The Great Gondola Grift A Community Outraged — Profiteers Elated
Cover Photos Taken By Samuel Werstak Instagram: @sam_werstak; Email: samuelwerstak@gmail.com
Dedicated to protecting the beauty and wildness of the Wasatch Mountains
Fall 2021 Newsletter • • • • • • • • • •
Director’s Message: P2-P3 Action, Protections, and Stewardship: P4-P5 Advocacy Corner: P6-P7 Year-round Transportation System: P8-P9 Wasatch For All Coalition: P10-P11 Little Cottonwood – The Gondola: P12 This is Why We Fight: P13 A Summer Of Stewardship: P14 Autumn Paean: P15 Becoming A Member: P15
Dedicated to protecting the beauty and wildness of the Wasatch Mountains Citizens Committee to Save Our Canyons 3690 E Fort Union Blvd STE 101 Cottonwood Heights, UT 84121 801.363.7283 info@saveourcanyons.org https://saveourcanyons.org ALEXIS KELNER Editor Emeritus
Director’s Message The Wasatch needs your support and attention Written by Executive Director, Carl Fisher
There is no shortage of issues and projects confronting the Wasatch Mountains and we have much work to do! As you’ll read in this issue much of our work has been dedicated to the Little Cottonwood Canyon DEIS, including over 100 pages of comments formally submitted through the NEPA process. As much focus as we have given this project there are many other projects that Save Our Canyons, your membership dollars and community grants are helping us ensure the wildness, health and natural beauty of the Wasatch are protected. We are incredibly fortunate for the support of this community - to not only have a community that understands and cares about the issues confronting the Wasatch, but invests in their proactive management and protection. Thank you for all the support. Much of our work has been focused on dealing with growth and its impacts on the Wasatch. The growth of our population, the growth of use and uses and the growth of industries in the Wasatch. Growth continues to be a massive challenge, and one we must shape or else it will shape the Wasatch. This will not only impact the many qualities of the Wasatch we enjoy, but perhaps even more worrisome, the things we rely upon. Growth may not be able to be stopped, but it can be managed and its impact on the wilds of the Wasatch can be avoided.
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In addition to growth pressures, a new… well, old pressure is compounding and complicating the growth pressures. It’s another nasty problem we as a society have failed to confront, the reality of climate change. Climate change, like growth, is something we’ve known for a long time would be here. It is now not just something we need to stop, but something we need to deal with simultaneously. We’ve known protecting land is one of the ways we can fight the intensification of the impacts of climate change, which has been one of many reasons why we should protect the Wasatch. Intact, healthy, resilient landscapes take carbon out of the atmosphere, there are many other benefits, too numerous to list. I believe it is imperative that we must focus on both growth and climate - are we controlling/managing or inviting/ignoring growth; are we exacerbating or ameliorating the impacts of climate change. These issues impact our water, our wildlife populations, the ability for our forests and watersheds to provide ecosystem services like cleaning (or putrefying) our air and water, but they also impact our recreational pursuits. And our recreational pursuits have a profound impact on the Wasatch. In a few weeks, the Save Our Canyons community will be emailing YOU a survey which will help us prioritize www.saveourcanyons.org
our initiatives. We hope you’ll take a few moments to share your perspective and help us do better in serving our community and protecting the Wasatch. Here’s a very brief summary of our current initiatives to protect the Wasatch. 1. Conservation, Trails & Recreation Planning: Everyone has a favorite trail, a favorite recreation activity and ideas to improve the recreation experience. Put them all together - we’d lose our wilderness areas, we’d consume riparian areas and wildlife habitat and criss-cross our landscapes with trails, trailheads and other recreation infrastructure. We certainly are in need of improvements, but our recreation planning must be in support and enhance our very high values for protection of wildlife, aesthetics and ecosystem functionality. 2. Climate Change Impacts Adaptation, Mitigation, and Resilience: Climate change is here and we must work to improve the health of our forests, protect our precious water supply and understand how these changes are impacting species which we share the Wasatch with. Better understanding how climate will change our forests and our relationship with the Wasatch has been a priority for the past couple years. Recently, Save Our Canyons and a coalition of state, federal and local leaders was given the Regional Foresters Award for our efforts to protect our watersheds and improve wildlife habitat in Salt Lake County. 