A Relentless Pursuit Saves Utah's East Canyon
How one man's vision sparked a movement to conserve a critical mule deer migration route in the Wasatch
PHOTO: RMEF
by Gentry Hale
The story of the newest additions to the East Canyon Wildlife Management Area (WMA) and nearby East Canyon State Park in northern Utah can be traced back to 1975 when Blaine Fackrell climbed the cliffs that overlook the property.
As he mounted the summit and took in the view, he was transfixed by the beauty of the land below.
Ranging from 5,400 to 6,800 feet in elevation, this country is blanketed in a variety of rich grasses, sagebrush and bitterbrush speckled with conifers and maples. Some 20,000 mule deer and 3,000 elk rely on this area as they migrate off summer ranges in the Wasatch to reach the Morgan Valley to the south to winter in the foothills. Sage grouse, teetering on the cusp of becoming a threatened species, also depend on it for breeding, and it’s key habitat for wild turkeys, mountain lions, dusky grouse and ruffed grouse.
“I stood on that mountain and thought, this is nice,” says Fackrell. But he could also foresee an uncertain future for this splendid parcel just one hour from Salt Lake City. He didn’t want to see the land transformed by subdivisions. For almost half a century, Fackrell held tight to his vision of keeping this landscape intact for ecological, historical and recreational purposes even after it sold to developers.
PHOTO: Jason Loftus
The property he first admired from that mountaintop was a 2,600-acre tract in East Canyon, Utah, nestled between the East Canyon WMA to the north and west and East Canyon State Park to the south. About 20 miles northeast of Salt Lake City tucked on the east side of the Wasatch Range, it lies in northern Utah’s Morgan County, where Fackrell is now a county commissioner.
The parcel is not just important for recreation and wildlife—mule deer especially—it is steeped in history as well. The Ute Tribe were the first-known inhabitants of East Canyon, who cherished this area for hunting as evidenced by intricate rock art gracing some canyon walls.
European settlers first arrived in the area in the 1800s. In fact, the Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail, which Brigham Young and his followers used to reach the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, crosses directly through East Canyon, as does the California National Historic Trail and Pony Express Trail. For Fackrell, the history of the landscape added fuel to his vision to permanently protect the property.
Thanks to his relentless determination and the help of RMEF, this land is now in public hands after Utah State Parks, the Utah Legislature and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) purchased the 2,600-acre private parcel in July 2024 to be added to the existing 3,600-acre East Canyon WMA and 680-acre East Canyon State Park, increasing the total acreage of public ground by nearly two thirds. But getting to that point was no easy feat.
From a distance, Wildlife Management Areas can be hard to distinguish from other public lands, but they hold a special purpose. WMAs are set aside specifically to protect migration corridors, breeding grounds, winter ranges and other vital habitats that elk and other animals rely on across the country.
The parcel is not just important for recreation and wildlife—mule deer especially—it is steeped in history as well.
Utah established its first WMA in the 1920s to help mule deer and other big game survive the winter, and today the DWR manages 194 WMAs protecting more than half a million acres across the state, spanning from wetlands to high alpine forests. All are carefully managed to meet the needs of wildlife while also providing outdoor access and recreation opportunities for the public.
East Canyon WMA is no exception, offering critical transitional and winter range to deer and elk in a part of Utah where that type of habitat is limited. Without it, this area could not support the large herds of big game it does today.
“Developing this parcel would have created significant barriers for deer and elk movement between their summer and winter ranges, increased disease risk by further condensing animals into less space and further limited available forage during the winter,” says Xaela Walden, DWR wildlife biologist for East Canyon. She estimates 400-500 elk winter on the WMA, including the newly acquired portion.
Morgan County is 94% privately owned, and this expansion provides a significant boost for public land access. The acquisition improves access to the existing WMA as well as countless recreation opportunities for a county that needs more. And acquiring 2,600 acres all at once is no small feat.
“Going from 3,600 acres to 6,200 acres—you don’t see that happen very often,” says Todd Adams, DNR deputy director.
Fackrell lives just 5 miles from the newly acquired land and has spent nearly 50 years in Morgan County, minus some time away for school and work. He’s witnessed pushes for development of the property firsthand. “In the late ‘90s, there was an uproar in the county when some people wanted to put in condos and high-rises,” he says.
