• Director’s Message: P 2-3
• Save Our Canyons Team P 3-5
• The Magic Of Little Cottonwood Canyon P 6-7
• 2023 Legislative Session Recap P 8-9
• Central Wasatch Resort Employee Survey P 9
• Advocacy Corner P 10
• No Gondola In LCC P 11
• The Good. The Bad. And The Ugly. P 12-13
• Utah’s Olympic Legacy P 14-P15
• Become A Member P 15
Director’s Message
Written by Executive Director, Carl FisherThe past several years have challenged us all in a variety of ways. These challenges, and in many instances, changes, have tested us — societally, organizationally, individually, to name a few. We are so fortunate, so grateful, to have an amazing community without whom we’d be unable to show up for the Wasatch in pursuit of protecting its wildness and beauty.
Last year, we celebrated our 50th year - we had one of the biggest events we’ve ever had, perhaps in part since we were unable to be together the prior two years. Of course, the pressures confronting the Wasatch are so numerous and intense — the ripple effect is being felt throughout the region. Your attention, comments and donations, your notes of support on social media or over email, your letters in our local papers — you are the ripples that carry the message of stewardship of the Wasatch, its wildlife, our water, our quality of life. Keep reverberating off the canyon walls and across the valley.
Every couple of years, we send out a community survey. It is one of several ways we work to engage our community. One of the things we hear most is that you want more representation from the Save Our Canyons community in the policy arena - you want us at the legislature, city, county and even federal levels. You’ve also asked for more presence working with agency partners to ensure consideration of conservation values. Protecting land, air and water are not just a consideration, but a priority and a legacy we pass along for generations to come. We recognize, and it has not been without trying, that responding to actions is not what is going to best protect the Wasatch, but actually being
part of the formation of proposals, ideas, projects will have a bigger impact than our broken NEPA and public comment processes.
I’m excited to share how we are responding. Last fall, we posted a position for a Policy Associate. After sorting through a pool of over 40 excellent applicants (we are lucky to have so many amazingly talented people interested in the Wasatch), we hired not one, but two, Policy Associates to work with the over 50 governments that have jurisdiction in the Wasatch Mountains. Crystal Chen and Katie Balakir are up at the capitol, down at the county and rallying at the Wasatch Front Regional Council.
If you want to work on advancing an idea and working to implement it as a policy, please get in touch with us by emailing info@saveourcanyons.org. If you are interested in what they are up to, you can follow the Policy & Pikas blog on our website. When you hear the call of our policy pikas, make sure to act!
For the past couple years, Claire Parsons has been leading our stewardship and education efforts. You’ve seen her helping to pick up trash from our scenic byways and out of water ways, working to lead volunteers and community partners to work on trails, pull weeds and take care of our wilderness areas, and take our youth and university students on outings where we talk about everything from native plants to policy efforts.
While we still want to work on these projects, we are leveling up Claire’s engagement to have her bring her passion for ecology and science to work with agency
partners on projects and initiatives they are pursuing. From trails plans to fuels treatments, as projects arise, we want to make sure we are bringing the best science and conservation practices to ensure a resilient Wasatch for generations to come.
We know we live amongst a community with deep expertise and familiarity with the environs of the Wasatch — as our Conservation Director, Claire will bring a tremendous skill set to the Wasatch and our community. In taking these steps, we will better align science and policy as we push against greed and uninformed ideologies. As we look at doing projects, we need to fully un-
derstand their impacts — avoiding where possible, and implementing meaningful mitigations to avoid a Great Salt Lake-type crisis from ever coming into our Wasatch Mountains. Policies aligned with science, rather than economic development desires, are one of the best ways to set us up for success, in avoidance of failures which look painstakingly reminiscent of a gondola.
I look forward to working with our amazing community, leveraging the talents and expertise of our dedicated staff towards excellence for our incredible Wasatch Range. Thanks for all your support for making these changes possible.
The Save Our Canyons team has changed and grown in the past year. We would like to take a moment to introduce the staff behind the organization. The people that send you emails, create targeted actions, attend public meetings, host events, educate K-12 students about the watershed, host trash cleanups, and so much more. Each person was asked THREE questions:
1. Explain your relationship with the Wasatch.
2. What’s your favorite snack to bring with you while getting outdoors?
3. What are you most optimistic about the Wasatch and what are you most concerned about?
Carl Fisher Executive DirectorStarted Volunteering/Interning in 2001 began working in 2005
1. My relationship with the Wasatch is ever-evolving, as any deep relationship should be. For the early part of my life, I probably took it for granted as I believe many Utahns do - they’ve always just been here. Anytime I needed to sort things out in my head, they were the place I would go reflect or to get out of my head and commit myself to whatever activity I was undertaking. Today, replicating memories from my childhood with my young family is what rejuvenates me most.
