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Summit Land Conservancy seeks ESAP funds for Lind property easement; committee approves contingent recommendation
Summary
Summit Land Conservancy presented a proposal to conserve about 99 acres in Camas Meadows and requested $250,000 from ESAP alongside approximately $2,000,000 in NRCS funds; ESAP approved the recommendation contingent on the county attorney confirming water rights will be made appurtenant to the land.
Summit Land Conservancy asked the Eastern Summit County Agriculture Preservation and Open Lands Advisory Committee (ESAP) to support a conservation easement on the Lind property in Camas Meadows, a parcel presenters described as about 99 acres with wetlands, springs and soils classified by the Natural Resources Conservation Service as soils of statewide importance. "They should stay heavily saturated, throughout the summer and even sometimes into late fall," said Lauren Page, conservation specialist with Summit Land Conservancy, describing springs that feed Thorn Creek and saturated fields on the property.
Kate Saddlemyer, vice president for conservation and legal counsel at Summit Land Conservancy, described prior transactions in the area and the funding mix for the Lind proposal. "Our ask here from ESAP is 250,000," Saddlemyer told the committee, adding the project anticipates roughly $2,000,000 in NRCS funding and supplemental county donors.
Board members focused questions on whether the property's water rights will remain tied to the land after an easement is recorded. "So they will be encumbered by the conservation easement," Page said when asked how the transaction treats water rights. County attorney Linda Vidi told the committee she could not answer on the spot and asked members to submit a written question; she agreed to provide a formal opinion to confirm whether the county's standard easement language makes the water rights appurtenant to the land.
After discussion, Rich Sontag moved to approve the Conservancy's recommendation subject to verification from the county attorney that the water rights are effectively tied to the land; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. The committee chair stated the recommendation had been approved and that further communications would follow once the attorney's confirmation is provided.
The packet prepared by Summit Land Conservancy also noted agricultural use (presenters cited the family operation and a lease to a local producer, roughly 80–90 head of cattle) and highlighted wet-meadow wildlife habitat values. Presenters said prior ESAP-supported transactions in the area include easements on the Andres and Maxo Meadow properties and the Marchant Meadows acquisition.
Next steps: staff will await the county attorney's written confirmation about the water-rights language and then move forward with the official transmittal to the county; ESAP indicated it will provide the approved recommendation to relevant county staff once the clarification is received.
