A stretch of green farmland surrounded by growing communities can look increasingly out of place, but one Utah couple spent years ensuring their property would remain that way.
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property → surround → years
Sheri Schiess and her late husband, Boyd, worked for 14 years to preserve their 25.5-acre farm in Nibley, Utah, as development expanded around it.
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development → work → it
According to a report by Utah Public Radio (UPR), their effort ultimately resulted in a conservation easement with the Bear River Land Conservancy, permanently removing most development rights from the property.
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effort → accord → property
The agreement means the farm can continue to be used for agriculture, but it cannot be turned into a subdivision by Schiess, her children or future generations.
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it → mean → Schiess
A farm surrounded by development
The Schiess property sits at the corner of 4000 South and 640 West in Nibley, an area where development has been advancing.
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development → surround → Nibley
Yet the farm itself remains an open expanse of agricultural land, with hay grown on the property and sheep being fed from it.
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farm → remain → it
For Schiess, preserving that landscape is about more than simply keeping an undeveloped patch of land.
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preserving → preserve → land
She lives only a few blocks away and continues to use the farm as working agricultural ground.
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She → live → ground
She also uses wool from her sheep in educational activities, including teaching schoolchildren how to dye it.
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She → use → it
The effort to protect the property began years before the final conservation agreement was reached.
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agreement → protect → property
Schiess told Utah Public Radio that the process took 14 years and involved a lengthy bureaucratic process.
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process → tell → process
Her husband, Boyd, died not long after the couple entered the agreement in 2022.
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couple → die → 2022
The conservation easement now ensures that the land will remain protected regardless of who owns it in the future.
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who → ensure → future
Under the agreement, the development rights were largely donated, meaning the property remains privately owned while its potential for future development is permanently restricted.
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potential → donate → development
The Schiess property sits at the corner of 4000 South and 640 West in Nibley, an area where development has been advancing (Image Credit: Brock Marchant/
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development → sit → Nibley
How a conservation easement works
A conservation easement does not necessarily mean that land becomes a public park.
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land → work → ?
Instead, it places permanent restrictions on how the property can be developed while allowing the owner to retain ownership and continue approved uses.
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owner → place → uses
In the Schiess case, the land remains a working farm.
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land → remain → case
There is also no guarantee that the public will be allowed onto the property.
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public → be → property
That distinction is important because conservation does not always mean creating publicly accessible open space.
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conservation → mean → space
According to Utah Public Radio, Gabriel Murray, executive director of the Bear River Land Conservancy, said that some properties are better suited to remaining private agricultural land while still providing conservation benefits.
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properties → accord → benefits
Wildlife habitat and waterways can also be protected through easements even when the public does not have access.
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public → protect → access
The Bear River Land Conservancy, founded in 2011, uses government and donor funding to acquire development rights from properties in the region.
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Conservancy → found → region
In cases such as Schiess' farm, the approach allows land to remain privately owned while preventing future conversion to development.
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land → allow → development
Why Utah is using the approach
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Utah → use → approach
Conservation easements are becoming more common in Cache Valley as communities face the challenge of preserving open land while development continues.
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development → become → land
Buying an entire property can be considerably different from purchasing only its development rights.
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Buying → buy → rights
Christopher Sands, a member of the Cache Open Space Advisory Committee, told the Salt Lake Tribune that purchasing an easement essentially means buying the development rights off the property.
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purchasing → tell → property
That can allow public money and private conservation funding to protect more land without governments taking ownership of every acre.
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governments → allow → acre
Cache County purchased nearly 800 acres in the Sherwood Hills area in Wellsville in 2025.
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County → purchase → 2025
That $7.5 million transaction included 471 acres that were made available to the public, while another 300 privately owned acres were placed under a conservation easement.
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acres → include → easement
Park City has also combined outright ownership with conservation easements as part of its open-space preservation efforts.
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City → combine → efforts
City officials have said Park City owns thousands of acres of open space, while additional land is protected through easements.
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land → say → easements
A piece of farmland that will stay green
For Schiess, the result is particularly personal.
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result → stay → Schiess
The farm is part of her late husband's family's agricultural legacy, and the agreement means the open landscape will remain visible even as the surrounding area changes.
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area → mean → legacy
The arrangement also illustrates a broader question facing growing communities: whether preserving open land necessarily requires turning it into publicly owned space.
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preserving → illustrate → space
In this case, the answer was to leave the farm in private hands while permanently removing its development potential.
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answer → leave → potential
Schiess can continue growing hay and caring for her sheep, while the property remains protected for future generations.
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property → continue → generations
The agreement does not stop development elsewhere in Nibley, but it ensures that these 25.5 acres will not become another residential subdivision.
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acres → stop → Nibley
After 14 years of trying to secure that outcome, the farm has a future that looks very different from the development spreading around it: it will remain agricultural land, protected by a conservation easement that runs with the property rather than ending with its current owner.
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that → try → owner
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