Boosters in the Huntsville area raise funds needed to maintain land that was once used as a monastery | News, sports, jobs
This undated photo shows the grounds of the former Abbey of Our Lady of the Holy Trinity Monastery, southeast of Huntsville. Officials said Tuesday, September 28, 2021 that the necessary funds had been raised to put the site of the former monastery in an easement, thus preserving the land.
This undated photo shows the grounds of the former Abbey of Our Lady of the Holy Trinity Monastery, southeast of Huntsville. Officials said Tuesday, September 28, 2021 that the necessary funds had been raised to put the site of the former monastery in an easement, thus preserving the land.
This undated photo shows the grounds of the former Abbey of Our Lady of the Holy Trinity Monastery, southeast of Huntsville. Officials said Tuesday, September 28, 2021 that the necessary funds had been raised to put the site of the former monastery in an easement, thus preserving the land.
Photo provided by Summit Land Conservancy
This undated photo shows the grounds of the former Abbey of Our Lady of the Holy Trinity Monastery, southeast of Huntsville. Officials said Tuesday, September 28, 2021 that the necessary funds had been raised to put the site of the former monastery in an easement, thus preserving the land.
HUNTSVILLE – As more houses emerge in the Ogden Valley, at least a large area of undeveloped land will be left untouched and with no new subdivision.
Contingents, pushing to preserve part of what was previously home to a Trappist monastery, received the last major cash injection needed to move plans to move the property southeast of Huntsville into a Grade I listed easement.
“It’s super exciting,” said Cheryl Fox, executive director of Summit Land Conservancy, which works with the Ogden Valley Land Trust on the initiative. “It was really nice, (there was) a really nice wave of citizen support for this iconic property.”
A federal grant of $ 8.8 million from the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Agricultural Conservation Easement Program provided the majority of the funds required to secure the easement. The plan’s boosters also required an additional $ 300,000 in donations, and Weber County commissioners provided $ 50,000 on Tuesday, the last major funding infusion needed.
When all steps are complete, farming will be allowed on the 1,080 acre property that was once used by the Abbey of Notre Dame of the Holy Trinity. However, the development that is gaining momentum in the Ogden Valley as it is along the Wasatch Front will not be allowed, which is the idea.
Photo provided by Summit Land Conservancy
This undated photo shows the grounds of the former Abbey of Our Lady of the Holy Trinity Monastery, southeast of Huntsville. Officials said Tuesday, September 28, 2021 that the necessary funds had been raised to put the site of the former monastery in an easement, thus preserving the land.
“The history of the Ogden Valley is all about agriculture and open space,” said Weber County Commissioner Gage Froerer, who lives in the area. “It preserves the easement so that someone cannot build 300 or 400 houses there.”
The current owners of the 1,080 acre property, Bill White and Wynstonn Wangsgard, will keep the land. But the maintenance easement that Summit Land Conservancy is supposed to hold will prohibit residential, commercial, and other types of development. The cultivation of hay and grazing cattle – permitted – will be continued.
The monastery, founded in 1947, closed in 2017 due to waning interest in this way of life. Given the strong demand for housing, Fox said the developers have expressed an interest in acquiring the land from the Roman Catholic Church, the owner, for subdivisions and other developments. “We knew then that conversations were going on,” she said.
White and Wangsgard, on the other hand, purchased the land in hopes of preserving it in its natural state, which resulted in a grant from the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program. Most of the grant funding and local matching funds will go to them, but Fox said the owners will not benefit in the long run, given the investments they have put into the land.
The monks who once farmed the land “were active farmers, ranchers, and beekeepers who used agricultural production as a form of prayer and devotion,” according to the Summit Land Trust. Those who were still living there when the facility closed moved to a senior citizens’ home in Salt Lake City.
Photo provided by Summit Land Conservancy
This undated photo shows the grounds of the former Abbey of Our Lady of the Holy Trinity Monastery, southeast of Huntsville. Officials said Tuesday, September 28, 2021 that the necessary funds had been raised to put the site of the former monastery in an easement, thus preserving the land.
According to Fox, moose roam the country on a regular basis. “The birds are amazing out there,” she said. In addition, the land in its natural state has environmental benefits as it acts as a kind of filter for air and water and binds carbon.
Gail Meakins, chairman of the Ogden Valley Land Trust, said the public had really advanced and contributed to generate the $ 300,000 needed on top of the $ 8.8 million grant. “I think it shows that there is interest in saving open spaces and agricultural land,” she said.
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