Summit Land Conservancy needs to raise about a $140,000 to complete the conservation of the 4-acre Riverbend parcel in Oakley. They have a matching grant which will expire soon.
The land is located near the Weber River, next to the new campground and rodeo grounds. Summit Land Conservancy is trying to buy a four-acre parcel that would allow access to the Weber river. They’ve worked to preserve the property with two different landowners, the city of Oakley, Summit County and the South Summit Trails organization. Executive Director Cheryl Fox says they’ve also established some private partnerships in the effort to obtain access to the Weber.
“The first step was to purchase the easement, which we did in December, and now the next step is to actually raise the money to buy the land. The land price is reduced pretty considerably because the development rights have been stripped. We need to raise about $140,000 more. We currently have a matching grant from Dotera. We're getting to the end of that…”
Fox says the Conservancy tries to buy land under conservation easements which is cheaper than purchasing land at market rate.
“Our primary area to save land is Park City and Summit County and in North Summit, Coalville, Henefer, Wanship, those areas, we're finding landowners who are willing to sell us a conservation easement which is obviously cheaper. Those people have the next generation coming up who want to continue farming and ranching and in South Summit we just haven't found that same level of interest for conserving land through the sale of a conservation easement, which means that if we want to save it, we have to buy it.”
They’ve recently closed a conservation easement in Henefer and the same landowner is working with Summit Land Conservancy on another transaction which will be announced soon.
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