The Swaner EcoCenter is a nature preserve and

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

Distance Education Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...

site located in

Snyderville Basin The Snyderville Basin is a valley in Summit County, Utah adjacent to Park City. Many of the residents of the Park City area live in the Snyderville Basin. Though the area lies outside of the Park City limits, and receives many services from Summit ...

near

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. Swaner encompasses a wildlife refuge, a state of the art environmental education facility, a farm, and of trails. The EcoCenter works to preserve the land and the human connection to the natural landscape, to educate the local and broader communities about the value of nature, and to nurture both the ecosystem and the people connected with it. The EcoCenter was designed by

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Soren Simonsen to meet the

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...

(LEED) platinum certification, the highest standard set by the

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History

The preserve began as a donation of of land in 1993 by the Spring Creek Angus Ranch Partnership in memory of Leland Swaner. Over the next decade several parcels of land would be added, growing the preserve to more than . In 2003, Swaner purchased what is now known as the Swaner Farm, adding to the preserve. In 1933, the iconic white barn was built by the Fletcher family who purchased the farm in 1906 and operated it for more than 35 years. The Fletcher's sold the entire farm to the Wallin family who owned the land until 2003 when it was acquired by Swaner. In January 2010,

(USU) President

Stan Albrecht Stan LeRoy Albrecht (born July 13, 1942) is an American educator, university administrator, and scholar. He served as the president of Utah State University from 2005 to 2016. Early life and education Albrecht was raised on a farm near Fremont ...

and the Swaner Preserve and EcoCenter Board of Directors announced that the refuge and center would be transferred to USU. The gift totaled in excess of $30 million, making it the largest gift in USU history. Just one year later, in January 2011, classes began at the center through USU Distance Education.

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External links

* * {{Utah State University Buildings and structures in Summit County, Utah Protected areas of Summit County, Utah Nature centers in Utah Utah State University Sustainable building in the United States Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design platinum certified buildings Education in Summit County, Utah 1993 establishments in Utah

History

See also

References

External links