Originally owned by a large corporation, the parcel was later sold to an investment group that sought to develop it. Many people at public meetings spoke up for its protection, Fackrell among them, and they had help from stringent zoning regulations. For over 12 years the owners fought to change the zoning rules without success.
But in 2021, the Morgan County Commission approved a development agreement with the private landowners to subdivide 16 lots of 160 acres each on the land. Shortly after, Fackrell was elected as a county commissioner and tasked with overseeing tourism and economic development. He was approached by Chris Haramoto, then East Canyon State Park manager and chairman of a tourism tax advisory board, about the potential of buying that property. Haramoto had seen “For Sale” signs planted along the road adjacent to the park—but there was no funding available in the State Parks’ budget to purchase the land, and the 2,600 acres were listed at a whopping $29 million. He hoped Fackrell could help.
Even with the odds stacked against them, Fackrell seized the challenge and began reaching out to anyone who might have funding to contribute. “I just started making a list of everybody I could possibly call to see how we could purchase it, because Morgan County had zero money to contribute. Zero,” he says.
The landowners soon gained approval to begin the first phase of subdividing and attempting to sell four of the 160-acre lots adjacent to East Canyon State Park. But luckily, with a high price point of $3 million each and a designation that allowed only one home per 160-acre lot, the parcels didn’t fly off the shelves. What it did do, though, was bump the value up from $29 million to $33 million, meaning Fackrell would need to collect even more if he hoped to protect the land.
PHOTO: Donald M. Jones
Undeterred, Fackrell spent his limited free time working tirelessly behind the scenes, reaching out to the Summit Land Conservancy, Utah Trust Lands Administration, The LeRay McAllister Working Farm and Ranch Fund, The Utah State Historic Preservation Office, the Federal Economic Development Administration and any other potential money sources he could think of. He even arranged to meet with the governor of Utah, who visited Morgan County on a high school speaking tour.
Though Fackrell was grateful for the small grants he raised through his efforts, it was far short of the millions he needed to procure.
“I had already almost exhausted everything I could possibly do,” he says. Then in March of 2023, he decided to try asking Kerry Gibson, Morgan County’s lobbyist, for help.
But to tap Gibson’s talents, Fackrell had to formally present his plan to the Morgan County Commission. Commissioner Jared Anderson later told a reporter at Morgan County News, “When Fackrell first proposed this to us other commissioners we said, ‘Go ahead; good luck finding $20-plus million.’ I don’t know of any other time, any other commission that’s ever been able to get appropriated $20 million without a dime being spent from the county.”
Regardless, Gibson had the commission’s blessing and began crafting a case to present to the legislators that required navigating the complexities of appropriations. Utah’s state wildlife agency relies on money collected through hunting licenses and park fees to support its projects. However, when those funds fall short, additional funding must be requested through the state Legislature which has a history of contributing to public land purchases, similar to the purchase that created the Cinnamon Creek WMA in 2021 (see “Cinnamon Creek: Saved From The Auction Block,” Bugle, January-February 2023).
In August of 2023, Gibson arranged a tour of the property so Utah Speaker of the House Brad Wilson could see the land firsthand. Fackrell came along as well and took the opportunity to share his dream for the land with Wilson.
“He looked me in the eyes and said he loved my vision. That’s stuck with me [and] drove me,” says Fackrell.
With Utah’s growing population and the economy’s reliance on outdoor recreation at top of mind, Wilson says he supported the project whole-heartedly knowing public lands only keep growing in importance.
“[Fackrell] was so passionate and so committed. It’s really easy as a state leader…to get behind someone like Blaine that is doing the right thing for the right reasons.”
However, Fackrell didn’t know how far Wilson’s support would reach. Wilson planned to campaign for the U.S. Senate that coming November, which would require resigning as speaker of the state house.
In October 2023, the project really started gaining steam after Fackrell, Gibson and a chorus of state officials and agency directors met at the state Capitol. They found widespread support for Fackrell’s vision and pledged to move forward.
The DNR, DWR and State Parks agreed that the land would need to be purchased at market value using $5 million from State Parks and $5 million from DWR. They would ask for the rest of the funding from the state in the 2024 legislative session set to commence a few months later. “There was no time to waste because [the current landowners] could sell a piece of property, and then the whole thing’s out,” says Fackrell.
Feeling that urgency, they began navigating the tight legislative timeline. In December, Chelsea Duke, wildlife lands coordinator for the DWR, came on board to negotiate the purchase contract with the landowners and close the deal. Duke’s first move was ordering an appraisal of the property since state agencies legally cannot pay more than appraised value for land acquisitions.
