Historic North Summit ranch protected in 2,800-acre conservation deal

A view across East Hoytsville Range, where 2,800 acres of working ranchland have been permanently protected through a conservation easement. Photo: Summit Land Conservancy

East Hoytsville Range remains an active cattle operation as Summit Land Conservancy’s For the Future campaign surpasses 15,000 acres protected

HOYTSVILLE, Utah — A 2,800-acre working ranch in North Summit has been permanently protected from development through a voluntary conservation easement nearly 20 years in the making.

Summit Land Conservancy announced Thursday that it had completed the conservation easement on East Hoytsville Range, preserving agricultural land, wildlife habitat and water resources within the Upper Weber Watershed.

The property has been owned and managed by local ranching families for more than a century and remains an active cattle operation. The easement allows agricultural use to continue while permanently removing the property’s future development rights, according to the conservancy.

“The company was formed in 1938 to run livestock, and we all want to see that legacy continue for generations to come,” East Hoytsville Range President Kent Pace said in a statement.

East Hoytsville Range is owned by a company with 12 shareholders and their families. Pace said all of the shareholders agreed to place the land under a conservation easement.

“It has been a long process, but it has been well worth the wait,” Pace said. “We are excited knowing this land will remain protected and that future generations will be able to enjoy it just as we have.”

The easement is the 16th project completed through Summit Land Conservancy’s For the Future campaign, which launched in 2023 to accelerate land protection across the Wasatch Back.

The campaign has now protected 15,215 acres, according to the conservancy. The organization said the East Hoytsville Range agreement brings its total permanently protected land to 28,392 acres across northern Utah.

The project began almost two decades ago, when the ranch’s owners approached the conservancy about keeping the property intact.

“Conservation takes time,” Summit Land Conservancy CEO Cheryl Fox said. “It takes patience, trust, and a shared vision to bring landowners, partners, and funding together.”

The ranch contains sagebrush, scrub oak and native rangeland that provide habitat for elk, mule deer, moose, black bears, snowshoe hares, ruffed grouse and migratory birds, according to the conservancy.

The property also lies within a state-designated Greater Sage-grouse Priority Habitat Management Area.

Springs, seasonal streams and Spring Canyon Creek flow through the ranch before joining the Weber River. A culinary spring on the property supplies drinking water to the Hoytsville community, according to the conservancy.

The project was funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Agricultural Conservation Easement Program, Summit County’s Open Space Advisory Committee and private donations.

Fox said the federally funded project encountered administrative delays before it could close. She credited federal employees, the landowners and the office of U.S. Rep. Blake Moore with helping resolve the issues.

TownLift reported in 2024 that Summit Land Conservancy had received $19 million in federal funding to support the protection of more than 5,000 acres. The award came through the Natural Resources Conservation Service and required the conservancy to raise additional matching funds.

TownLift also reported in September 2025 that the conservancy had permanently protected 2,858 acres through easements on Marchant Meadows in Peoa and Bally Watts Ranch southeast of Huntsville. At the time, Fox said staffing changes and additional federal review had slowed some conservation projects.

The East Hoytsville project follows other efforts to protect working farms and ranches in Summit County. In 2024, the conservancy completed an easement on 96 acres of the Andrus Farm in Marion, protecting agricultural land, wildlife habitat and water resources in the Kamas Valley Meadows.

East Hoytsville Range is the first phase of a proposed two-phase conservation project.

A future easement could protect an additional 3,900 acres, bringing the East Hoytsville Range project to nearly 6,700 acres. That second phase has not yet been completed.

Owners of neighboring ranches are also pursuing conservation easements, according to Summit Land Conservancy. If those separate projects move forward, the conservancy said they could create a connected area of more than 12,500 protected acres.

“When we’re able to protect connected landscapes, the benefits multiply,” Fox said. “Wildlife can move more freely, watersheds function more naturally, working ranches remain viable, and entire ecosystems become more resilient.”

Summit Land Conservancy said it is working to protect more than 25,000 additional acres across the Wasatch Back.