Gift to Utah Open Lands Further Protects Iconic Property

March 18, 2025

PRESS CONTACT:
Wendy Fisher
Executive Director
Utah Open Lands
[email protected]

For Immediate Release

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 Land’s field station and for various conservation stewardship programs. 

This donation also results in Utah Open Land 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 Millenium Trial 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 acers 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 and Utah Open Lands is honored to be trusted with the ongoing stewardship of this property.” “We have received a $5 million grant from the Alternative Visions Fund for structural renovations needed to the Barn” said Wendy Fisher, Executive Director.  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, 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 Land’s 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. Future trails may be possible.  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 steam, ponds, expansive pastures and the historic dairy barn that are all part of the incredible scenic relief will not change.  “

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