3. Visitor Capacity and Recreation Management Strategies: The Wasatch has a finite capacity. Your favorite restaurant or concert venues get full and when they meet or exceed that capacity, safety, the experience and in many instances the environment takes a beating. The Wasatch is no different and as we grow and plan responses to accommodate that growth we need to better understand and plan for how we steward the wildness and beauty of the Wasatch. 4. Protecting and enhancing wildlife habitat & corridors: We share the Wasatch with thousands of species of plants and animals. New developments, roads, trails, and increased visitation all displace and stress our wildlife and plant populations. Species have been extirpated from the Wasatch over the years from this activity. Can we bring them back or at the very least protect what they have left? Save Our Canyons participates in several initiatives focused on wildlife and their protection, for the sake of their existence. www.saveourcanyons.org
5. SOCKids Youth Environmental Education and experiences: Despite living in the shadow of the Wasatch, many youth that live in our communities haven’t had outdoor experiences. Save Our Canyons works with after school programs, schools, and youth organizations to help give kids their first wild experiences in the Wasatch with information about our watershed, plants and wildlife species that we share this spectacular environment with. 6. Stopping resort expansion: Resorts we love our ski areas for what they are, but fear what they seek to become. They occupy enough terrain and should not be allowed to expand the resorts outside of their existing footprints. Looking at you Alta. 7. Transportation Solutions: Not only is this work engaging with UDOT’s current DEIS, it is working with all levels of government to advance a comprehensive vision for transportation regionally, that connects communities and visitors to the Wasatch using mass transportation. 8. Watchdogging resort and development activity: Hundreds of applications and projects for development in the Wasatch come before dozens of planning commissions, local and regional governments and the USFS every year. Save Our Canyons led the creation of the Mountainous Planning Commission which is a Salt Lake County clearinghouse for canyon proposals. Save Our Canyons helps notify the public about projects and in many instances, engages on projects - supporting, opposing, or shaping - namely when they are at cross purposes with our mission or our community values. 9. Wilderness Stewardship and Trail Work: There is a wilderness assessment and framework within the USFS that guides management of our wilderness areas. SOC is working to improve the scores of all these wilderness areas to improve the environmental condition and wilderness experience. If you want more information or would like to support one or more of these initiatives, please get in touch. These programs not only need your involvement, they need your financial support to benefit the Wasatch and our community who treasures them. We are here to serve both our community and the Wasatch, so please never hesitate to reach out.
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Action, Protections, and Stewardship Written by Alex Schmidt, Campaigns Coordinator
Save Our Canyons (SOC) was founded to take an active role in influencing and refining policy to protect our public lands and water. Helping foster a community that speaks up for the granite peaks and lush valleys is why SOC’s effectiveness has remained strong- even as the threats have multiplied. Stewarding and maintaining dozens of miles of trails on the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache has been a role that we have been proud to continue for nearly 50 years. Since our “Summer Of Advocacy” newsletter was printed in May of 2021, there’s been no stopping the swell of passionate and vocal people that have become a wave of engaged Wasatch advocates in defense of the wildness and beauty of Utah’s segment of the Rocky Mountains.
Transportation In The Wasatch
For decades we have leaned into a collective sense of humor when pushing back at the Disneyfication/ Amusement Park aspirations from developers that threaten the desire of the majority who seek to preserve the Wasatch’s diverse and unique character. On the office bookshelf are 20 plus years of SOC newsletters with covers depicting Dracula or a money-hungry gorilla. Poking fun in a good-natured manner is nearly as important as shining the light through the holes of small projects proposed by ski resorts or large-scale transportation alternatives vying to serve just a small percentage of the people who share these canyons. Picture 22 gondola towers ranging from 130 feet to 262 feet tall planted like kitchy ornamental yard decorations up the storied Little Cottonwood Canyon.
