At the hospital no one knew what was causing his brain to swell. Doctors thought it might be a tumor and feared brain damage. Tests included a spinal tap, and within four days the culprit was identified: West Nile virus, which had caused encephalitis and spinal meningitis.

By then Preston Young was unconscious most of the time. When the symptoms eased he was allowed to go home, where he lay in bed for a month.

"Just getting up to go to the bathroom, I'd be so exhausted I'd sleep for four hours afterward," Preston Young said.

Hillary Young said for weeks her husband couldn't speak or spoke with difficulty. He remembered faces but couldn't recall the names of friends and family. His mental capabilities have returned, but 15 months later he still suffers effects.

And if a project planned by the federal Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission is approved, before long there will be approximately 4,000 more acres of wetland near Preston Young's home, bringing mosquito-breeding habitat three miles closer to his parents' home and condemning the land on which he and his father run the last of their herd.

The Lower Duchesne Wetlands Mitigation Project, which has been in the planning stage for 12 years, has been managed by Ron Groves, currently a member of the Ute Tribe Business Committee. According to federal documents released in 2003, Groves surveyed 26 members of the tribe who had heard of the project and "requested information." He reported they were mostly in favor of the project.

The mitigation commission has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years for tribal officials to oversee the project.

Despite his experience with West Nile, Preston Young isn't angry at the tribe or anyone else; he and his wife mostly talk of how lucky they were to have good insurance and how much they appreciate loved ones and employers for helping them through the illness.

But he isn't happy about the federal plan to flood the land he ranches, either.

"Are they going to do something with (the seized land), or are they going to waste it like they did with my grandpa's?" Preston Young said, pointing out that the former Young Ranch hasn't absorbed a foot of irrigation water since it was seized 18 years ago.

The mitigation commission's Web site says there have been "difficulties in delivering water to the property." A separate document notes that wetlands around the ranch have dried up since it ceased operation.

Yet having the land wasted is preferable to a successful wetlands project, according to Preston Young.

"A lot of people I know have got (West Nile) and it hasn't affected them too much," he said. "But if people knew how bad it could be they would definitely not want something like that around. I guarantee it would change your mind.

"This habitat needs to be done, it's just in the wrong place," Preston Young said. "They need to do it some place there are no people."

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E-mail: preston@ubstandard.com