Utah Agricultural Land Trust outlines conservation easement plans, asks Cache County to help leverage federal and state funds

The Utah Agricultural Land Trust, a new nonprofit focused on protecting farmland, told the Cache County Open Space Advisory Committee on Sept. 22 that it has submitted multiple funding applications, won a $3,400,000 award for a West Provo project and plans to bring pre-applications to the county for matching funds and processing.

The presentation matters because the trust says it can help protect small parcels that face development pressure and that county matching or administrative support can leverage larger federal and state awards, including Natural Resources Conservation Service grants and LeRay McAllister funding.

Deborah Van Noy, founder and board member of the Utah Agricultural Land Trust, said the organization has “been awarded $3,400,000 in funding for a project in West Provo, which we hope to close during the next 12 months.” She told the committee the West Provo project is 20 acres with an easement appraised at about $5,800,000 and that the NRCS award requires local matching funds. Van Noy said the trust also has applied for funds from the LeRay McAllister program and the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF) and plans to seek “green belt rollback tax money” from Utah County.

Brian Nielsen, executive director of the Utah Agricultural Land Trust, described the group’s role in helping landowners prepare paperwork and applications and said the organization aims to serve smaller parcels in Cache Valley and other Utah counties. “My passion for preserving open land and keeping open land open land and helping farmers maintain what they have…is what motivates me,” Nielsen said.

Committee members and county staff discussed how the county pre-application process works and the timing of NRCS and state funding cycles. County staff described a two-step approach: a limited-investment pre-application that gives a project an initial endorsement from the committee and a stronger position when applying to NRCS, followed by site visits and a fuller appraisal and closing process. Staff also told the committee that UDAF has a loan program the trust described as offering modest short-term loans (the trust cited a $30,000 loan example) to cover appraisal costs, which the landowner pays off at closing.

Members of the committee and representatives from nearby municipalities raised specific project examples in Cache Valley. The group discussed four Cache Valley applications — three near Hyde Park that abut planned trails — and several projects in Clarkston and Trenton. Charles Wheeler, Hyde Park trails coordinator, described how planned trail corridors connect to the properties under consideration and said the trails plan envisions paths that “would go all the way to Smithfield,” linking local trails to the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.

Speakers pressed the trust on project timing and incentives. Van Noy acknowledged the spike in NRCS funding tied to the Inflation Reduction Act and said that timing helped the West Provo award, adding, “A year later, I'm not sure we would have gotten it.” Committee members asked about the trust’s geographic reach; Van Noy said the group will work throughout Utah and is already pursuing projects in Utah County, Sanpete and Millard counties as well as locally.

The committee and staff agreed on next steps: the trust said it plans to submit pre-applications to the committee on Oct. 6; county staff will prepare maps and a summary of existing conservation easements in Cache County for the committee; and staff will develop a draft letter and mailing list for a proposed direct-mail outreach to landowners in gateway areas. The meeting recorded no formal vote on any funding commitment; committee members characterized the presentations as informational and agreed to return with formal pre-applications.

The trust emphasized that the county’s cash open-space funds and formal pre-application endorsement are intended to be leveraged with larger outside awards, not to replace them. Van Noy said the trust’s approach is to educate landowners about conservation easements, outline costs (including expensive appraisals), and use available short-term loan programs to reduce upfront costs to landowners.

The committee scheduled follow-up work on maps, a mailer template and the Oct. 6 pre-application slot; no formal county commitments or votes were recorded during the presentation.