N. and west of N. Center St.

Siggard’s idea originated when the city passed its first $5 million open space bond in 2018. It wasn’t difficult, she said, to convince her three neighbors to collaborate on the project.

“We’ve seen so many pieces of property get developed, and then there’s all the traffic and the ugliness of houses instead of a beautiful, open field,” she said. “We’re kind of old timers. We just love agriculture and hate to see Midway be destroyed. So, we want to help preserve it.”

The combined land value is appraised at about $5 million, according to Wendy Fisher, executive director of Utah Open Lands. The landowners are donating a combined $1.8 million of the cost. Three landowners are donating 25% of the cost of their land. Andrew Larson is contributing the full value of his 3-plus acres. 

“We’re not in it for the money. We’re in it for the preservation of the land,” said Phyllis Shelton, one of the landowners and Siggard’s cousin.

Shelton has been on board with her cousin’s plan since the start, agreeing before she’d even told her husband. She hasn’t had to do too much work, either. The effort has been “Sheila-driven,” she joked.

Siggard said she was the first to apply for funds for Midway’s first open space bond. In 2023, the Midway City Council committed $250,000 of those funds to the project.

Since then, the community Volksmarch fundraiser in September raised an additional $85,000. 

Midway passed its second $5 million open space bond in 2024. Fisher and the landowners approached the City Council on Tuesday, seeking $750,000 more for the Heart of Midway Project. The City Council unanimously approved the funding. 

“It’s pretty outstanding for a piece like this to be contiguous through this agreement of owners,” said City Councilor JC Simonsen.

The land is being preserved for its use by livestock and as an essential winter foraging ground for wildlife like deer. It is also being preserved for its open field views and the potential establishment of a public trail easement on Siggard’s property. The mapping of that trail will occur at a later date.

The landowners, with the assistance of Utah Open Lands, have to raise funds for the remaining $2.1 million value of the conservation easement. That could come from various federal, state and local sources, as well as private foundations. 

Fisher added that Utah Open Lands recently received approval for a Regional Conservation Partnership Program through the National Resources Conservation Service, which would have provided federal funding for projects including the Heart of Midway, but “claw(ing) back of funding” by the federal government has stalled the program.

Once the Heart of Midway conservation easement is established, the landowners will have the ability to continue to occupy and farm their land. Larson was also approved to construct a new home on his property, the details of which are to be determined.

For Siggard, finally establishing the conservation easement would mean everything. 

Her family was Swiss immigrants who lived in Midway for at least four generations. Her father raised beef cattle, and she has plenty of fond memories being his assistant, filling syringes for vaccinations and keeping the fire hot for the branding irons. 

“I remember one time there was an Angus cow. They’re very good mothers. … My dad got too close to the calf, and the cow started to chase him. My sister and I were in the barn, yelling, ‘Run, Daddy! Run!’ And he made it,” she remembered with a laugh. “Lots of good memories.”

The post Midway neighbors combine forces to establish a conservation easement on their properties appeared first on Park Record.

Midway farmer Randy Lundin’s great-grandfather established himself in the Heber Valley on just 7 acres in 1892. Today, 27 head of cows and calves, a handful of horses, foxes, coyotes, raccoons and the occasional mountain lion roam the now 119-acre property, which the Lundin family has fought to preserve through a conservation easement for the past four years. 

The process has been about as strenuous as the backbreaking labor the Lundins have performed for generations. But the project achieved a significant milestone on July 1, when the Wasatch County Council unanimously finalized a purchase agreement funding $2 million of the land’s purchase price from the county open space bond fund.

The Midway City Council in December also voted for funding its portion of the conservation easement, $1 million, coming from its open space bond fund.

The purchase can now go forward as soon as all conditions of the agreement are met.

The final condition is that the Lundin siblings settle a struggle over the property that has been in litigation since 2021. The siblings entered into a settlement agreement in May 2024 and have since been in negotiations to finalize it.

The next status hearing on the case overseen by a Fourth District judge is scheduled for Aug. 14.

The exact terms of the settlement agreement do not matter as long as they protect Wasatch County, Midway and Utah Open Lands, allowing the purchase agreement to go forward, said Wasatch County Deputy Attorney Jon Woodard.

As soon as the purchase agreement goes into effect, the Lundins will have three years to secure funding of the $4.5 million that constitutes the rest of the purchase price. They will be assisted by Utah Open Lands. 

Executive Director Wendy Fisher expected most of that funding to come from the National Resource Conservation Service. Utah Open Lands is also looking at other federal, state and local sources and private foundations, and is accepting donations.

“This was the first hurdle in what is still a long journey, so it’s been amazing to see the Lundins stay at the table,” Fisher said. “We’ll need every oar in the river to get this one done.”

If the Lundins cannot raise the $4.5 million after the three-year period ends, Wasatch County and Midway’s combined $3 million will be returned with interest, Woodard said. 