You will likely encounter downed logs, cut and piled debris, soil disturbance, and intermittent trail/trailhead closures when visiting these areas. Save Our Canyons share the desire for a quiet and natural experience in the Wasatch Range. This project aligns with our stewardship efforts and works at the policy level to encourage implementation of the best science and practices to restore a healthy, vibrant future for generations to come.
Example Of What A Gondola Could Look Like Up LCC
Lambs and Parley’s Canyon Fuels Reduction Project
Our history of stewardship in the Wasatch continues as we advocate and engage with agencies like UDOT and the Forest Service on behalf of current and future generations of people who benefit from this important mountain range.
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In 1904, the Salt Lake Forest Reserve was established, and a change in management removed extractive activities to allow for reforestation to revive the watershed. To this day, we benefit from the thoughtfulness and stewardship that has kept the water source for half a million people flowing. In the face of climate change and rapid population growth in the Salt Lake Valley, maintaining the resilience of source water remains is increasingly essential. Beginning our development of a communication plan last year, SOC, along with the Forest Service, Salt Lake City Public Utilities, and Utah Dept. of Natural Resources, have come together to implement the Lambs and Parley’s Canyon Fuels Reduction Project. The outlined goals are to improve the resiliency of the forest, protect the water supply, protect lives and Infrastructure, maintain a sustainable recreation experience, and improve fish and wildlife habitat, especially for the boreal toad and Bonneville cutthroat trout. “Ultimately, our objective is to restore a natural and healthy fire regime back into the Wasatch — actively managing for resilience and health of the region. Severe fires are a public health risk, especially in areas that produce drinking water. This project aims to reduce the risk of unwanted or catastrophic wildfire and wildfire severity in the source water area. This is an initial phase of a multi-phase project within the Salt Lake County Protected Watershed Fuels focus area.”
Is it hard to visualize the aftermath of this altered landscape? What legacy are we leaving for future generations? With a small group of volunteers and partners from Friends of Alta and Wasatch Backcountry Alliance, we invited the local press to join us as we demonstrated just how invasive this new gondola species would be to the habitat and ecosystem. A rented helium tank and several scientific-grade weather balloons and cordage measured to the gondola tower heights, we launched our demonstration to show canyon goers the visual impacts of GondolaWorks proposed transportation alternative being passed through UDOT’s EIS study. More construction and maintenance for permanent infrastructure in our canyon to the tune of half a billion dollars is a threat to the “Wasatch For All”: hikers, bikers, skiers, birdwatching, residents, visitors, flora, fauna, and the character of this landscape. To restore and conserve the Wasatch Range, we need to look beyond monetary gains and sparkly tourist attractions to better understand how we will continue to protect our water, shared lands, and quality of life.
Dating back to the mid-1800s there have been many changes to the forest and ecosystem of what is now part of the Salt Lake Ranger District in Salt Lake County. By the 1900s, the Wasatch Front had been used for timber, stone, mining, recreational activities, grazing, and wild game hunting. All of which took a toll on the resource, which was in an extremely degraded state.
www.saveourcanyons.org
Being the voice of conservation and advocacy on behalf of the Wasatch Range whether through our trail work or in educating our members and community about transportation projects seems as important as ever. Our forest and shared landscapes are under increasing pressure from us, a changing climate, and ever shrinking natural, open spaces. We hope our work to participate with these efforts will prove to be a legacy that future people benefit from.
www.saveourcanyons.org
Before and After Of The Lambs and Parley’s Canyon Fuels Reduction Project
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ADVOCACY WORKS, BUT WE AREN’T DONE YET
Advocacy Corner
Nicole Schulter; originsbynicole.com; Instagram @originsbynicole
We can show unity in a variety of ways by: attending a public meeting, signing a petition, volunteering with our organization, or writing a Letter to the Editor or Op-Ed.
