JEROME, Idaho — Benedictine monks at the Monastery of the Ascension in Jerome are ensuring that 400 acres of surrounding farmland will remain agricultural land, even as they prepare to transfer the monastery to a new religious order.
The monks have established a conservation easement with the help of the Magic Valley Land Trust to protect the farmland, known as the Priory, from future development.
"We would like people to think it was a gesture of gratitude for all we've received for the years we've been here. That's the underlying motivation of it all," said Father Hugh, who moved to the Monastery of the Ascension in 1996.
The Benedictine complex was established in the 1960s, with the building housing the monastic residences, chapel, and educational space completed in the 1980s. The property includes some 400 acres of farmland — and, since the monks don't farm, the Marshall family of Jerome has leased the land to produce crops for four generations.
Now, the aging Benedictine community is preparing for transition.
"We're dying out, and we're not taking new members because it's too late now," said Father Hugh.
The Benedictines are in the process of gifting the property to another order: the Missionaries Servants of the Word. Before completing the transfer, they wanted to ensure the surrounding farmland would remain as it is.
Mark Davidson, who serves on the board of directors of the Magic Valley Land Trust, has deep personal connections to the Priory.
"I grew up at various parts on this butte," Davidson said. "My family has had farms all over this part of Jerome County."
The Priory has been part of Davidson's life since childhood. He shared memories of his mother walking to the Priory to visit and enjoy the gardens, and how his wife encouraged him the morning he left to witness the signing of the conservation easement.
"These places, they just get ingrained in your life. It doesn't matter where it might be from. Landscapes have a way of becoming a part of a person's identity," Davidson said.
The Marshall family has been farming the land for generations.
"It's been our life since I remember," said DeWitt Marshall.
"Grandpa started farming it, and then my dad took over farming, and then my brother Steve and I came back from college. We took over farming, and then Ben came back from college. He'll be the next generation," Marshall said.
Ben Marshall believes preserving agricultural land is crucial.
"Good, productive farm ground is important, so why not try to preserve it," Ben Marshall said.
He sees the conservation easement as a way to protect the land from encroaching development.
"Pressures of development keep encroaching even in Jerome County," he said. "Maybe here's one spot that we don't have to worry about."
As for the monks, they plan to remain at the monastery after the transfer to the Missionaries of the Word is complete.
"We've been here a long time, and we want to die here. We have a nice cemetery in the back. We'll be there," said Father Hugh.
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