If established, the conservation easement would allow the Lundin family to continue farming the land while preserving it for future generations. 

“Development’s going on all around this, so there is a threat of imminent loss of the existing open space,” Woodard said.

The land is visible from Main Street in Heber City, Wasatch Mountain State Park and much of Midway, justifying its aesthetic importance, Woodard said.

Midway would transform a ditch running across the Lundin property into a public trail that would also serve as an emergency access and wildfire evacuation route.

Public access would also be allowed for educational tours, allowing residents to take in the echoes of the past found on the Lundin property, from a plum orchard the siblings’ great-grandfather planted over a century ago to the 10-by-10-foot brick homestead the siblings were raised in.

“It was warm in the winter. Cozy,” Randy joked.

He said establishing the conservation easement has taken longer than expected, but that he will be happy when it is finally established.

“This has been a long process. It has been emotional, and it has been trying, I think, for everyone involved,” Fisher said.

She added that the Lundin family is selling the land for less than it has been appraised for.

“This isn’t something they’re doing to make money. They’re actually going to be making a sizable contribution to the value of the conservation easement,” she said. “I think that needs to be recognized. All of these projects that we work on, really, they don’t happen unless the landowners love their land, and the Lundins love their land.”

The post Wasatch County commits $2 million to Lundin conservation easement appeared first on Park Record.

An unassuming 25-acre parcel near the intersection of U.S. 40 and Interstate 80 is Summit County’s latest open space acquisition, providing a buffer between the busy roads and surrounding neighborhoods in an effort to stave off controversial development proposals.

County Lands and Natural Resources Director Jess Kirby said it was a fast acquisition, with the county paying $3.5 million from its 2021 voter-approved $50 million general obligation bond for open space to close the deal for the Highland Flat property in 30 days.

“It’s a parcel that was identified in the General Plan for open space and recreation rather than high density housing, so when the opportunity came up, we decided to go for it,” Kirby said. “We worked with the Catholic Church, which owned the property, and they were very excited to allow it to stay the way that it is and be able to honor its use as a horse pasture.”

Kirby acknowledged the property may not seem like an ideal location for open space because of its proximity to major highways. But she said its placement within the county provides separation between the high-speed roads and developed areas, like neighborhoods.

“It’s really important to see that rural landscape as you’re entering and exiting our different communities,” she said. “It’s one of the reasons why we’re focused on the Highway 40 corridor, and this fits into that as well. We’re making sure that when you come to Park City, it’s not completely built out. You can see some relics of the open lands that used to be there, but we’re also putting development where it makes sense.”

Developers could be less interested in areas near parcels the county has preserved for open space and instead focus proposals on properties near existing neighborhoods or commercial centers, like Kimball Junction, Kirby said.

“We’re not just doing this (near) Park City,” she added. “We’re focusing on Kamas, Oakley, Francis and Peoa, trying to find those parcels to make sure that when you drive from one community to the next, it’s not a total bleed of homes or developed space.”

County officials are still working to determine what amenities, if any, will be installed on the property. Kirby said there have been proposals for a dog park, a trail connecting Silver Creek to Silver Creek Village and a “community benefit space.” 

However, she said the Highland Flat parcel is not a current priority, as the county is already working through other acquisitions and designing a recreation plan for the 910 Cattle Ranch, an 8,500-acre open space property in Jeremy Ranch.

“There could be small amounts of development on this property, and if that were to happen, we would find other funding to pay back the (open space) bond funds that were used for this,” Kirby said. “But it wouldn’t be high density in any way, and we would definitely limit it. We’ve been asked for a really long time to help put in an equestrian center for that part of our county, so all of these ideas are floating around, but nothing is concrete yet.”

Kirby said the county has spent $50 million on open space acquisitions from the general obligation bond since then, but officials have paired bond dollars with grants and other opportunities to help make the money stretch. She estimated there is $16 million remaining for future purchases.

“We’ve got a lot of properties in the hopper, but we’re still wanting the community to reach out to us if they have interest in putting their land in conservation, especially along the Weber River corridor and near the Kamas Meadow property,” Kirby said. “We’re still very interested in linking preserved properties together … but we’re continually trying to put as much open space as we can and agricultural land that we can under preservation right now.”

ColBreen PC LLC proposed an affordable housing development on the Highland Flat property four years ago, hoping to address the county’s need for senior housing and transitional living spaces. However, the Summit County Council and members of the public quickly voiced concerns about the location and scope of the project.

The County Council’s argument against the development centered on infrastructure issues and the developer’s desire to rezone the land to fulfill the company’s vision. Councilors were also apprehensive about an increase in density and traffic in an area largely dedicated to open space.

The application for a housing project on the Highland Flat parcel expired last year “due to inactivity,” according to the Summit County Planning Department. There were no new proposals for the property submitted after the application’s expiration.

The post Summit County buys Highland Flat parcel to provide buffer for neighbors, encourage development in other areas appeared first on Park Record.