In the last 50 years the Wasatch Mountains have seen its fair share of development interests lurking from above, waiting to swoop in and profit off the soil of the flora and fauna. In 2010-2014, there was SkiLink, the original gondola idea connecting all the ski resorts. In 2017, 1,350 acres of high alpine forests in the Central Wasatch known as Bonanza Flat, went up for sale with a price tag of $38 million. Then in 2019, HB 78, a reincarnation of 2018 session’s HB 136 (sponsored by Rep. Mike Noel) surfaced where the Utah Legislature tried to stop the local County government from showing support for protecting our public lands in the Wasatch. Now, in 2021 the UDOT DEIS has two draft alternatives (enhanced bus with lane expansion and a gondola) that both would permanently alter Little Cottonwood Canyon for the foreseeable future. What we have learned from the history of exploitation of public lands in the Wasatch, is that the community is tenacious and powerful when working together. SkiLink was stopped because of you! Bonanza Flat is protected because of you. HB 78 and HB 136 didn’t pass because of you. All of these things took action and you showed up when it was most important. Throughout the UDOT DEIS there were dozens of Op-Ed and LTE articles published in local newspapers, thousands upon thousands of social media posts or comments, and over 13,000 people sent comments directly to UDOT. Here is just a snapshot of support we received helping to protect LCC against the gondola.
Salt Lake Tribune I By Leia Larsen| July 13, 2021
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Salt Lake Tribune I Special to The Tribune I Aug. 20, 2021
www.saveourcanyons.org
What is an Op-Ed and LTE?
An Op-Ed is a relatively short piece of writing 500 to 750 words that appears opposite the editorial page (Op-Ed) in print media. Online sources have OpEds too (i.e. The Huffington Post, CNN, Deseret News, Salt Lake Tribune, and more). A letter to the editor (LTE) is shorter than an Op-Ed with about 200 words and typically does not contain as much evidence. Where do you send an Op-Ed/LTE and what’s included?
Letters must include the signature, full name, address, phone number and email address (if available) of the author for verification purposes. Only the name and city will be published. Salt Lake Tribune
LTE: letters@sltrib.com Op-Ed: gpyle@sltrib.com
Deseret News
LTE: letters@deseretnews.com Op-Ed letters@deseretnews.com
For more information about how to write an Op-Ed or LET, sample documents, and more please visit our blog today: https://saveourcanyons.org/ the-latest/save-our-canyons-blog Ways to stay informed: • Email list: Sign up for our action alert emails through our website • Facebook: Save Our Canyons • Instagram: @saveourcanyons
Salt Lake Tribune I Special to The Tribune I Aug. 26, 2021
www.saveourcanyons.org
Salt Lake Tribune I By Julie Jag | Aug. 23,2021
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THE WASATCH DESERVES A YEAR-ROUND TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM
Throughout the UDOT DEIS and beyond Save Our Canyons has expierenced an overpour of comments about transporation on social media. Incase you don’t have Instagram, we wanted to share some of the posts, comments, and stories we have been tagged in. For the privacy of our social media followers we have blocked out people’s Instagram handles and photos.
Nicole Schulter; Instagram @originsbynicole
The issues we face in the Wasatch are more complicated than just a new transportation mode. And it is time to be honest, transportation is heavily skewed toward supporting only the resorts and those beholden to them. What is being pursued does not further protect our water supply, does not enhance access for the non-resort patron, does not stop the loss of species, and does not remove development pressures from the Wasatch. It will do the opposite! Our vision is quite different… We need to better utilize the infrastructure we already have in the urban areas, to connect our communities to the Wasatch, without destroying what makes these canyons unique. We can do this with buses. A flexible YEAR-ROUND bus system that focuses on getting people out of their cars, nearer their origins will protect the Wasatch and improve access and the canyon experience. Driving private vehicles to access recreational opportunities is deeply ingrained within our community. However, if you want the “red snake” to end, protection of our public lands for future generations, and clean water – we must change our patterns of behavior when accessing our shared resources. This concept includes at minimum the following:
1. UDOT’s goal of 30% reduction in private vehicles
could be accomplished without major construction, but requires higher vehicle occupancy during peak hours, weekends and holidays. By requiring 4 or more people in cars that enter these canyons, you could re-
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move 50% of the current vehicles in the canyon, 20% more than UDOT’s $500 million+ solution in search of a problem.