“Usually these things are planned years in advance,” says Duke. But with this project, everything had to be expedited.
As the legislative session commenced, Fackrell was at the Capitol multiple times a week working to drum up support. By the time the Natural Resources Subcommittee came together to vote on appropriations, almost everyone knew who Fackrell was and had heard about his East Canyon vision.
PHOTO: Dawn Y. Wilson
But a big stumbling block remained—the land appraisal had yet to be completed. Duke estimated the value to be around $20 million, but without a final number, the project wouldn’t be funded. But the second-to-last week of the legislative session, the appraisal came back just in the nick of time—$18.5 million.
Now, the Natural Resources Subcommittee had to decide whether or not to include the project in its funding recommendations. In the committee’s final meeting, the chair presented a funding list that did not include the East Canyon land purchase. That’s when Rep. Ryan Wilcox stepped in. “Midway through the meeting, Wilcox called a recess,” says Fackrell. Wilcox took the opportunity to speak with every single representative and senator on the committee. His pitch was simple: “I’m adding this bill back into the committee’s recommendations for appropriations. Will you go along with it?”
When the meeting resumed after a few minutes, Wilcox made a motion to reinstate funding for the East Canyon land purchase.
The motion passed unanimously. With the funding back on track, the East Canyon acquisition moved one step closer to becoming a reality.
Although RMEF was not yet involved in the project, the organization has contributed to migration research for decades, funding tracking collars and research that creates migration corridor maps. Having data that show the importance of the East Canyon property for big game migration helped the state evaluate the importance of contributing to the purchase.
As the bill moved out of subcommittee to the House and Senate floors, one major hurdle remained: the landowners had yet to accept the $18.5 million appraised value offer.
“Honestly, it took a lot of explaining and working through to get them to see that it wasn’t worth their $33 million asking price because their idea was putting multiple homes and having this be lodges and resorts and great access to East Canyon, and it wasn’t zoned for that,” says Duke. She explained to the owners that the disparity between their vision and the zoning was partly why the land had been sitting unsold despite development interest for years and that this might be their only offer at full face value.
During the last week of the session, the landowners finally agreed to Duke’s price. It should have been a cause for celebration, but there was a new problem—the $8.5 million appropriation recommendation had already been pulled from the bill due to uncertainty over the sale. The landowner’s agreement had come too late.
When the final vote was called, it passed unanimously. With the funding back on track, the East Canyon land purchase moved one step closer to becoming a reality.
It was the final day to make any changes to the appropriations bill before it was sent for a vote. Brad Wilson, former House speaker, happened to be back in Morgan County, this time meeting with Fackrell and the other commissioners as part of his U.S. Senate campaign. During the meeting, Wilson pulled Fackrell aside and asked how he was doing.
“I’m good, except for that land purchase up East Canyon,” Fackrell said. “I don’t think it’s going to go through.” Wilson was surprised as Fackrell explained that while the Legislature had initially approved the appropriation, it had been pulled from the bill, and in the next five hours the bill would be finalized and sent off to vote.
Wilson excused himself from the meeting to make a phone call. Minutes later, he returned. “Don’t worry, Blaine. It’s done,” he said.
“I just called down to the Capitol and checked the progress of the appropriation,” says Wilson. “Sometimes it is helpful to remind people at the end of the session and help them remember which things are important.”
By 5 p.m. that day, the appropriation for East Canyon was reinstated. “It was the craziest day of my life,” says Fackrell. The following week, bills passed in the Legislature securing $8.5 million to purchase the property.
Wilson is proud of Fackrell’s hard work and determination and hopes it will serve as inspiration for similar efforts. “It is important that all of our leaders—local and state—are going to follow the example of the commissioner who looked for opportunities for us to find places to preserve for Utahns to use,” he says. “Because if we don’t, future generations are going to wonder why we didn’t take advantage of these opportunities.”
With the legislative money secured, all that was left to do was to make the purchase final. But DWR had another problem—$1.3 million of the $5 million it had promised to contribute needed a separate appropriation in order for them to use it, and they just didn’t have it—they were over $1 million short.
During a routine meeting with Rob Andress, RMEF’s Southwest lands program manager, Duke told him about the shortfall. She asked if there was anything RMEF could do to help.
