County Lands and Natural Resources Director Jess Kirby said ideas, wishlists and requests for the 8,600-acre property below Jeremy Ranch are already pouring in.
“We've been asked everything from Nordic ski training to cross country races to yoga retreats,” she told KPCW.
But her department hasn’t made any decisions and doesn’t plan to any time soon. Kirby’s heard from residents that the mostly untouched ranchland is “different,” and should be treated differently from other public lands.
“I've heard from folks that I know in the community who are very vocal on certain kinds of recreation say, ‘Look, this is not what I want out there. I don't want downhill mountain bike trails, or I don't want another Round Valley. I don't want trails everywhere. Let's do this one different,’” she explained.
Summit County began the purchase process last year, with $15 million in voter-approved open space bond money and a $40 million U.S. Forest Service grant.
The seller has long banned hunting on the property and kept it a de facto wildlife preserve.
And this January, Summit County is polling residents on how to balance land use, recreation, wildlife, education, and conservation. As a condition of the purchase, hunting will be banned in perpetuity.
A week after opening an online survey, Kirby said the county received 200 responses even without publicizing it online. That survey closes Jan. 31.
Click here for more information about the 910 Cattle Ranch.
Three open houses are also planned: Jan. 21, Jan. 30 and March 18. All are 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Sheldon Richins Building in Kimball Junction.
“The first two sessions will be similar,” the county lands director said. “We'll probably have some preliminary data from the survey that we can share, and we'll just have discussion boards. It's going to be a gathering of information and opportunity for people to ask questions.”
The third session will include some draft management plans for the public to comment on. After that, Kirby plans to present ideas to the Summit County Council.
The process will be slow, she said, citing other large public properties in New Mexico and California that took four years to plan.
“The one thing we don't want to do is purchase the property and cut the ribbon. I think that we would be doing a big disservice to ourselves to do it that way,” Kirby told KPCW. “I think we need to take this very slow.”
The ranch currently remains closed to the public. Residents must stay on East Canyon Road, which is itself closed to vehicles for the winter.
Aside from some illegal target shooting and fishing, Kirby said residents have thus far respected the rules.
Her department will add two employees in 2025, one of which will be a full-time ranger to patrol the ranch, educating people on and enforcing the rules.