2. An alpine cheese and salami from Caputos. Maybe some dried apricots and a few nips of whiskey to share with friends. Also a sack of lemon drops for a boost of energy.
3. I’m increasingly concerned about both the intensity and frequency of projects that confront the Wasatch Range, most of which attempt to state they are for the public good, when they come at
greater and greater costs. The lack of policy prioritizing the protection of the land, water, wildlife and ecology of the Wasatch is concerning. With pressures (development, drought, recreation, climate) increasing, conservation and environmental policy has increasingly been slashed. “Loved to death” used to be a cautionary principle, whereas today it appears to be the marching orders. The people who are elected to office, who can actually do something to protect the Wasatch by passing laws, ordinances and regulations can’t seem to do anything but pass toothless plans and ineffective resolutions. I’m concerned an unprecedented Mountain Accord was contorted by Utah officials to justify a gondola and an attack on our Wilderness. The broader Wasatch community gets it, though. Your emails, your advocacy, your encouragement, ideas, heart and soul, building with each passing day keep me fired up to do what needs to be done. I love bumping into you on the skin track, the trail, and the liftlines, but my favorite place to see you is at the dais, speaking truth to power.
Started Working at Save Our Canyons: 2021
1. The Wasatch is a place that I hold so dear and is exactly what convinced me to move to Utah - the “how could we not live in such a stunning place?”. The Wasatch is our water and a mountain range that provides an outrageous opportunity to breathe, explore, share, and conserve. It is foundational in the life I have built here.
2. I love a sweet and salty situation… Give me a cheese stick, a homemade chocolate chip cookie, some coffee, and I will be set!
3. I feel very optimistic about the project prioritization of our organization, Salt Lake County, the Salt Lake Ranger District, Salt Lake Public Utilities, and Salt Lake City to put conserving the Wasatch Mountains, our watershed, and the future of the Great Salt Lake at the forefront of our collective agendas. I feel terribly concerned about the sustained misunderstanding that the Wasatch can bear more development and that this environment can continually heal mine after mine, road expansion after road expansion, and now the atrocity that is the gondola proposalthe Wasatch and all that it holds… can only take so much.
Started Working at Save Our Canyons: 2023
1. I grew up finding solace and inspiration from the Wasatch Mountains, on long meanders with my camera in hand. I settled here in 2021 to be closer to the beauty and wildness of the Wasatch.
2. Dried mango is the way to go. Or any fruit, really.
3. While I am concerned about the disconnect between sound science and policymaking that is sometimes present, I am encouraged by the strength and perseverance of the community to keep fighting for what they value and believe in.
Grace Tyler Development Director Started Working at Save Our Canyons: 2017
1. When I moved to SLC in 2008, one of the first things I did was hike Mount Olympus. I just wanted to check the box to say I did it. I didn’t know anything about the Wasatch, or the history of the Mount Olympus Wilderness Designation Area, or the years of advocacy that had gone into protecting the Wasatch. Years later, I went back again. To climb over 4,100 feet above the Salt Lake Valley, to show
my appreciation for the Wasatch. For our water source. For the flora and fauna. And for how much the Wasatch has changed, helped, and inspired me to grow as a person. Because without the Wasatch Mountains, I would not be who I am today.
2. Gummy bears! There’s nothing like reaching into your bag after hiking, climbing, skiing, angling, you name it – and enjoying a delicious sweet treat.
3. The idea of developing the Wasatch at the expense of the plants and animals, while only serving those that can financially afford to ski, is both disheartening and disgusting. “A man could be a lover and defender of the wilderness without ever in his lifetime leaving the boundaries of asphalt, powerlines, and right-angled surfaces. We need wilderness whether or not we ever set foot in it. We need a refuge even though we may never need to go there” (Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire). Access to transit and to our public lands should be equitable. What counteracts the nauseous feeling the State of Utah provides when it comes to environmental protection — is knowing the next generation is tenacious and passionate. The Women’s Outdoor Leadership Initiative (WOLI), Students For The Wasatch, and all the 15,16,17-year-olds offering to volunteer with Save Our Canyons are both inspiring and motivating. The next generation is stepping up. It’s time for the State of Utah, UDOT, and beyond to listen, adapt, and implement comment-sense solutions that benefit all users, not just those that can afford it.
