Summit's 'crown jewel' gets open-space protection

KIMBALL JUNCTION — Beneath the bluest Summit County summer sky, three horses lift their heads toward a commotion just across their peaceful pasture.

Beyond their fields, just past an overgrown, spectacular wild rose bush and a stone sign to the horses' home, a group of reporters and community leaders gathered Wednesday for an announcement that guarantees scenes like this will be repeated forever.

Utah Open Lands Executive Director Wendy Fisher called it a "momentous day" and announced the protection of 200 acres of the historic Hi Ute Ranch through a conservation easement. "Utah Open Lands is excited to be able to protect one of the crown jewel ranches of Summit County," she said.

The easement allows the ranch to be used for ranching, farming and other historic uses but prevents this portion of the land from being developed.

Even as reporters met to hear about the open space project, development rolled along in Summit County.

Next door to the west, workers hammered away on a new Ecker Hill Middle School. Trucks bustled in and out of condominiums under construction up Kilby Road. A pickup dropped a load of boulders being used in a massive landscaping nearby.

In this scenic basin just off the Wasatch Front, homes, rentals and Home Depots have replaced pastures and fields.

"This is a momentous day in the history of Utah Open Lands and perhaps the state," Fisher said.

She called the preservation project an "heirloom" being passed on to the next generation — a generation she expects to accomplish more with open space protection than the current generation. "For they will know this is priceless," Fisher said, nodding to the scene just beyond the ranch's rail fence.

Summit County Commissioner Shauna Kerr has been a longtime advocate for preserving Utah's open spaces and is a member of the state's Quality Growth Commission, which provides money to local communities to plan for "smart growth" projects and open space.

"Working together we can preserve these open spaces," Kerr said.

The ranch is actually 1,500 acres in all, and the easement covers 200 acres including the majestic barn, the white corrals and pastures that stretch from the middle school on the west to a condo complex on the east. So Fisher said the public's view of the Hi Ute Ranch from well-traveled I-80 is safe, and the pastures and heritage of the property will remain unaltered and intact forever.