LOGAN — Cache Valley is a delicate place.
Nestled within two arms of the Wasatch Range, the fragile constitution of the little valley, routinely referred to by residents and nonresidents alike as "God's Country," is now being tested like never before. Growing at a steady 2 to 3 percent per year, Cache County's population (now 96,000) is hitting urban markers with attendant consequences: big-box chain stores, air pollution, traffic problems and disappearing farmland.
"It begins to take away the individual identity of a valley," said Chris Coray, a former member of the Cache County Council.
All of Utah is growing, obviously, but Cache Valley is more sensitive to growth than other places. For one thing, those beautiful mountains bordering the valley on all four sides are extremely adept at keeping dirty air trapped inside. Logan and its surrounding communities produce relatively little air pollution, but it tends to stick around much more than in, say, Salt Lake City.
"Because of the geography we have, and those inversions, we get days where we're the highest exceedents in air quality standards in the state," said Jay Aguilar, transportation planner for the Cache Metropolitan Planning Organization. Wintertime is always a problem, but "haze is getting worse in the summer, too."
The valley also keenly feels any increase in traffic because arterials are in short supply. The vast majority of traffic funnels onto Logan's Main Street.
"It's bad," resident Kerry Bringhurst said. "During rush hour, forget it."
Aguilar says that "the perception is worse than the actual delays. Those haven't increased that much." But perception is important in a place where people come to live because of the unique mixture of urban amenities (Utah State University is located in Logan, and it's a short drive to Salt Lake City International Airport) and rural lifestyle.
"Cache County is at that point where we have to recognize that we're at a crossroads," said county planner Mark Teuscher. "You don't want to shoot the golden cow. The reality is, people are coming here because of that lifestyle."
For more than two decades, Robert Sidwell has lived in Nibley, a small community south of Logan, which until recently was a quiet, non-consequential place. But now, many longtime residents are disturbed by encroaching urbanity.
Nibley was the fastest-growing city in Cache Valley in the 1990s (more than 100 percent growth during that decade), and growth is continuing apace. Several years ago the main road through Nibley (an extension of Logan's Main Street) was widened and the speed limit increased. The removal of a line of large, old trees replaced by speeding cars was the result.
"It took a lot of beauty out of the city," Sidwell said.
Subdivisions are constantly popping up, and there have been disputes over putting pathways along the canals and, most recently, replacing the long-standing septic tank system with sewers.
"I was happy the way things were," Sidwell said. "It was a rural community. It was quiet. And now these things have to happen."
"Traditionally most of the growth has gone to Logan, but Logan just doesn't have much room anymore," said Larry Anhder, Nibley city manager and chairman of the Cache County Council. "It's just a natural thing that it will expand from the center out."
Fields and farms don't exist in Cache Valley just for the view. At $100 million in annual direct sales and many more in indirect benefits, agriculture comprises 30 percent of the valley's economy. Cache is the No. 1 producer of agricultural products of all of Utah's counties, something that its many city-based dwellers don't always understand.
"It is a greater and greater challenge to help people who are not farmers understand what agriculture does and what it needs to survive," Lewiston dairy farmer Bruce Karren wrote in a conservation newsletter.
For years, Cache authorities have tried various ways to preserve the agricultural land so vital to the valley's economy and identity while still allowing for growth. Mostly, those efforts have focused on concentrating development in the county's 19 cities instead of in the unincorporated county.
Ninety-three percent of the county's 96,000 residents live in municipalities.
"The county doesn't provide municipal services, and that naturally reduces the growth in the unincorporated areas and moves it into the cities," Logan Mayor Doug Thompson said. "The county, to their credit, has said we will forego sales tax revenue (that would come with development). That is an enormous concession."
Someone who wants to build in the county needs an acre of land, a well and a septic tank. That translates to spending about $60,000 before they even start digging a foundation.
It's cheaper — and more preserving of agricultural land — to settle in a city.
That's only one tool in what Teuscher calls "a toolbox" of ways to control growth. Transfer of development rights, conservation easements, creative zoning and other methods are used as well.
But as pressure to sell mounts for farmers, it may take direct subsidies, Teuscher said. "You want to see that nice field out there? You're going to have to open up your pocketbook to help that farmer stay a farmer."
The 1990 Census was the first to label any part of Cache Valley an urban area (from a few miles north to a few miles south of Logan). That area was increased in the 2000 Census. With population nearing 100,000, the valley is attracting the notice of big-box chain stores — Home Depot, Lowe's, Sam's Club and Wal-Mart have all located in Cache Valley in the past few years, and, given their robust business, residents obviously like having them. But that's not why people live there.
"People talk about open space, but they're not talking about park land," Thompson said. "They're talking about pasture land. . . . That's our ace in the hole: the pastoral nature of Cache Valley."
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