Preserve Reaches Out to Public
Focus of Summit County Meadow, wetlands is educaton, conservation
By Amelia Nielson-Stowell
Deseret Morning News
SNYDERVILLE, Summit County — When Leland Swaner passed away in 1992, more than 300 homes were plotted and approved to be built on the site of his family's ranch in the heart of the Snyderville Basin — a high-altitude desert meadow full of meandering creeks, rolling hillsides and lush wetlands where moose, deer and red fox roamed.
Tom Smart, Deseret Morning NewsThe historic Wallin Farm serves as a landmark on the southwest corner of the Swaner Nature Preserve. The land is crucial to a variety of wildlife. It was a piece of paradise for any prospective homebuyer.
But it was a land deal that Swaner's wife and children did not feel comfortable approving. Instead, the Swaner family chose an unusual way of memorializing its husband and father: They preserved the land as 1,200 acres of open space.
For over a decade, the Swaners acquired parcels that connected to the ranch. Piece by piece, the land was secured with conservation easements and officially named the Swaner Nature Preserve.
Today, this nonprofit land trust is nestled in the middle of massive development. Housing units border the north, east and south sides of the preserve, and the popular Redstone shopping center and the Newpark Town Center sit on the west.
"We're doing everything we can to stay ahead of this encroaching development," said Colleen Rush, the preserve's executive director. "We don't pretend we're a natural forest far away from development. We're part of this community."
Associated PressAn artist's rendering shows the Swaner Nature Preserve education center, planned for completion in 2008. Now that the acquisition is complete, preserve officials are turning toward education. Part of that process includes simply letting people know where and what the preserve is.
The land spans both sides of I-80, and the historic Wallin Farm serves as a landmark on the southwest corner. The land is a watershed, and East Canyon Creek, Kimball Creek and Spring Creek run through the property.
However, few people know about the preserve, Rush said, and many think of it merely as fields and views. "But there's so much more," she said.
Education is also the first step toward restoring the wetlands and teaching community-based conservation, she added.
"There's a very meaningful and rich story that can be told about this ecology system that actually nourishes the preserve," said Leland Swaner's son, Sumner Swaner, a former wildlife and fishery ecologist who is president of the preserve's Board of Trustees. "We've been dying to tell these stories for years and years."
Tom Smart, Deseret Morning News Seventy percent of Utah's animals rely on the habitat provided by high-altitude desert meadows, but that type of land is available in less than 0.1 percent of the state, according to the state Division of Wildlife Resources. Much of it has been destroyed during the past 100 years because of agricultural practices, or it's been lost to developers.
Swaner Nature Preserve is no exception. The early ranching days meant the wetlands on the south side of the freeway were drained and filled. The preserve is in its third year of restoring them, a process that includes filling farming ditches and redirecting creeks.
"Managing our resources is half of what we do, and the other half is connecting the people to it," Rush said.
"Once we restore this, the potential for migrating birds is huge," she added.
Expansion plans include conservation research and an inventory of the preserve's plants and animals. Educational programming is also expected to grow, and the preserve is working with the Norwegian Outdoor Exploration Center, a Park City-based nonprofit group that provides leisure programs for adults and summer programs for low-income youths.
Deseret Morning News graphic The biggest addition to the preserve will be a world-class nature center, expected to be completed in 2008. Currently, the preserve's staff is housed in a small trailer on the east end of the property. The 10,000-square-foot center will be a new office for staff and provide exhibit space, a theater, observation tower and pier. Rush envisions the Nature Center as a museum-quality building with lots of exhibit space for touring artists and authors.
Park City manager Tom Bakaly, who is a member of the preserve's board, is leading a $10 million capital campaign to raise money for the center.
"It's an incredible asset there in the entry corridor to town," Bakaly said. "As you're coming into town, you see where the Olympics were to your right, then all this open space on your left. It's a neat thing to have."
The goal for the new center is a building constructed according to environmental-conservation standards, designed with the help of consultants from across the nation. Preserve leaders hope that groundbreaking will take place in the next few months.
"Our message is not this tiny little local message. It's national," Rush said. "Our educational message is why this wetland in the middle of the mountains is so important."
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