Artificially channeled with steep banks devoid of trees or willows, and surrounded by snow-covered hay fields, Hobble Creek looks more like an irrigation canal than a river as it angles toward Interstate 15 in Springville.

In order to save the endangered June sucker, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is looking to take ownership of 7.55 acres along Hobble Creek immediately east of I-15 in Springville, and is asking the public to weigh in on the proposal.

The land is just the first of several parcels along the river that the state would like to take ownership of, said Stephen Hansen of the Division of Wildlife Resources. The state is in ongoing talks with landowners along the river, hoping to purchase land needed to restore spawning channels for the June sucker.

If several parcels can be strung together over the next five or so years, the state would work to restore a more natural riverbed in the area, with meanders and slower, shallow pools where the June sucker could once again lay eggs in gravel, said Reed Harris of the DWR. Decades of mechanical river channeling have destroyed the fish's spawning grounds, and there are now believed to be less than 300 naturally occurring, sexually mature June sucker in Utah Lake, the only place in the world where the fish are indigenous.

The area could even become a public park of sorts one day, with walkways where the public could observe the restoration of the river to a more natural course, Harris said.

The state has permanently secured about 8,000 acre-feet of water -- enough water to cover 8,000 acres with one foot of water -- to run down Hobble Creek, improving conditions for the fish especially in summer when irrigation diversions can vastly reduce water flows in the river, Harris said. The water will come from Strawberry Reservoir and will turn "Hobble Creek back into a more stable stream so these fish will have the ability to spawn up there," Harris said. The June sucker got their name because they spawn in that month.

The increased water flows and habitat restoration along the river will not only improve life for the June sucker, but restore natural habitat for other local flora and fauna, he said.

Federal guidelines require that two spawning areas must be established for the June sucker before its endangered species status can be lifted, among other requirements. The other spawning area where land will be acquired for habitat restoration is along the Provo River, Harris said.

To get the land along Hobble Creek, the DWR is trading 3.83 acres of agricultural land in Mapleton, said Hansen. The trade will require the approval of the governor and an environmental assessment.

"This is one of those opportunities that comes up every now and then to acquire a piece of property that is needed," Hansen said. "If there are other people in the area who are willing to sell their property, we might be able to create a habitat."

Nothing will be done with the property until more can be acquired, he said. If in 15 or 20 years there is not enough property, the effort will be abandoned and the state will likely sell the 7.5 acres, he said, noting he would not be comfortable "venturing a guess" as to how much property is needed to create June sucker habitat.

"The whole goal is to recover the June sucker," he said.

In the 1800s, Utah Lake was home to at least six native species of fish. Today, the June sucker and the Utah sucker are the only two remaining. June sucker occur naturally nowhere else in the world.

In 1986, the federal government named the June sucker an endangered species, allowing its habitat to be protected by law. Soon thereafter, nine water-user and wildlife groups with interest in Deer Creek Reservoir formed a 40-year, $40 million plan to save the fish, called the June Sucker Recovery Implementation Program.

The public can send written comments on the DWR land swap proposal to Stephen Hansen, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, 1594 W. North Temple, Suite 2110 Salt Lake City, UT 84116.