Ure Ranch Property

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Summit County embraces growth thoughtfully and with integrity by upholding community values. The Ure Ranch is an 834-acre family farm located in the Kamas Valley.  In the spring of 2023, Summit County entered into an option agreement  to purchase the property from the Ure family, who chose the County as the optimal owner and steward of this land for future generations. Support for this purchase came from the Summit County Council, leadership, and community members who expressed a clear desire to preserve the Kamas Meadows and protect its aquifer. The property marks the gateway to the Uinta Mountains and the neighboring cities of Kamas, Francis, and Oakley.

This website provides:  - An overview of the property   - Opportunities for the community to give input   - Details about funding for the land purchase   - A history of the Ure family and their agricultural heritage 

The total size of the Ure Ranch is 834 acres, but this area is not contiguous. There are individual parcels that span across both the northern and southern sides of State Road 248. The Ure property was first homesteaded in 1892. For over 130 years, the family has worked the land for dairy and cattle operations.

The property has a $25 million purchase price.

Unlike other Summit County open space acquisitions, the intent of the Ure Ranch purchase is to leverage dedicated  2021 Open Space Bond Funds  with other grant dollars by considering limited development opportunities and partnership endeavors to fund and finance the purchase. This transparent and intentional  land acquisition model  allows the County to exponentially amplify the impact of bond dollars to purchase and protect even more land.

• A portion of the land will be paid for using $5 million of Open Space Bond funds In 2021, Summit County voters passed a $50 million Open Space GO Bond to purchase open space, construct recreation amenities, and secure conservation easements across the County. The bond also pays for environmental and wildlife mitigation measures and related improvements.

• The remaining $20 million will be funded by:
  • The  Summit Land Conservancy,  through a partnership to leverage grant funds
  • Other State and Federal grants
  • Other partners and partnerships

With 130 years of active land use, a myriad of structures dating back to the early 1800's, and a history that is telling to the Kamas Valley itself, the Ure Ranch is a unique and different piece of open space. Unlike any other land purchased by Summit County, this Ranch yields ample opportunity for both land protection and continued working land utilization that will honor and elevate Summit County's agriculture and open space goals.

The County is committed to preserving and protecting its meadows, agricultural history, grazing utilization, and open space character in perpetuity. Whether by reducing density and limiting use by way of conservation easements, development deed restrictions, or controlled leasing, Summit County will be thoughtfully and actively planning the future use of this land while balancing the landowner's intent and our community's input.

• The County is dedicated to showcase the Ure family history through repurposing and utilizing existing historic structures to tell their story, keeping their history alive.

• Preserve the Ure Ranch's agricultural heritage and open spaces by prioritizing the protection of the Kamas aquifer while incorporating recreational opportunities and upholding working land values.

The County approved an updated Conservation Use Plan on September 18, 2024. The meeting minutes including a  presentation and staff report can be found here .

• Through work that is credited to the Summit Land Conservancy, the County's goal is to secure funds that will permanently protect the 185 acres of the Kamas meadow located north of SR-248. See the area shown in green on the map below.
• There is no doubt that the future of the North Meadows is permanent protection. Using the authority of a conservation easement, this property will forever be allowed to be operated as a working ranch. It can be utilized for agriculture and grazing in perpetuity with our rural heritage and Kamas aquifer security in mind. 
• The easement will reserve one limited home site, reducing the density of the 185 acres from 12 units to 1 unit.

• Recreational Open Space means that a portion of the total open space can be improved or landscaped with the intent to be used for recreational activities such as gathering spaces, trailheads, and trails for hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, picnicking, and other non-motorized recreational use. This will also protect wildlife habitat and viewshed. This area is split into Phase I and Phase II.

• A Working Ranch is one where the primary economic activities are the raising of livestock, grazing, haying, or use for other primary agricultural income. Other uses for this area could include agricultural education and research, a ranching heritage museum, agricultural land leasing, and/or equestrian use. 

• Contains rare Histosol peat soil, reserved for Preapproved Wetland Mitigation Site. 

• Will serve as a land bank for future County needs. Includes the EVANS and PEAK properties. It can be leased to producers, sold to a conservation buyer, or held for future County parks or other open space desires. 