2. A flexible YEAR-ROUND bus system that gets
people out of their cars, nearer their origins (homes, hotels, work, etc.), aided by canyon centers across the valley where you can park your car, visit outdoor shops, get food and drink, even have affordable housing.
3. Increase enforcement of the UDOT Cottonwood Canyon sticker program to ensure vehicles are compliant with snow tire and chain requirements under the Traction Law, making the traction inspection part of vehicle inspections. Some weather events (or known busy days)
4. Innovate and implement an occupancy-based
toll to increase vehicular occupancy from current 1.7 people per vehicle to 4.
5. If people going into Big Cottonwood Canyon park at the “LCC Mobility Hubs”, demand and crowding will increase, but this hasn’t been included in UDOT’s scope.
6. Year-round visitation whether to a designated
ski area or summer time trailhead is not served by a gondola with two terminus areas at Alta Ski Resort and Snowbird Resort.
www.saveourcanyons.org
www.saveourcanyons.org
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termined carrying capacity, and current efforts have ignored this. We must address capacity and implement strategies that better manage visitation including, the induced demand for development pressure from building systems that increase the number of people in our canyons.
Written By Wasatch For All Coalition Wasatch For All is a coalition of citizens and community organizations that support regional transportation and access to the Wasatch Front Canyons while prioritizing the health of the environment and our communities. Success will be borne by building community and planning that promotes ecological, public, and economic health.
3. Year-round Transit - Residents and visitors come to the Central Wasatch Range year round to access the 7 canyons as well as foothill areas. The current alternative’s focus on Little Cottonwood Canyons fails to serve the needs of our communities who access the ski resorts as well as the dispersed, non developed locations in the Central Wasatch.
Forming Wasatch For All was prompted by concerns about the Utah Department of Transportation’s (UDOT) Little Cottonwood Canyon Draft Environmental Impact Statement (LCC DEIS). Implementation of either of the preferred alternatives proposed in the DEIS - a gondola or widening of S.R.210 - is currently the greatest threat the Wasatch Front faces.
Louis Arevalo Photography
4. Canyon Development - We want the resorts to be sustainable and successful but without consuming all the remaining canyon resources. Yet, proposals for expansion and interconnections, new facilities and amenities of the ski industry are increasing in frequency and intensity. The negative impacts from implementation of the LCC EIS alternatives will aid and abet ski industry expansion and interconnections. Solutions must exist within the confines of existing development and disturbance footprints, not expand them.
Louis Arevalo Photography; https://www.louisarevalophotography.com/index
1. Transportation - Wasatch For All supports a regional, phased approach to address canyon transportation which should be implemented today and which can be modified as demand and use change in the future. Transportation planning and implementation should be the product of comprehensive regional planning focused to achieve a long term efficient system. Solutions should fit the character and support community values for all. 2. Visitor Use and Carrying Capacity - The Wasatch Mountains have a finite capacity. Determining the carrying capacity of the Wasatch Front’s canyons is necessary for responsible stewardship. A transportation plan needs to abide by the de-
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We need a year-round transportation solution
www.saveourcanyons.org
5. Environment - The Wasatch Range is home to over 1,200 plant and animal species. Receiving an average of 500 inches of snow annually it is the source of clean water for our growing population. With water being in a significant crisis in the second driest state, preserving and protecting our Central Wasatch watershed must be our highest priority. A gondola or road widening alternative as outlined by UDOT’s EIS requires extensive construction that raises concerns for water and air quality and wildlife habitat. www.saveourcanyons.org
6. Valued Experiences and Recreation We support transportation solutions that serve all canyon users and minimize, if not avoid, negative impacts to these users. The preferred alternatives, especially the gondola, will negatively impact most users of LCC. Additionally, the gondola will be incapable of serving most LCC users. 7. Financial Barriers (upfront costs, cost to user) - The projected cost of $590MM of taxpayer’s dollars is an underestimate, where the money could be better spent on projects to benefit all, not two private, for profit ski resorts. The proposed alternatives create a serious barrier to the access into Little Cottonwood Canyon for people who do not patronize the resorts but will be burdened with the expensive upfront costs. 8. Public Dollars, Private Benefit - Access to transit and to our public lands should be equitable. Providing access to the public lands must be affordable and efficient for the people who depend upon this landscape. A gondola does not promote justice, impartiality, and fairness for the majority of our communities. A cost borne by all economic groups should benefit the community and their values. Further, damages to the environment and our watershed will not be paid for by the beneficiaries of these projects, they will be paid for by those who didn’t want to be impacted in the first place. A cost paid by all should benefit all. 9. Climate Change - The realities of climate change need to be a component of canyon planning. Shifts and stressors to water, ecology, use, snowfall, forest health and wildlife behavior need to be factored into our decision making framework. A solution that doesn’t factor climate realities is not a solution.
