Gift to Utah Open Lands Further Protects Iconic Property

 

Summit County, UT - Utah Open Lands is excited to announce that it has received a gift of fee ownership to 344 acres of the property known as the Hi Ute Ranch located just west of Kimball Junction. This donation includes the iconic Hi Ute Barn and surrounding ponds, streams, and the grassy fields of the ranch visible from I-80 and Kilby Road. This gift gives Utah Open Lands the right to utilize this amazing property in furtherance of its conservation values. Utah Open Lands intends to renovate the barn so that it is structurally sound, making a perfect setting for Utah Open Lands’ field station and for various conservation stewardship programs. 

 

This donation also results in Utah Open Lands having the ability to allow the Snyderville Basin Special Recreation District to finally complete the design and exact location of the northern section of the Mid-Mountain Connector Trail. Utah Open Lands is also contributing a $35,000 grant toward the building of the Mid-Mountain Connector Trail. Snyderville Basin Special Recreation District was previously given the right to locate the paved Millennium Trail on the eastern and northern boundaries of this part of the ranch and this right remains in place.

 

The portion of the Hi Ute Ranch being gifted is protected through a conservation easement placed on the property that assures in perpetuity the current natural view, among other things. This easement remains in place, unaffected by the current gift. The balance of the Hi Ute land, approximately 1,100 acres lying further to the south up Three Mile Canyon, was also placed under a conservation easement and remains in place, unaffected by this gift. 

 

"This is an amazing gift,” said Wendy Fisher, Executive Director of Utah Open Lands. "We are honored to be entrusted with the ongoing stewardship of this property." Once renovated, Utah Open Lands will use part of the barn, ponds, and surrounding pastures as a “curated” stewardship experience for regenerative agricultural conservation practices that increase biodiversity and provide a canvas for ecological, land management, and natural history stewardship and education.

 

Utah Open Lands is prohibited from allowing the donated property to be used for any purpose other than the furtherance of Utah Open Lands’ conservation purposes. Thus, the barn and the other donated fee property will only be available for limited, curated public engagement. The trails described above will provide for general public use. Additional trails may be possible in the future. The remainder of the ranch remains closed to the public, protecting critical wildlife habitat that provides a refuge-like quality for area wildlife.

 

Utah Open Lands will work through appropriate planning processes for the renovations of the barn and will work closely with the Snyderville Basin Special Recreation District on the location of the Mid-Mountain Connector Trail. "Our goal is to maintain the Hi Ute Ranch as the iconic open space that it has always been,” said Fisher. “Thus, the view of the stream, ponds, expansive pastures, and the historic dairy barn that are all part of the incredible scenic relief will not change.”

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