Ambitiously proposed as a long-shot hope to turn a vast and valuable meadow into a park six years ago, Swaner Memorial Park is becoming a reality. Some 900 acres once in the path of development have been set aside for perpetuity, with plans for interactive trails, wetland restoration, tree plantings and construction of an education center and an amphitheater in the works. The most recent addition came April 13 when the Snyderville Basin Planning Commission used a favorite tool of green-space advocates by allowing a property owner's development rights to be transferred elsewhere.
Conservation easements ensure the land remains off-limits to building.
Tax breaks helped donors part with their holdings. Plans are to restore it to its natural state of the mid-1800s, before the area was fully settled. Range fences already have been removed and stream-bank restoration is in progress. The park, when finished, will be open to the public for a small fee. Visitors can now hike a 1.7-mile trail that begins on its northern edge.