Water levels in Utah and beyond shrunk dangerously low Jackon Lake I Aug 2021
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Little Cottonwood – The Gondola Photos Taken By And Written By Community Advocate Nicole Schulter
This is Why We Fight . . . Written By Friends of Little Cottonwood Canyon
Website originsbynicole.com; Instagram @originsbynicole
Count the number of leaves on an oak. Peal them off one by one, and it might take you a while. Though soon you’ll be down to the very last one, and not realize how quickly you got there. There’s no way to count the number of leaves on each tree, animals in a canyon, or rocks along the dirt. But we’re well into pealing them off the earth, one by one.
I spent the afternoon in Little Cottonwood Canyon, traveling the route where the new gondola is proposed to be. Estimated to significantly alleviate traffic and back up along the canyon road, a short 37 minute trip, a huge tourist attraction, increasing access to the canyon to over 1,000 people per hour, and more. To be fair, I don’t know that I can counter those facts, those benefits with similar financial, economic or convenience gain.
We’ll be down to the very last one, and not realize how quickly we got there. The leaves, rodents and animals, rocks and dirt - they’re all details.
For years we participated in the process. We actively provided input and perspective, having lived with the problem for over 30 years. We talked of canyon closures, avalanches, traffic flow, and canyon carrying capacity. We talked about economics, ecology, transportation and recreation. We attended meetings. We weighed alternatives.
Constantly looking at things as a whole, we miss the whole point. The details become noise and we’ve skewed our perspective. All we see is a resource to be gained, profited from, built upon.
Rounds, A. “The Valley” (view from Little Cottonwood Canyon). www.alrounds.com We live near the canyon because we love it. Its unparalleled beauty stuns us every time we see it. This is why we flock to the canyon. Not just for the awesome skiing and unmatched powder, not just for the spectacular climbing, hiking, and mountain biking, but for the unmatched beauty.
We’re depleting our earth of its details one at a time. A flower alone, a tree alone, an animal alone, may not hold very much significance. Eventually one flower leads to a field, one tree becomes 900 million each year, to 75% of Earth’s land degraded. The land and its beings. Approximately 3 billion beings each day. For agriculture, for food, for research, for more land. One by one, the details add up. They either create the whole picture, or we eliminate them all and are left with what once was.
Perhaps that’s because in the whole picture we do not recognize the significance of the loss of detail. Over 120 species of plants, 4 different species of shrews, 9 different species of bats, 5 different species of hares, over 36 species of rodents, 17 species of carnivores, elk, Wasatch moose, mule deer and mountain goats are all found in Little Cottonwood canyon. 20 towers, 2 angle stations, a Snowbird station, and an Alta station, are required for the gondola. This amounts to over 10 miles of degraded land in the canyon. For now, there’s always more. More trees, more animals, more air, more resources to pull from and build on. But as we continue to deplete our earth of its details, what’s left? Crouch down and view it from a flower’s point of view. Maybe perspective will change from a focus solely on you.
