Portraits of Preservation: 35 years of conservation, one auction to keep Utah wild

The Provo River winds through autumn foliage beneath a fiery sunset in Heber Valley, with Mount Timpanogos on the horizon—one of many landscapes safeguarded by Utah Open Lands. Photo: Johnny Adolphson

PARK CITY, Utah — Utah Open Lands will mark its 35th anniversary with a “Portraits of Preservation” online auction May 12‑18. Executive Director Wendy Fisher calls this event “the engine that keeps this organization protecting land.”

Bidding begins at noon on May 12 and closes at 8 p.m. on May 18. Luxury getaways, outdoor adventures, original art, and restaurant packages will be available for bid. Proceeds will underwrite the appraisals, surveys, and legal work behind every new conservation easement.

Three and a half decades of conservation

Since its founding in 1990, Utah Open Lands has protected 64,000 acres across more than 120 properties. One of the first victories — the John D. Anderson Memorial Wildlife Preserve above Oakley — still safeguards the town’s drinking‑water source. “Bruce and Jan Manning chose conservation over development, and now Oakley bottles its own water,” Fisher said.

A spring-fed stream tumbles from the headwaters of the Oakley Scenic Preserve, a watershed Utah Open Lands has safeguarded since 1997 to protect the town’s drinking water. Photo: Utah Open Lands

Another milestone arrived in 2017, when the group led a $13 million campaign to protect the Bonanza Flat plateau after a Park City bond came up short. The land had been slated for 260 homes and an 18‑hole golf course. “If we hadn’t succeeded, that landscape would have been lost — and once it’s gone, it’s not replaceable,” Fisher said.

Earth Day lessons in resilience

A bobolink perches on a fence post in a Kamas Valley meadow—habitat Utah Open Lands protected in 2012 and where the species’ distinctive song thrives a decade later. Photo by Emily Ingram, Director of Conservation at Utah Open Lands

Fisher said Earth Day underscores how conserved land buffers climate threats. In 2012, Utah Open Lands protected a 150‑acre meadow in Kamas Valley; a decade later, the song of the Bobolink, declining for years, rebounded. “These species coming back to these pastures are a good sign. They are a barometer for our survival,” Fisher shared.

A greater sage grouse fans its tail feathers in an early‑morning display on the Henefer Divide lek, one of Utah’s most productive breeding grounds safeguarded by Utah Open Lands. Photo: Jim Shuler

Similar success stories include a thriving sage‑grouse lek near Bear Lake and rebounding Columbia spotted frog populations on two reserves along the upper Provo River. “One of the most productive sage‑grouse leks in northern Utah sits on land we’ve protected at the Henefer Divide,” Fisher said. “These birds will only survive if we safeguard the ‘dance floor’ where they strut and mate—it’s literally in their DNA.”

A male greater sage grouse struts at dawn on the Henefer Divide lek, part of the Charles Jewell and Erma S. Richings Ranch conserved by Utah Open Lands in 2007. The nonprofit’s easement protects this critical “dance floor,” safeguarding habitat for one of the West’s most threatened species. Photo: Jim Shuler

Stewardship amid Utah’s growth

Rapid growth has intensified pressure on open space, Fisher said. “The biggest challenge is ensuring the next generation is in touch with this legacy that’s been protected for them.”

Wildflowers blanket Bonanza Flat, the 1,500‑acre alpine plateau Utah Open Lands and partners saved from a 260‑home, 18‑hole‑golf‑course development. Photo: Utah Open Lands

Fisher also wants lawmakers to bolster the funds and commitment to conservation. People flock to the state for those very landscapes, she added.

“People come here — and stay here — because of the beauty and the recreation opportunities,” she said. “We’re at a tipping point and don’t want to kill the goose that laid the golden egg.”

The nonprofit defends its easements when necessary, even in court. “Even when it’s a powerful company or a government agency, we hold their feet to the fire,” Fisher said. “That precedent is essential—perpetuity has to mean something.”

Looking ahead

An in‑person Portraits of Preservation gala is planned for August. It will feature talks with ranching families and other partners and, if logistics allow, a liberty‑horse demonstration.

Juvenile saw‑whet owls perch in Owl Meadow, a 5.16‑acre stream corridor in Emigration Canyon spared from dense development by Utah Open Lands’ Owl Meadow Campaign. The newly protected parcel expands a 1,000‑acre conservation complex that supports nesting great horned owls, saw‑whets and hawks. Photo: Utah Open Lands

Fisher praised land‑owning families in Heber Valley, Bear Lake and Summit County for choosing conservation over quick profits and said other collaborations with tribes for returning culturally significant landscapes to Indigenous stewardship. “Those relationships need reverence, not perfunctory gestures,” she said.

She also encouraged community members to get involved. “We run a robust volunteer program with restoration days that range from weed pulls and trash pickup to raking and reseeding,” Fisher said. “There’s also our Conservation Ambassador program, where people learn low‑impact practices and give peer‑to‑peer nudges out on the trail.”

After 35 years at the helm, Fisher credits community support for every success. “I anticipate the next 35 years will be just as remarkable,” she said.

The auction catalog will be posted May 6 at utahopenlands.org.