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.

Summit County and the Summit Land Conservancy have officially acquired the 835-acre Ure Ranch property in the Kamas Valley.

“On behalf of Summit County, I want to say how excited I am to see this precious land protected for open space and agriculture for generations to come,” said Summit County Council Chair Tonja Hanson. “I lived directly across the street from this property for 28 years. My fear was that someday, I would wake up and see nothing but rooftops across the beautiful Kamas Valley. With a conservation easement on this property, that will never happen.”

Conservation easements are voluntary legal agreements that permanently restrict allowed uses on a piece of property to further preservation goals and protect open spaces. County staff are now working to finalize five separate conservation easements on the Ure Ranch property alone: Ure North Meadows, Ure Homestead, Ure Recreation, Ure South Meadow and The Swamp.

Each will have a slightly different purpose. For example, Ure Recreation will be open to the public for outdoor recreational opportunities, such as hiking, biking and equestrian use, while Ure North Meadows and Ure South Meadows will likely be leased or sold to a farmer or rancher to continue functioning as an agricultural property.

The Ure Homestead will also be used for agricultural production and educational programs, and The Swamp is intended to “restore a meaningful and functioning wetland ecological system,” according to a press release.

“The Ure Ranch is big enough to give the Kamas Valley a fighting chance to remain rooted in agriculture,” said Summit Land Conservancy CEO Cheryl Fox. “Preserving it protects the long-term livelihood of local producers by creating synergies with other agricultural landscapes. We are grateful for our long-standing partnership with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, which helped make this project possible.”

The National Resources Conservation Service, which is run by the U.S Department of Agriculture, contributed $6.2 million to the county’s acquisition efforts. The Land and Water Conservation Fund similarly supplied $2.5 million in funding, while the Utah Outdoor Recreation Initiative contributed $500,000.

A majority of the funds — approximately $17 million — came from the Summit County government, however. The open space bond approved by voters in 2021 provided $7 million, and transient room taxes contributed $10 million. The county’s transportation budget supplied another $210,000.

“It has been an honor to work alongside the Ure family throughout this conservation journey,” said County Lands and Natural Resources Director Jess Kirby. “Their decision to choose conservation over development is a profound gift to both the land and the community. Our vision is to honor the family by shaping a future on the ranch that celebrates Summit County’s agricultural roots to inspire and sustain generations to come.”

Kirby said the county will spend the next year finalizing its recreation management plans, including a number of hiking trails. Community members will likely have an opportunity to provide feedback on the proposed plans by the end of spring.

The property is expected to open to the public by the summer of 2027, according to Kirby.

The Ure Ranch may additionally be the site of a reworked Gun Club Road in the future. The county is currently exploring an agreement with Wasatch County and Wakara to shift 200 South, more commonly referred to as Gun Club Road, to the northwest at Wakara’s expense as a solution to complaints from nearby residents about dirt and dust from construction traffic.

The agreement has not been finalized yet, but county staff are working on a revision based on feedback from the County Council, which reviewed the proposal last month. It is expected to be brought back for a final vote in the next few months.

The Ure Ranch acquisition had been delayed numerous times this year because of issues with federal funding. Specifically, a county staff report on the property in November mentioned the freeze on federal grant disbursements in early 2025, as well as the federal shutdown, which stopped the county from working with federal partners on obtaining necessary funding and appraisals.

Kirby said the property had been under option for 1,006 days before the acquisition was finalized.

“The Ure Ranch provides vital habitat for wildlife, including elk, mule deer and migratory waterbirds, such as Sandhill cranes,” the county said in a press release. “Its protection further contributes to the region’s scenic beauty, preserving wetlands and riparian areas and aligning with local and county land use plans emphasizing open space, agricultural heritage and mitigation of regional growth.”

The post Summit County closes on 835-acre Ure Ranch property appeared first on Park Record.

The Summit County Council unanimously approved two conservation easements on the Ure Ranch property last week, completing one of the final steps necessary to close on the 834-acre acquisition.

Conservation easements are voluntary legal agreements that permanently restrict allowed uses on a piece of property to further conservation goals and protect open spaces. The Ure Ranch deal, which involves multiple state and local agencies, requires the approval of specific conservation easements before Summit County can sign the paperwork and officially close on the property.

The two easements brought before the County Council last week were referred to as “North Meadows” and the “recreational parcels.”

The North Meadows, which are north of S.R. 248 and east of Democrat Alley, is the only section of the Ure Ranch property where a building may be allowed in the future, according to Summit County Lands and Natural Resources Director Jess Kirby.

“We did reserve the ability for one residential home to be built on this property if we were, in the future, to sell it to a producer,” she told the County Council.

