Open space bond: Proposition 1
David Zook, Cache County executive elected last January, discovered a concern amongst Cache County citizens regarding open spaces.
To solve this problem, he worked with other leaders in the county to create a proposal for an open space bond, which is included on the upcoming election ballot as Proposition 1.
A pamphlet distributed by the proposal committee stated that, if passed, the funds will be spent to “protect scenic vistas, preserve open lands near valley gateways, add trails and trail connectivity, and maintain agriculture, waterways and wildlife habitat.”
The pamphlet also shared that the average household would pay “about a milkshake a month,” or $2.24 for 20 years. The total bond will be $20 million. If passed, a county board will be created to work with landowners who voluntarily choose to sell land or easements.
“It says in the proposition that it has to be voluntary,” Zook said. “So none of these funds would ever be used to take someone’s property and force it to stay open. These funds would only be used for properties where the owner voluntarily applied and competed for the funds.”
The individuals who designed the proposal served on a committee known as the Cache County Open Space Advocacy Committee. The committee consisted of citizens of Cache County who are passionate about open spaces, such as fishers, hunters, farmers, skiers and people who enjoy spending time outdoors.
Cache County has never had a bond passed for open spaces, but Zook said that this is not the first time such a proposal has been attempted in the county.
“Some residents in Cache County in 2008 tried to put something like this on the ballot,” Zook said. “Unfortunately, 2008 was a pretty volatile year, I would say, due to the financial crisis that happened in 2008, and the ballot initiative didn’t pass that year. We’re hoping that our voters realize the opportunities that we’ve lost over the last 14 years because we didn’t have an open space bond in place. That’s something I think about. I think about how much land we could have preserved and how many projects we could have completed if we had passed this back in 2008, 14 years ago.”
Zook, along with other citizens, still wanted to do something to protect the open spaces of Cache County.
“We have such beautiful open space with the mountains and the farms and the rivers, and those create spaces for agriculture, for wildlife, for recreation, and we love those parts of Cache Valley,” Zook said. “That’s one of the things that makes Cache Valley great is our beautiful open space.”
The current proposition began development in 2017.
“We were planning to try to put this on the ballot in 2020 and then in early 2020 the pandemic broke out, and we realized that we probably should wait till another year, a different year, to try to put it on the ballot,” Zook said. “So we did that, we put the effort on pause in 2020 and then last year in 2021, after I got elected, I started talking to my staff about it.”
Eric Eliason, a member of the open space committee, said the project is important to him.
“I’ve always loved coming into the valley and the feeling you have when you come here, that ‘Yay, I’m back home,’” Eliason said over the phone. “The open space that you see as you arrive in the valley, there’s something very unique about it. We see Ogden area and Salt Lake area just fill up completely and in the end, at some point you either have to do this or let it go that way because it will develop completely.”
He said this proposal is a way for people and landowners to choose open spaces.
Eliason said the mental health benefits of nature and open spaces improves well-being. This idea was supported by a survey conducted by Courtney Flint, a professor in the department of environment and society at Utah State University.
Results from the survey, as well as additional information about other surveys and Proposition 1, can be found at cacheopenspace.org.