The Times-Independent from Moab, Utah • 18

Pa B8 (The imfs-3nbfpenbfti Thursday, November 16, 2000 Grafton Heritage Partnership purchases historic ghost town Stunning movie set at Grafton reach of Virgin River are permanently protected care deeply about Grafton." The Grand Canyon Trust supported the Grafton project because the collaboration pre-serves the historical and cultural values of the community and protects one of the most beautiful stretches of the Virgin River, said a GCT statement. This is the first land purchase the Trust has done and were excited to be a part of protecting Grafton and the Virgin River," said Geoff Barnard, Grand Canyon Trust president. grants, combined ith many generous individual contributions and grants from government agencies, made up the $1.35 million needed for land purchase and historic building restoration. There is important work at Grafton left to do, however," said Doug Alder of the Grafton Heritage Partnership. Restoring the Russell home and establishing a maintenance protection system are among the issues that are important to the Partnership and all of us who grandfathers Wood and Hastings first settled the town in 1862.

Tb preserve the roots is tremendous Some of the most instrumental partners for Grafton preser-vation include foundations: the George S. and Delores Dcre Eccles, O.C. Tanner Charitable Trust, Simmons Family Foundation, R. Harold Burton Foundation, Katherine W. Ezekiel Dumke, Jr.

Foundation, and Dr. Ezekiel Edna Wattis Dumke Foundation. These financial long struggle that prior to this months success, involved three separate community efforts to save the ghost town. The Partnership includes private landowners, as well as these groups: And Lands Consultants, Bureau of Land Management, Grand Canyon Trust, Hurricane Valley Hentage Park Foundation, Natural Areas Association, Rockville Historic Preservation Commission, Town of Rockville, Sons of Utah Pioneers, Utah Department of Transportation, Utah Division of State History, Utah Hentage Foundation, Virgin River Land Preservation Association, Washington County Commission, Washington County Historical Society, Zion Canyon Chamber of Commerce, Zion National Park, and the Zion Natural History Association. The Town of Rockville was instrumental in forming the Partnership and helping raise the $1.35 million needed to purchase the property and restore some of the buildings.

Of the total raised, $1.1 million was used for land purchase, $200,000 has been set aside to restore the historic buildings and initiate restoration on one and one half miles of the Virgin River. The remainder is for closing costs, etc. The Grand Canyon Trust, a regional conservation organization, shouldered the fund-raising burden for the purchase of the 220-acre property. We could not have accomplished this without the Grand Canyon Trust," said Doug Alder, fund raising chair and a founding member of the Grafton Heritage Partnership. Four years ago most of the remaining six buildings in the historic town were crumbling, much degraded from how they appeared in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

The Partnership restored the historic school-house while working with two local property owners, former residents and their descendants to preserve the entire area surrounding this historic Mormon settlement. Grafton is framed by cottonwood trees with a stunning sandstone backdrop of Zion National Park. Leadership by nearby Rockville set the tone of the preservation and restoration effort to keep Grafton as open space and continue its agricultural use. For us, it protects and will preserve the heritage of Rockville," said David Hatfield, mayor of Rockville, and First president of the Grafton Partnership. Right now were carrying out the will of the community; it protects Grafton from unwanted development." Volunteers, local historical societies, the Virgin River Land Preservation Association and key contributions from groups such as the Utah Quality Growth Commission, the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, have all made preserving the culture, history and natural values of Grafton, possible, said organizers.

Utahs Quality Growth Department, along with the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food contributed $300,000 for the purchase of a conservation easement on agricultural and other historic lands. The easement prohibits development on the land. This is an extremely important project both from the historic and agricultural prospective, said QGC member and Commissioner of Agriculture and Food, Cary G. Peterson. These lands are an important part of our state history, and their agricultural and historic value remain high today, Peterson added.

Our family is very interested in preserving Grafton," said LuWayne Wood, a St. George resident whose great One of Americas most famous ghost town has a new lease on life. This month, the Grafton Heritage Partnership concludes a $1.35 million purchase to protect the land surrounding the famous site near Zion National Park. The Partnership, members of the nearby com-munities of Rockville and Springdale, and Grand Canyon Trust officials hosted a by-invita-tion celebration of the final land purchase protecting Grafton on Saturday, Nov 11. It has been a three-year effort by a group of many partners and dedicated individuals with each partner and person provd-mg a critical link to success of the project," said Jane Whalen, president of the Grafton Heritage Partnership "Our goal for the property is to restore existing histone buildings, the cemetery, and preserve the histone landscape of Grafton.

Conservation easements will insure the continuation of traditional agriculture uses in the pasture areas, and the Grand Canyon Trust will restore and protect the Virgin River flood-plain Activities for the Grafton celebration included a 10-kilometer run and a barbecue luncheon. The celebration featured a screening of a film documentary by Robert Crawford, associate producer of the 1969 major motion picture, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Crawford will also share memories of filming the movie that starred Robert Redford, Paul Newman and Katherine Ross. In 1997, 18 groups formed the Grafton Heritage Partnership to save this scenic ghost town on the way to Zion National Park. Located just west of Rockville, Utah, Grafton is an old agricultural settlement on the banks of the Virgin River first settled in 1859 by Mormon pioneers.

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