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The campaign to save Emigration Canyon's "Owl Meadow" is now in the hands of the Salt Lake County Council, which is set Tuesday to consider a $250,000 grant request tapping the county's Open Space Trust Fund.
The nonprofit Utah Open Lands has until Nov. 7 to raise $700,000 to acquire the 4.6-acre parcel straddling Emigration Creek, dubbed Owl Meadow because of the various raptor species seen nesting there. This highly visible piece of bird habitat, just upstream from Ruth's Diner, will most likely be replaced by high-end human dwellings if the group fails to meet the deadline, according to executive director Wendy Fisher.
After two months of fundraising, Utah Open Lands has lined up $400,000 in donations, all from private sources, including the Willard L. Eccles Foundation, Great Salt Lake Audubon and numerous individuals from all over the county.
"It's been a crazy, Herculean effort soliciting community donations. We are so, so close. But we can't save this scenic, historic wildlife habitat without a positive vote on our Salt Lake County request," Fisher said. "Owl Meadow is an amazing piece of property because it has layers and layers of conservation values. It is undeniably a piece that could be developed, it's among the flattest land in the canyon."
This spot is important habitat for great horned owls, Northern saw-whet owls, Cooper's hawks, American kestrels and red tail hawks and is situated by two other preserves around Perkins Flat, totaling 264 acres.
Fisher has two donors lined up who have pledged to meet the last $50,000 if the County Council approves the grant, which garnered a unanimous endorsement from the Open Space Advisory Board at its Oct. 12 meeting. The grant request was put on the council's Nov. 1 agenda at the insistence of county Mayor Ben McAdams.
"It will probably be a closed session, like they usually do with real estate transactions," said the mayor's spokeswoman Michelle Schmitt.
Fisher is concerned that if the council delays a vote, the deal is doomed.
The open space board has reviewed numerous funding requests in recent weeks and identified Owl Meadow as the top priority for preservation.
"The whole community has been watching this nest. It's really accessible, it's a stunner. All those people doing bike rides up the canyon get to enjoy it. Look at that open meadow in the canyon. It is some of the last open space in the canyon bottom," said board member Sarah Bennett, an Emigration resident and co-founder of Trails Utah.
Owl Meadow "fit all our criteria," she said. "The short time frame to take action was the kicker."
Preserving the land will also help improve the water quality of Emigration Creek, already designated as impaired, Fisher said.
The open space fund holds the remnants of $24 million in bonds county voters authorized in 2006 for preserving private land with recreational, scenic and habitat values. Much of that money was invested acquiring fee title and easements along the Jordan River corridor.
Now the fund is entertaining seven requests, including Owl Meadow, totaling about $4 million to fund land-acquisition efforts targeting the Wasatch foothills, mostly to promote access to the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.
Brian Maffly covers public lands for The Salt Lake Tribune. Maffly can be reached at bmaffly@sltrib.com or 801-257-8713. Twitter: @brianmaffly