Summit County drafts phased recreation plan for 910 Cattle Ranch

Summit County’s biggest land purchase is turning into a public test of patience: the 8,588-acre 910 Cattle Ranch remains closed while officials decide how much access taxpayers will actually get, when they will get it, and what uses will stay off the table.

County officials outlined the first draft of a recreational management plan at an open house at the Sheldon Richins Building auditorium on April 24. The plan follows months of county and public input after the county finalized the $55 million purchase on January 27, 2026, using a $40 million U.S. Forest Service Forest Legacy grant and county open-space bond money. The Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands will hold the conservation easement on the property.

The ranch sits north of Jeremy Ranch and reaches toward Morgan County and the Salt Lake County line. County materials describe it as one of the last remaining contiguous undeveloped expanses in the greater Snyderville Basin, and a key link to national forest lands, state-owned parcels and protected private estates. County officials say that connection makes the ranch both a wildlife corridor and a future recreation destination, but not one that will open all at once.

Until a formal Recreational Management Plan is adopted, public access remains limited to East Canyon Road, which closes to vehicles every year from December 1 to April 30. The county has said hunting will be banned in perpetuity as a condition of the purchase, and the conservation easement bars nearly all development, including skiing, mining, deforestation, drone use and off-road motorized vehicles except on East Canyon Road. E-bikes are also barred for now except where ADA access or county rules allow them.

The county’s survey work suggests residents want recreation, but not at the expense of the land’s conservation value. Summit County received 1,380 statistically valid survey responses between December 21, 2024, and January 31, 2025. Wildlife habitat preservation ranked first at 28 percent, followed by open space and scenic beauty at 23 percent and public recreation opportunities at 23 percent. Nearly 800 respondents, or 58 percent, said they already visit East Canyon Road at least monthly.

That split helps explain the county’s phased approach. A county presentation said federal administrative delays pushed the project about four months behind schedule, slowing the baseline work, conservation easement, appraisal, closing and management planning. Officials have also leaned on seven stakeholder roundtables covering wildlife, conservation, recreation, watershed, ranching, education and forest management, along with the volunteer ambassador monitoring program that began in October 2023 and has logged more than 1,500 hours on the ranch. The county says the real question now is not whether 910 Cattle Ranch becomes public land, but how much of it can open without sacrificing the wildlife, scenery and long-term protections that justified the purchase in the first place.