CHAPTER
12
LIVING OFF THE LAND
I
.n the spring of 1997, a survey went out to residents of the more rural areas of Summit County—including the Kamas and Weber River valleys. The survey, which asked residents what they thought about commercial development, also attempted to measure attitudes about the importance of agriculture in these areas. Of those who responded, only 5.6 percent said they personally benefited from having agriculture in the area, and only 3.9 percent said that agriculture was the occupation of the head of the household. On the other hand, a majority (53 percent) said agriculture plays a dominant role in the community, and many residents said it was important to preserve that lifestyle. "There is a perception that the economics of agriculture is more important than what is actually taking place," planner Shawn Seeger told the Park Record.1 When compared to the vast wheat fields of the Great Plains or the irrigated valleys of central California, Utah's agricultural output is small. And even among Utah's twenty-nine counties, Summit County is no agricultural powerhouse. Its growing season is short and its arable land is limited to a few m o u n t a i n valleys. In the 1992 U.S. 261