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For those of us living near the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon, it’s not a new problem. Snow day ski traffic has long influenced our travel schedule. But we learned to deal with it. When Mountain Accord was organized, we were optimistic. We hoped for a sensible solution. A gondola is not a sensible solution.
www.saveourcanyons.org
Friends of Little Cottonwood Canyon came together to protect that beauty. As a group of local residents who have long enjoyed the natural beauty of Little Cottonwood Canyon, we believe the canyon should be protected from expansive development and overuse for future generations. We have grown up with the canyon and want to see our children grow up enjoying the same pristine views and unspoiled wilderness. We believe a gondola system will scar Little Cottonwood Canyon forever. It will be pervasive. It will be permanent. The main viewpoint of the canyon will no longer be the granite rock face behind Wasatch Resort. It will no longer be the expansive view from the wild flowers of Albion Basin. It will no longer be the streaks of golden aspen in the fall. The main viewpoint of Little Cottonwood Canyon will be twenty-two skyscraper-sized towers with 40 bus-sized gondolas riding on a steel cable. We understand that development and population growth will continue to pressure the canyon, however, we call for a commonsense, phased solution to these challenges. Practical and effective ideas such as snow sheds, variable tolling, smart bussing, and tire traction requirements should be implemented before jumping to a $600 million dollar, taxpayer-funded, irreversible gondola that will forever change Little Cottonwood Canyon. Private businesses such as Snowbird and Alta should not expect taxpayers to foot the $600 million dollar bill for an outsized system that will only serve a narrow segment of the population. The gondola is not a mass transit solution – it’s a tourist attraction paid for by Utah taxpayers. With water becoming an increasingly vital and scarce resource, we need to be more diligent to safeguard the LCC watershed and protect our limited water supply. Inserting a gondola into this fragile environment will put our most precious resource at risk and that’s a risk we can’t afford to take. With the help of SOC and other like-minded citizens, we can work together to keep our wilderness wild and our water safe while spending responsibly to protect the canyons for future generations. This is why we fight. Join us in fighting the gondola by visiting lccfriends.org
www.saveourcanyons.org
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a Summer of Stewardship
Written by Claire Parsons, Wilderness Stewardship and Education Coordinator
Autumn Paean
Written by Gale Dick, Co-Founder of SOC
We know that our canyons are experiencing record breaking numbers of visitors, year-round. From spring hikes, to fall climbs, to backcountry ski days, our trails are feeling the pressure of extensive recreational use. The Wilderness Stewardship Project is Save Our Canyons’ continued effort to promote volunteerism, educate and engage students, and improve stewardship within the designated wilderness areas in the Central Wasatch Mountains. It is our goal that each year we focus on multiple wilderness areas in the central Wasatch Mountain Range to maintain, restore, and create an education plan to educate the public. Now more than ever, we must bridge the gap between northern Utah communities and public land stewards to best preserve these areas together. This project allows us to be collectively responsible for trail maintenance, redirect trail misuse, reshape overgrown trails, and engage in topics about conservation. With 1,800 native plant and animal species in the Wasatch, most being found in designated wilderness areas, we take our responsibility of caring for these areas seriously. The Wilderness Stewardship Project would not be possible without the support of the National Wilderness Stewardship Alliance (NWSA) and the Forest Service Salt Lake Ranger District trail crew members who guide our volunteers at each volunteer work day. Working alongside the district provides the opportunity to learn more about the sheer volume of maintenance our backcountry trails need on an annual basis.
Your tax deductible donation enables us to continue protecting the beauty and wildness of the Wasatch Mountains. Becoming a member by donating online or by mailing in a check to: 3690 E Fort Union Blvd STE 101; Cottonwood Heights, UT 84121.
Thank you to our amazing WSP volunteers Photo Credit: Nicole Schulter; Instagram @originsbynicole
Join
Save Our Canyons relies critically on the support of individual members and local businesses. Join today for only $35: https://saveourcanyons.org/join!
