This past Monday, the Utah Department of Natural Resources announced a nearly $50,000 grant supporting the Logan River conservation easement, a two-mile extension of the Logan River Trail.
“It required environmental assessment, it required appraisals of the property, it required signatures from property owners. And we thought, oh, can we ever make this happen? And at one point, we said, let's just give up but then I just kept thinking, if we don't apply now, we could miss the window. And so my staff and I, we all went into high gear and things fell into place,” said Logan Mayor Holly Daines.
Daines, along with a number of Utah conservation groups, worked together to secure the grant.
With the Department of Natural Resources grant, the 47-acre easement will have been funded almost entirely by grants. The easement limits development within its boundaries and will improve public river access, while reducing potential flood impacts and creating habitat for fish and other wildlife.
While there’s no set timeline on developing the easement, Daines said the city has big plans for the property.
“We'd like to create some points along the river where kids can go down and toss stones and play in the river and enjoy the river and it'll create access for fishermen and eventually there will be a takeout for non-motorized watercraft at Trapper Park. There'll be one at Rendezvous Park, one up at Stewart Nature Park. So you could get down in at Stewart and float all the way down,” Daines explained.
Daines originally hoped for a larger easement, but a portion of it was picked up by a housing developer. However, Daines said the developer has been working with the city to make a plan that helps both parties build an area that’s accessible and enjoyable for visitors and residents alike.
“I think more and more developers are realizing instead of the not-in-my-backyard, it's like, oh, wow, this is an amenity for my development," she said. "That’s the way you have to approach things because private property is private property."