The project hit all the hallmarks of RMEF’s mission: It ensures the future of a critical migration corridor not just for elk but many thousands of mule deer—arguably Utah’s most iconic species.
Andress wasted no time in putting together a proposal to cover the missing $1.3 million and presenting it to RMEF’s internal project group and then leadership. “I vetted it across the organization and asked for them to support it, all on very short notice,” says Andress.
The project hit all the hallmarks of RMEF’s mission: It ensures the future of a critical migration corridor not just for elk but many thousands of mule deer—arguably Utah’s most iconic species. This key habitat will be conserved and protected from development. It will become a part of the existing WMA, which is desirable hunting land and will support hunting heritage. It will help open access to the existing WMA beyond it and its proximity close to many metropolitan areas means it is sure to be enjoyed by the public. There was nothing negative about the project, so RMEF rallied behind it.
In only a week, RMEF secured the full $1.3 million Duke needed. “It was kind of an atypical situation,” Andress says. “A project at this price would typically take at least a year because we would need to fundraise the money, but in this case, we were able to draw from internal funds.”
On May 13, less than a month after the initial conversation between Andress and Duke, RMEF officially approved the funding, and on July 18 the purchase was complete—2,600 acres of private land forever secured in the public trust.
“The relationship between the Division of Wildlife Resources and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is so important,” says Duke. “Being $1.3 million short on a land deal, that’s a lot…this partnership is just incredibly valuable to the division.”
DNR Executive Director Joel Ferry agrees. Projects like the East Canyon expansion are the reason why he takes so much pride in the work of DWR and State Parks.
“I can go to the Legislature with confidence and say, ‘Hey, I need funding for this,’ and they will know that the land will be taken care of, well managed, and will benefit the people of Utah,” Ferry says. “It’s a culmination of years of being good stewards, showing we are responsive, building good relationships and getting it done.”
Since 1987 RMEF has partnered with the state of Utah to complete more than 1.4 million acres of habitat work and over 59,000 acres of land conservation projects. Jenn Doherty, RMEF’s managing director of mission operations, says that the decades-long relationship between RMEF and Utah’s state agencies sets the stage to quickly secure the needed funds for East Canyon. “The Elk Foundation is the most efficient conservation organization across the country working on big game habitat and migrations, and that efficiency combined with fiscal responsibility with our members’ and our stakeholders’ money are equally the reason we were able to act so quickly.”
RMEF President and CEO Kyle Weaver agrees.
“We are in a unique position to fill this kind of timely need, so we did,” Weaver says. “Understanding the importance of this project to elk and mule deer, our board of directors called a special meeting where it approved the project within just days of learning about it. We’re grateful to our state partners and the private landowner for making this happen.”
Of the 2,600 acres protected and made public, DWR will manage 2,200 acres with the existing WMA, and the remaining 400 will later be added to East Canyon State Park, which surrounds the 684-acre East Canyon Reservoir. The new addition will enable the state park to expand its recreational offerings beyond water-based activities and fishing, providing a new opportunity to add trails and campsites while also looking out for the needs of wildlife.
PHOTO: Wes Uncapher
With more land added to the WMA, managers expect an increase in hunters and a more dispersed hunting experience, as well as an increase in elk harvests as animals that once holed up on private land now roam in publicly accessible areas.
“The cool opportunity that I think we’re going to see between both the divisions is how we work together to promote the wildlife and recreation in that area, the hunting especially,” says Haramoto, who is now the deputy director of Utah State Parks.
For Fackrell, the ribbon-cutting ceremony in September 2024 came only after decades of determination. Through every setback, he never lost hope. Standing before a crowd of supporters, with the mountain he first hiked in 1975 visible behind him and once again open for public access, he reflected on his dream.
“I have a vision for this area. I want to see some trails. I want to see wildlife. I want to see the state park. I want to see some history, even if it’s just a few markers of where [the historic trails] went through.”
Emotion filled Fackrell’s voice as he spoke, and his two grandchildren ran behind him through the grassy fields of the newly acquired land.
“I may not see everything throughout my life, but I now know that my grandkids will be able to see it,” he said while holding back tears. “If you can’t tell, I appreciate this.”
Gentry Hale is a freelance journalist and former Bugle editor based in Salt Lake City, Utah. With a passion for wildlife and public lands, she specializes in telling stories that celebrate the natural world and the people dedicated to conserving it.
