The 9.82-acre property called Four Badgers, is actually 10 parcels split between three landowners.
The Summit Land Conservancy will buy the land before transferring it to Summit County, in a $1.6 million deal the county council approved Wednesday.
The county is contributing $831,000 from the 2021 voter-approved open space bond. The land conservancy is pitching in $49,000 and will manage the conservation easements on the properties.
The rest of the project cost comes from an $800,000 Utah Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure grant.
County Councilmember Tonja Hanson said Four Badgers will help Oakley leaders connect Peoa to the Uinta Mountains with trails for hikers, bikers and horses.
“This is located, for folks who are familiar with that area, across the river from Franson Park. It is a strategic part of the larger Weber River Corridor project,” Hanson said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” Thursday. “Right now there aren't trails on this parcel, but there is connectivity, and there will be trails that connect to other recreation areas there in Oakley.”
Development won’t be allowed. There is a cabin on one of the properties that the Summit Land Conservancy has agreed to maintain for at least five years.
“It’s a good get,” Councilmember Roger Armstrong said at the Wednesday council meeting. “I like riverfront property.”
Both the council and Summit Land Conservancy have prioritized land conservation around the Weber and Provo headwaters in the Kamas Valley. That’s because they’re important sources of drinking water, irrigation and wildlife habitat.
The 10-acre acquisition comes a week after the local land trust notched another 99-acre conservation easement in the Kamas Valley.
The Summit Land Conservancy now manages more than 1,000 acres of conservation easements on meadows in the South Summit area. Much of that protected land is a part of the 834-acre Ure Ranch Summit County purchased in December.
Summit County and the Summit Land Conservancy are financial supporters of KPCW.