While the conservation easement bans development and mining activities on the land, agricultural purposes are fair game, meaning the county has the option to eventually sell the Ure Ranch to a farmer, or producer. For that reason, the conservation easement explicitly allows agricultural activities, such as grazing and bee keeping.

However, most of the land will remain private, with only the “recreational parcels” open to members of the public. Motorized vehicles, including ATVs, are banned from the recreational parcels under the conservation easement, though.

Those parcels may additionally be the site of a reworked Gun Club Road in the future. The county is currently exploring an agreement with Wasatch County and Wakara to shift 200 South, more commonly referred to as Gun Club Road, to the northwest at Wakara’s expense as a solution to complaints from nearby residents about dirt and dust from construction traffic.

The agreement has not been finalized yet, but county staff are working on a revision based on feedback from the County Council, who reviewed the proposal earlier this month. It is expected to be brought back before the County Council for a final vote in the next few months.

The Ure Ranch acquisition has been delayed numerous times this year because of issues with federal funding. Specifically, a county staff report on the property mentioned the freeze on federal grant disbursements in early 2025, as well as the federal shutdown, which stopped the county from working with federal partners on obtaining necessary funding and appraisals.

Kirby told The Park Record on Tuesday that a majority of the county’s financial partners on the project have already released funds for the county to purchase the Ure Ranch. However, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is taking a little longer than expected to release its portion of the funds to Summit County, largely because the agency is working to get back to normal in the wake of the government shutdown.

The staff report said the Ure Ranch acquisition in particular was delayed by at least three months, and Kirby said the county now plans to close the deal in early 2026.

The post Summit County expects to close on Ure Ranch in early 2026 appeared first on Park Record.

Summit County’s efforts to acquire large swaths of land for open space conservation have been delayed time and time again in 2025. But with the end of the year around the corner — and the federal shutdown in the rearview mirror — county staff are confident they’ll close on both the Ure Ranch and 910 Cattle Ranch in the next few months.

“It sounds hopeful, but at this point, I’m kind of like, ‘Show me the money,’” said Summit County Lands and Natural Resources Director Jess Kirby. “We’ve been close so many times, so I’m not getting my hopes up, but I do feel like it’ll happen before the end of the year.”

The deal for the 8,500-acre 910 Cattle Ranch property had almost been finalized when the federal government shut down in October, with only the paperwork for the last appraisal remaining on the county’s checklist.

However, Kirby said the U.S. Forest Service was able to end the furlough for its senior appraiser about a week early, giving Summit County a small advantage in getting the process back on track.

“We were super grateful to the Forest Service for doing that,” Kirby said. “I’m not sure how they pulled those strings, but they did it, so that was great. Once that’s all done, then we’re good to go on the 910 Ranch. Everything else, all the other due diligence, has been completed.”

Kirby expects to close on the 910 Ranch by the end of the year, and she thinks it may be possible to close on the 834-acre Ure Ranch property in December, too. If the Ure Ranch acquisition isn’t finished by Jan. 1, though, Kirby said she’s fully confident the deal will be closed in the first quarter of 2026.

“We’re bringing conservation easements forward for approval at the (County) Council meeting next week, and that’s the last piece of the approvals that need to happen on the Ure Ranch,” Kirby said. “The other last piece we’re buttoning up for the Ure Ranch are the water shares and water rights associated with that property. It’s very complex, and there are three different water companies we’re dealing with … but we had that conversation yesterday, and hopefully we’re on the right track.”

The 910 Ranch, the largest public lands acquisition in Summit County’s history, has been delayed numerous times since it was first optioned by the county in 2023 using $15 million from a voter-approved general obligation bond. The U.S. Forest Service then awarded an additional $40 million grant to Summit County in 2024 to close the funding gap and allow the county to put down a total of $55 million as a down payment.

Obtaining the $40 million grant has taken longer than anticipated, though.

Last fall, Kirby estimated the county would close on the property by the end of March. But the date was soon pushed to August after the Trump administration’s federal funding freeze briefly halted acquisition efforts this spring.

The date was moved again to the end of September, and Kirby said she’d hoped to be finished by Oct. 1, the day the federal government shut down.

“I think the most unfortunate piece of it was that the shutdown cost us almost $500,000 in additional interest,” Kirby said. “It’s just silly, not even mentally, but financially. There are costs for these things.”

Specifically, Kirby said the shutdown cost the county around $350,000 in interest, with another $150,000 accumulated earlier in the year during the federal funding freeze.

The post Summit County to close on 910 Cattle Ranch, Ure Ranch after shutdown ends appeared first on Park Record.