KIMBALL JUNCTION, Summit County -- In the mid-distance, sandhill cranes survey a patch of ground from the vantage provided by their long necks and stiltlike legs. A host of other birds chirp and chatter, enjoying the moist spring day. A fox, still shedding its winter coat, skulks along a fenceline.
Highways, subdivisions and commercial zones encircle "the meadow" southeast of busy Kimball Junction, but wildlife seems to be doing well in Swaner Memorial Park and the as-yet-undeveloped open spaces adjoining the young reserve."We've seen an increase in the number of small animals," said Paula Swaner-Sargetakis, who grew up traipsing this stream-threaded rangeland. "The animals find out very quickly where they're safe.
"I'm hoping the frogs will come back," the spotted frog in particular, she said. "It's not on the endangered species list, but pretty darned close -- and everyone says they're gone because I took them all home with me" when she was a girl, Swaner-Sargetakis, vice president of the park's board of trustees, jokingly confessed.
Thanks to the Swaner family and other landowners and benefactors, 800 highly visible acres -- in the meadow south of I-80 and on the high-desert hills to the north -- have been set aside in quickly urbanizing Snyderville Basin, the gateway to Park City.
The land-trust board is striving now to protect the remaining 214 acres of undeveloped meadowland -- a goal that's just gotten a boost from an anonymous conservation buyer who, having purchased the 94-acre Mountain Meadows section southeast of the existing reserve, has agreed to donate it to Swaner Park.
"We aren't 100 percent done yet, but we are pretty darned close," Swaner-Sargetakis said.
To date, most of the park's land has been acquired or set aside through preservation tools like conservation easements and tax-deductible donations. The meadow's remaining grassy parcels, however -- a 22-acre section owned by the Park City School District and a prime 120-acre segment just northeast of the park -- will have to be purchased if possible.
As a result, the sanctuary is actively seeking donations in a major fund-raising campaign called "Preserve a Piece of the Meadow." Recent $1 million pledges have come from the George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Foundation and an anonymous donor.
The preservationists see it as a race against development.
"In fact, the Mountain Meadows parcel had a backup offer by a developer ready to begin work this year," Swaner-Sargetakis said. Another 17-unit project has been proposed for the acreage just to its north.
"It would be unfortunate to lose this," she said of the latter site. Kimball Creek meanders through the property, "one of the few places with the willows still on it. The cattle haven't knocked them down."
At one point, she said, it was calculated that instead of an open meadow the fields could eventually have been occupied by more than 300 homes.
Only 6 years old, Swaner Memorial Park is not a playground in the urban sense. Used by cattle ranchers since the mid-1800s, the meadow has been grazed and its grasses harvested for natural hay. Fences and ditches crisscross the land. A few old homesteads and barns still occupy its fringes.
Leland S. Swaner purchased the Spring Creek Angus Ranch in 1957. A foreman lived in "the big house," now north of I-80; the family sometimes stayed in rooms above the sheep and goat barn, "the little house," behind it, Swaner-Sargetakis said.
Besides frog-catching and meadow-roaming, there were sometimes chores to be done, she said.
"We'd be cutting hay, branding cattle -- all those memories you want to forget," she said. "It would take us two days to ride the fence line," checking for breaks and making repairs.
Yet she fondly remembers encounters with the natural world -- the springs that bubble to the surface in the Snyderville Basin; the early-morning fog that develops in the cool lowlands even in summer; the lively birds.
"At the ranch house we'd get the sparrows," maybe 70 to 80 birds nesting and bickering, Swaner-Sargetakis said. "It was deafening. Between them and the barn cats we could get some excitement!"
In fact, cranes and other birds will be a focus of attention from 8-11:30 a.m. Saturday, May 8, when the park will be one of several locations hosting Utah's 1999 Migratory Bird and Wetlands Day, noted Heidi Brett, the park's development director.
"We're calling it 'A Morning with the Sandhills,' " she said. "We're working with Bob Walters of the Division of Wildlife Resources. He'll be here and we'll have spotting scopes set up at the kiosk." (Bring binoculars if you have them.)
Swaner Park will be one of about 10 sites highlighting Utah's birdlife on May 8 and other dates during the coming month, noted Walters, DWR's Watchable Wildlife Program director.
The big sandhills will hopefully be the stars at Swaner Park -- but pointing out their presence is always an iffy proposition.
"I'm going to be crossing my fingers," Walters said. Naturalists and birders want to introduce the general public to these creatures, "to bring people close enough to see and to arouse their curiosity," but don't want to alarm the birds, who might subsequently abandon or neglect their nests, he said.
"The cardinal rule is to keep your distance and be heads up about whether you're causing a disturbance -- and to clear out if you're causing a problem," Walters said.
Events like this should help introduce the general public to the attributes of this nature park. For, as the high mountain valley fills with residences, the argument goes, open space becomes more and more precious. Safeguarding what remains of the area's wetlands, lowlands and uplands is the impetus behind the preservation effort.
After Leland Swaner's death, his family established the park in 1993, donating the first 22 acres and later contributing another 168. Other landowners and developers subsequently enlarged the preserve by more than 600 additional acres.
An interpretive kiosk on the park's north side is the principal structure on the site for now. A 1.7 mile path loops beyond it. A 10-mile trail system and modest educational facilities are envisioned, Swaner-Sargetakis said. Bird- and wildlife-watching, hiking and cross-country skiing will be the primary human activities.
"We want people to get out to see the wetlands and explore them," she said.
In general, however, the focus will be on preserving the meadow's sensitive ecosystem and returning it as much as possible to how it might have looked before cattle grazing.
"We want to take it back to the 1850s," before pioneers Parley P. Pratt and George Kimball arrived, she said.
"There's all kinds of animals here," Swaner-Sargetakis said, but few large mammals, "though we did have a moose come out here and take over the kiosk." Generally, big animals are discourged because of highway dangers. "We don't want to see them smashed," she said.
"We actually had the Museum of Natural History come and do some reports for us," a biotic inventory, she said. "We were amazed at the diversity."
The survey recorded 28 bird species, Brett said, from swallows and meadowlarks to hawks and migratory ibises and phalaropes. Mammals include shrews, voles, mink, pocket gophers and mule deer. Trout and wild grasses are being fostered in one fenced test project area.
The return of many creatures has been most encouraging, Swaner-Sargetakis said.
"This spring we've seen a lot of ducks," she said. "We saw a slight increase last year, but this year is just a major increase." Sandhill cranes, too, seem drawn to the basin's climate and open space in spring and fall.
"Once we had an occasional sighting; now it's just routine," she said.
Access to Swaner Memorial Park, the kiosk and trailhead is via the Kimball Junction/I-80 interchange. Head to the north frontage road, drive east and after about 1 mile turn south on Highland Drive under the freeway and once through turn right onto a dirt road. The kiosk is just ahead. No dogs, horses, bikes or motorized vehicles are allowed.