The ordinance the Summit County Council will consider approving creates a penalty for violating actions prohibited on conserved land.
One of the more recently conserved lands is the 910 Cattle Ranch, held under a lease agreement. Summit County has a 3-year option to fundraise $40 million more and purchase the 8,500-acre property near Jeremy Ranch outright.
According to the county’s contract with property owner David Bernolfo, hunting is not allowed on the property. The ordinance before the council would make hunting on the 910 a class B misdemeanor.
Ordinance 964 makes anything prohibited by a conserved property’s deed, contract, lease, covenant, easement or conservation easement a class B misdemeanor.
Without the ordinance, violations of those documents would be civil and not criminal matters. Bernolfo has previously taken poachers to civil court.
Summit County Chief Civil Deputy Attorney Dave Thomas noted that there is code allowing the state Department of Wildlife Resources to cite people hunting illegally on private property. State law requires the property owner to post no-hunting signage for the offense to be prosecuted.
The county’s new ordinance would mean signs about prohibited uses go up on conserved land. Destroying or tampering with those signs would be a class C misdemeanor.
There are more conserved lands than just the 910 Cattle Ranch, and they each have their own documents with prohibited uses. Not all prohibit hunting.
WEB ONLY: Other conserved lands in Summit County include the Toll Canyon Open Space, Gillmor Open Space, Hi-Ute Canyon Preserve, Pace Meadows Open Space, PRI Open Space and Lewis Park.
There’s no public comment on this or any other item on the county council’s agenda Wednesday. Other items up for approval include individual tax abatements and beginning road maintenance in parts of the Silver Summit, Kimball Junction and Summit Park areas, including snow plowing.
The meeting begins Wednesday at 3:40 p.m. at the County Courthouse on Coalville Main Street, and on Zoom.