 Community Housing was dropped from the plan  at the Council Meeting on September 18, 2024.

We understand that decisions about this land will have lasting impacts. Opportunities for community input and feedback will occur in multiple phases. Input gathered will inform the activities and concepts presented at each phase.

James Ure Jr. was born in the County of Renfrewshire in Scotland on June 9, 1817 to James and Janet McColl Ure. He was the oldest of nine children. In 1849, his father, James Ure Sr., whose entire family converted to the LDS faith prior, moved with his family to the United States. They traveled by ship to New Orleans, then up the Mississippi River to St. Louis. It was in St. Louis that the James Ure Sr. family split ways: Several family members passed away on the trip up the river, James Sr. passed away and was buried in St. Louis, and Janet McColl Ure and several of her children stayed in the St. Louis area for the remainder of their lives. James Jr. and and several of his siblings pushed on to the Salt Lake Valley. James Jr. and his wife Janet Scott Ure built a home near present-day 600 West and South Temple, and James taught as a schoolteacher for many years.

James married his third wife, Elizabeth Jones, in 1868 just two months after her arrival from Gloucester, England to what is now Henefer, Utah. James and Elizabeth moved to Kamas in 1888 after spending around 20 years in Tooele, where they raised their four children. Then in 1892, James filed paperwork to receive the deed on 160 acres of farmland that were claimed under the provisions of the 1862 Homestead Act. This original acreage is still part of the present-day Ure Ranch and encompasses the property around Lambert Lane where the milk barn and most of the farm buildings are now located. James passed away in 1897, just five years after filing on his homestead. His son, James Jones Ure (who we will refer to as “Jim”), and his mother, Elizabeth, inherited the ranch. Elizabeth passed away in 1923 after staying for many years on the ranch. Jim and his wife Eleanor Peterson moved to the ranch from Marion. In 1926, they built the house that still stands on Lambert Lane. From this point on, they were the primary owners of the Ure Ranch as Jim had purchased his siblings’ shares of the property.

During Jim’s time as owner of the Ure Ranch, it was difficult to make a living just from the farm. For many years, Jim worked as the road superintendent in the South Summit District and was paid for road work completed. Eleanor stated in a short history she wrote that they would purchase about 1,000 chicks and 500 turkey chicks to raise throughout the summer. In the fall, they would process and sell the birds to valley residents for extra income. It fell to Eleanor to complete most of the chores surrounding these birds. At this time, the dairy was not large enough to earn an income from selling milk, butter, and cheese.

Jim and Eleanor’s stewardship of the ranch was relatively short because in summer of 1942, Jim died in an accident while working on roads in Woodland. Jim was driving a grader that was being pulled by a large truck. The chain attaching the grader broke and the grader rolled backwards off the embankment on the side of the road and tipped. Jim tried to jump free of the wreck, but could not jump far enough and was crushed by the grader. Their only son, Ed, was in between his freshmen and sophomore  years of college at BYU when his father died. He decided he would need to quit school and move home to help run the ranch with his mother. In October of 1944, Ed married Lou Jean Freestone of Ogden. Lou Jean’s grandparents lived in Kamas and she and Ed had met through them. Ed and Lou Jean purchased the ranch from Ed’s mother, Eleanor, and moved into the farm house that was built in 1926.

The Ure Ranch and specifically the dairy grew to the current acreage and scope that it is today. Ed focused much of his energy on increasing the size and quality of his dairy herd, joining the American Dairy Association and becoming a leading voice in the Utah dairy industry.  Most of the current farming structures on the ranch were built during this period of time (more on those buildings below).

The couple had seven boys that they raised in the 1926 farm house. Oldest to youngest, their boys are Robert, Paul, Dale, David, John, Kent, and James. As their sons got older, responsibility on the farm shifted to them. Robert and David and their families took over the day-to-day operations and both lived on the ranch. Robert built a new house and David moved into the farm house. Ed built a new home to the south of Robert. Ed passed away in 2010, leaving the Ure Ranch in the hands of his seven sons.

Jess Kirby, Director, Summit County Lands & Natural Resources 60 N Main Street - P.O. Box 128 Coalville, UT 84017 email: jkirby@summitcountyutah.gov

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