Some 330 acres of farmland that was considered for wetlands was instead sold to a farmer here.
However, the federal Farm Services Agency retained about a third of it in a conservation easement to protect waterfowl.The land, which had been lost to the Farm Services Agency through a foreclosure, was sold for $119,840, or about $360 an acre, according to county records, to Greg O. Jesperson. The sale was recorded March 26.
The federal agency had proposed transferring the land to the state Division of Wildlife Resources late last year as part of the Utah Lake Wetlands Preserve under the Central Utah Water Project mitigation effort mandated by Congress. Bill James, Wildlife Resources' CUP coordinator, said the division was put in charge of managing the conservation easement but cannot make any of the decisions regarding the land.
He said the price Jesperson paid was reflected in the acreage he'll be able to use. "He can use the best parts for grazing," said James.
The rest will be used as a habitat for the ringneck pheasant, nesting ducks such as the gadwall and migratory birds. He said the grass will be allowed to grow tall to provide winter shelter for pheasants.
Farm Service Agency officials gave Jesperson the right to put a road in to access his grazing land and is allowing the irrigation company to maintain a canal that serves the west side of Goshen Valley in an effort to be "good neighbors," James said.
When the federal agency was proposing to transfer the land to the state in a wetlands mitigation effort, county officials and residents were concerned the land would be turned into a wetlands. Less than 100 acres were already wetlands, however, and that portion along with a buffer around it fell under the conservation easement, said Steven Bartholomew, agricultural credit manager for the Farm Service Agency. The rest can be farmed.