(A) The county consists of two major valleys. The largest valley portion is Cache Valley and it extends from the Idaho/Utah state border north to the Red Rock Pass. This area of the county supports the largest agricultural entity and includes both irrigated and dry farm crop production. It also has many dairy and beef cattle operations. A smaller valley lies on the east side of the county, sometimes known as Gentile Valley, where the City of Grace is located. This is a scenic valley that also supports dairy and beef cattle operations and agricultural production. The agricultural producing land in both of these major valleys produces mainly feed crops utilized by the livestock operations. The major crops are alfalfa, wheat, and barley. The county produced many cash or row crops which were processed locally: sugar beets, peas, beans, sweet corn, and cabbage. These crops are virtually non-existent in the county at this time. This is due to the closure of local sugar processing plants and the canning plants operated by Del Monte. The areas between the major valleys of the county consist of rolling hills and smaller valleys that also produce feed and some cash crops. The outer boundary on the east and west sides of the valley consists of foothills and mountains with forest and rangeland, much of which is owned by the U.S. Forest Service and B.L.M. The privately owned land on the mountainous county borders is used extensively for recreational purposes consisting of hunting, fishing, camping, and summer or seasonal use residences. A large portion of the residences in the described borders are year-round residences and there are some agricultural and livestock operations in these areas.
(B) The state’s Department of Commerce county profile report gives the following statistics pertaining to land ownership within the county:
(1) Federal: 32.6% or 138,994 acres;
(2) State: 3.1% or 13,250 acres;
(3) Private: 64.2% or 273,636 acres; and
(4) Total: 425,880 acres.
(Ord. 2007-8-13B, passed 8-13-2007; Ord. 2022-2-28, passed 2-28-2022)