Howie Garber Images
Many Utahns believe that fall is our best season. The days are still pretty long, the air is crisp and the skies often are an intense sparkling blue. After the hammering of the summer sun, and before the sobering realities of winter, there is this wonderful interlude when life seems to pick up zest and the outdoors invites us to visit. Fall is a great time to tramp the Wasatch canyons and peaks. It’s a great time to see your favorite wildflowers in their beautiful seed stages. Cow Parsnip sports its elaborate seed contraption. There are still some of the wonderful geometric constructions of the Salsify seed displays, and Green Gentians rear their elaborate stalks as a suitable finale for their truly baroque summer blossoming. Mountain Ash blazes with its orange-red berries.
We started the season off at the Butler Fork trailhead where we redirected an area of the trail that had become too narrow. By doing this, we reestablish the overall integrity of the trail. Even as the summer temperatures increased, we stayed motivated to complete more projects along the Lake Blanche Trail. This area is prone to erosion events as the trail is steep and sees a lot of rain. Our volunteers built water bars to ensure that rainfall and snowmelt will properly runoff the trail. Speaking of rain, at Neffs Canyon, we worked on erosion control along the trail as the rain fell! It was a refreshing change of pace from the summer heat. Our next work day brought us back to Butler Fork where there is plenty of work to be done. We focused on managing overgrown areas and widening the trail in areas where the trail was insecure. Lastly, we finished our 2021 season at Thaynes Canyon. This area sees a lot of traffic, especially from off-leash dogs. With that, there is the formation of “cat-trails” that direct users off the intended trail. We took the day to cover these unofficial trails and worked on leveling the trail in various areas. This season was incredibly successful and it is because of all of our volunteers!
The days are perfect for a walk — cool and crisp. As the season advances the leaves begin to turn. With some seasonal luck, the Aspens glow and tremble as they turn to gold, and shower the forest floor with sun-drenched bright yellow leaves. There is something gothic and liturgical about the Aspen groves, especially when they are near stands of somber conifers. As the underbrush begins to lose leaves, there are often fleeting glimpses of deer browsing, and of their athletic hopping away. Well, you get the idea. It’s a good time to get to know or reacquaint yourself with our home range, the Wasatch. Ask a friend where to go — or get a map or a trail guide. Get out the old day-pack and water bottle, put on those sturdy shoes, and take a leisurely walk or a challenging scramble. But be ready for weather: it is fall.
With the help of 32 Save Our Canyons volunteers, we completed five volunteer work days where we reclaimed over 15 miles of trail throughout Big Cottonwood Canyon, Millcreek Canyon, and Neffs Canyon. Volunteering with us is an outstanding way to give back to your wild spaces and be involved in the conversations that protect these places.
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www.saveourcanyons.org
Renew
Renew your one-year membership today for only $35, and keep doing your part for the Wasatch: https://saveourcanyons.org/renew.
Give Monthly
Become a monthly member for as low as $5 a month: https://saveourcanyons.org/give-monthly.
Membership Benefits
• Connection to a community passionate about conservation • Discount on ALL Save Our Canyons event tickets • Direct access to our brightest conservation leaders • Ability to serve on a Save Our Canyons advisory committee • An exclusive Save Our Canyons membership event • Quarterly newsletters delivered to your door or via email (your preference) • Action Alert emails that focus on direct actions to protect the Wasatch
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Save Our Canyons, Fall 2021
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NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH PERMIT NO. 7271 Citizens’ Committee to Save Our Canyons 3690 E Fort Union Blvd STE 101 Cottonwood Heights, UT 84121
As a community driven organization, our members guide and direct our work. Join us! Annual memberships are $35 and allow us to continue to advocate loudly for our water, land, recreational access and quality of life that result from a connected and protected Wasatch Mountains. It’s easy — donate online via saveourcanyons.org Brian Kissmer I 35mm Film Photography Instagram@kissmer.film