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MEMBER NEWSLETTER
UTAH OPEN LANDS | April 2026
A Different Kind of Spring
Photo credit Jim Shuler
Our winter was brief, too brief. Snowpack is our most important natural reservoir, and this year, too often, our higher elevations saw rain where they should have seen snow. Unseasonably warm temperatures haven’t helped. Snowmelt that usually begins in May started in March, and mountain passes typically covered in snow at this time of year are already bone dry. In many ways the impacts of our brief winter are just beginning. Less snowpack means less water. It means landscapes are under stress earlier than they should be, with a longer fire season already on people’s minds. These landscapes are not just ours to move through. They are crucial habitats. Deer, elk, and moose are nearing the season of new life. Birds are nesting. What feels open to us may still be a vulnerable time for them. Human disruption during breeding and nesting season carries real consequences for wildlife. Trail closures are not just about mud and trail stewardship, trail closures respect the cycles of life that are depending on us to practice restraint as an act of practicing resilience. This asks something of us, especially in higher-elevation areas and known wildlife habitat: giving wildlife space, keeping dogs leashed where they are required, and remembering that our access is only a small part of the story. We know there will be plenty of summer to indulge our natural connection to the lands we love. As we welcome this spring that seems more than fickle and less temperate we look to your enduring care of these places that together we have worked so hard to protect. Your stewardship is at the heart of this work and the stories that follow in this newsletter.
Flying -A- Ranch
Protected Forever
Nearly 60 acres in the historic North Fields of the Heber Valley are now permanently protected after four years of work. The North Fields are on a lot of people’s minds, and for good reason. They are under real threat, and they remain one of the Heber Valley’s most intact and important landscapes, recognized by the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) as Grasslands of Special Significance. Real preservation takes real people. Time and again, that is where you have stepped forward to help make land protection possible. For the Giles family, protecting their Flying A Ranch brings real peace of mind. As Chadd Giles said of his father, Alan, “Dad’s real glad this is done. He’s sleeping better now that it is protected.” Now the family can turn its full attention back to what it loves: working the land with the knowledge that its future is secure. To you, our passionate supporters, we say: be proud. You helped make this possible. More than that, it reflects something deeper. You believe places like this matter, and that their future is worth showing up for.
Heartland of the Heber Valley Gains Momentum
A $2 million matching gift has been committed to the Heartland of the Heber Valley campaign. It is a strong start and a clear signal that people are stepping forward for the future of this valley. As our Executive Director Wendy Fisher put it, “The $2 million matching gift demonstrates the power of people coming to the table to save what they care about.” And like every land protection effort, it moves forward because people decide places like this are worth showing up for. Our Heartland of the Heber Valley work focuses on protecting the lands, water, and open space that shape the Heber Valley, and impact water for the Wasatch Front. Growth is accelerating and development pressures like UDOT’s preferred bypass route are very real. The North Fields are central to this work. They remain one of the valley’s most intact natural systems, supporting water, habitat, agriculture, and the broader ecological health of the region. At a time when drought is back on people’s minds, protecting landscapes like these is about safeguarding crucial water systems that we depend on. In 2023, Utah Open Lands reached out to NRCS and the Utah State Technical Committee to request recognition of the North Fields as both Grasslands of Special Significance and a unique and highly sensitive natural resource. That designation affirmed what many here already knew and opened a stronger path to funding for conservation. That groundwork is starting to pay off. Momentum is building. The $2 million matching gift is a strong start. But it is only part of what it will take to protect the lands we are actively working on now, and the many more that will follow. You can be part of that work. Give directly on our website, or reach out to Josh to start a conversation about a larger or more specific gift.
Learn more: Read the TownLift story | View the USDA/NRCS designation letter
For Earth Day, Support What Lasts
Photo credit Martin Van Hemert
The Utah Open Lands community doesn’t treat Earth Day as just one day. This year, we’re taking part in something new: UTAHGIVES, a statewide day of giving for nonprofits across Utah. Early giving opens April 6, and the giving day is April 30. Part of why we chose to participate is the timing. It lands just after Earth Day, which gives us a natural way to connect what people care about—Utah’s land, water, and open space—with a direct way to support protecting it. If you’ve followed this work, you’ve seen what it takes. Protection doesn’t happen all at once. It takes time, trust, and the ability to act when the moment comes. Your support helps Utah Open Lands stay with that work, so that when important opportunities arise, there is capacity to carry them forward. There are a few ways to take part: - Give directly on our UTAHGIVES page - Share the page with friends or family who may not know this work yet - Start your own fundraiser and invite others into it Starting your own fundraiser is simple: - Go to our UTAHGIVES page Click Fundraise - Set a goal and add a few details - Share your page and help raise support We’ll be sharing more soon on Instagram and Facebook, including a chance to get out on the land with us this Earth Day. If you don’t already follow us there, now’s a good time.
Year of the Horse - What this work asks of us
Utah Open Lands landowner (pictured below) and Endurance Race Champion Crockett Dumas, a great conservationist who placed his Outlaw Trail Ranch under protection with Utah Open Lands in 2025
Photo credit American Endurance Ride Photographer John Dodson
Work that lasts in perpetuity, asks for trust, commitment, confidence, leadership, and compassion. The Year of the Horse values are deeply woven into our work of protecting open land, and into the stories you just read. You can feel them in land protected through years of effort, in momentum building around a larger vision, and in the care it takes to protect something meant to endure. To live with anything in a lasting way asks something of how we move through the world. That is part of why the Year of the Horse feels so fitting in this work.
One Last Thing
Save Saturday, August 15 for Utah Open Lands’ Portraits of Preservation Gala at Hi Ute Ranch. It’s going to be a really special evening—we’d love to have you there. Our online auction will take place that same week and will close on August 16. More soon.
With Gratitude
Thank you for spending a little time with us, and for caring about this work.
We’re grateful to be doing it with you.
Here’s to the Year of the Horse, and to what we’ll make possible together.