Managing for the Spirit

Valuing the Mormon Sacred Grove

Authors

  • Jason M. Brown PhD Candidate at the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES) at the University of British Columbia (UBC).

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jsrnc.33108

Keywords:

Mormonism, Sacred Natural Sites, Forest Management, Ecological Restoration, Religion and Ecology, Spiritual Ecology

Abstract

Like his Puritan ancestors, Joseph Smith Jr, founder of the Mormon (LDS) movement, often went to the woods to pray. In the spring of 1820, Smith, living in upstate New York, claimed to have witnessed a series of visions of angels, God, and Jesus Christ. Since then Mormonism has become globally significant. That small grove is now a 150-acre sacred site visited by thousands of Mormon pilgrims each year. Informally protected since the late 1800s, the LDS Church shifted its approach to management of the Grove in the 1990s by emphasizing the importance of ecological health and restoration. This article outlines the history of management and protection of the LDS Sacred Grove as a sacred site and discusses the spiritual importance of the site to Mormon faithful, and the valuation of the Grove as essentially instrumental rather than intrinsic.

Author Biography

  • Jason M. Brown, PhD Candidate at the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES) at the University of British Columbia (UBC).

    Jason M. Brown is a PhD Candidate at the Institute for Resources, Enviornment and Sustainability (IRES). He has a bachelor's degree in anthropology, master's degrees in forestry and theology, and is writing his dissertation on the land managment and spirituality of Catholic monks living in the American West. He blogs at holyscapes.org and Co-produces a radio program on religion and spirituality called Experiencing the Sacred at coopradio.org. 

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Published

2018-10-30

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 3 (2018): Special Issue: The Sacred Tree

Section

Articles

License

© Equinox Publishing Ltd.

For information regarding our Open Access policy, click here.

How to Cite

Brown, J. M. (2018). Managing for the Spirit: Valuing the Mormon Sacred Grove. Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, 12(3), 285-306. https://doi.org/10.1558/jsrnc.33108