SNYDERVILLE, Summit County — When Leland Swaner passed away in 1992, more than 300 homes were plotted and approved to be built on the site of his family's ranch in the heart of the Snyderville Basin — a high-altitude desert meadow full of meandering creeks, rolling hillsides and lush wetlands where moose, deer and red fox roamed.

It was a piece of paradise for any prospective homebuyer.

But it was a land deal that Swaner's wife and children did not feel comfortable approving. Instead, the Swaner family chose an unusual way of memorializing its husband and father: They preserved the land as 1,200 acres of open space.

For over a decade, the Swaners acquired parcels that connected to the ranch. Piece by piece, the land was secured with conservation easements and officially named the Swaner Nature Preserve.

Today, this nonprofit land trust is nestled in the middle of massive development. Housing units border the north, east and south sides of the preserve, and the popular Redstone shopping center and the Newpark Town Center sit on the west.

"We're doing everything we can to stay ahead of this encroaching development," said Colleen Rush, the preserve's executive director. "We don't pretend we're a natural forest far away from development. We're part of this community."

Now that the acquisition is complete, preserve officials are turning toward education. Part of that process includes simply letting people know where and what the preserve is.

The land spans both sides of I-80, and the historic Wallin Farm serves as a landmark on the southwest corner. The land is a watershed, and East Canyon Creek, Kimball Creek and Spring Creek run through the property.

However, few people know about the preserve, Rush said, and many think of it merely as fields and views. "But there's so much more," she said.

Education is also the first step toward restoring the wetlands and teaching community-based conservation, she added.

"There's a very meaningful and rich story that can be told about this ecology system that actually nourishes the preserve," said Leland Swaner's son, Sumner Swaner, a former wildlife and fishery ecologist who is president of the preserve's Board of Trustees. "We've been dying to tell these stories for years and years."

Seventy percent of Utah's animals rely on the habitat provided by high-altitude desert meadows, but that type of land is available in less than 0.1 percent of the state, according to the state Division of Wildlife Resources. Much of it has been destroyed during the past 100 years because of agricultural practices, or it's been lost to developers.