Katie Balakir Policy AssociateStarted Working at Save Our Canyons: 2022
1. Growing up with limited natural spaces and recreational opportunities, I was overwhelmed when I moved to Utah. It took me a little while to get into the mountains and start to explore but once I did, there was no looking back. Being in the Wasatch Mountains is a truly liberating experience.
2. This is probably cliche, but I love a good ole granola
bar (more specifically, KIND bars). It gets the job done and makes me feel better when I go for that post-hike/ski shake at Handel’s.
3. I’m most concerned about the sense of entitlement certain people/companies/governments show toward the Wasatch. We are not entitled to recreate in every inch of the Wasatch, and we are not entitled to endlessly extract resources from natural spaces until we’re left with hollowed mountains and leveled forests. Our relationship with the Wasatch should be based on the understanding that its ecosystems have just as much of a right to exist and thrive as we do. On the other hand, I’m most encouraged by the solidarity and resilience our communities have shown in protecting the Wasatch. The gondola is a wonderful example. Those who routinely recreate in the Wasatch and those who have never stepped foot in the mountains joined local governments and private businesses to advocate for the protection of Little Cottonwood Canyon.
Sarah Sleater Executive AssistantStarted Volunteering for SOC in 2007 began working in 2012
1. The Wasatch and I met a little over 22 years ago. I instantly fell in love with her beauty! I knew immediately that with a burgeoning city only minutes away from the solace of our Mountains, that it must be protected from greed and self-serving interests of those who would sacrifice her and her inhabitants for their own profit and personal gain.
2. Cheese, jerky, and fruit.
3. I am most optimistic about our amazing community that rallies and helps us advocate for the Wasatch! I am most concerned about our Utah legislature/ UDOT and their intentions for the Wasatch and transportation issues.
The past few months have been full of advocacy and it’s uplifting to see all of the support and passion for protecting the Wasatch Mountains. Save Our Canyons would like to say thank you to everyone that submitted photos of Little Cottonwood Canyon in November.
It’s incredible to see Little Cottonwood Canyon through your eyes and continue to shed light on the importance of protecting this beautiful ecosystem. If you have photos or videos of the Wasatch Mountains that you would like us to post on social media or print in the SOC Newsletter, please email Grace@saveourcanyons.org and Claire@saveourcanyons.org.
To see more photos of LCC and beyond visit our Instagram page @saveourcanyons.
HB 527 would’ve allowed mine operators to bypass local regulations and open new mining sites throughout the state.
The impacts to our land, air, and water would be considerable. HB 527 never made it out of the House Rules Committee, but the effort to protect Parley’s and the rest of the Wasatch from exploitative mining uses is far from over.
Zero-Fare Pilot Program (Rep. Sen. Weiler’s)
We supported a push by Sen. Weiler to fund a statewide zero-fare transit pilot program. Removing barriers to accessing transportation, like cost, is a critical first step to improving public transportation and ridership in the Salt Lake Valley.
The 2023 legislative session is officially in the books. Over 850 bills were introduced, making it the largest number of bills in any session since at least 1997. Because of your incredible engagement, we were able to stop the legislature from forcing Salt Lake City to potentially divert water away from the Great Salt Lake (HB 276) and allowing the proposed gravel pit in Parley’s Canyon to move forward (HB 527). (Check out our Policy and Pikas blog for more information.)
Here are the three main areas we focused on this session, along with some notable bills.
Our watersheds are our most critical resource, as is the Great Salt Lake. Replenishing the lake to its healthy levels is imperative to protect watersheds in the Wasatch Mountains, and the life that depends on them.
We heard a swath of bills ranging from a mandate that would’ve required Salt Lake City to route water to dry lots outside of its service area (HB 276) to an attempt to set a target elevation for the Great Salt Lake (SCR 06). It’s hard to deny that restoring the Great Salt Lake was a big theme this session, however, little was done to drastically change Utah’s water conservation efforts.
During Free Fare February in 2022, the Utah Transit Authority (UTA) saw a 16% increase in ridership on weekdays and a 46% increase in ridership on weekends, across all transit. February ridership also resulted in a significant decrease in vehicle source emissions.
Unfortunately, Sen. Weiler’s proposal for a statewide zero-fare pilot program wasn’t included in the final budget.
HB 276 would’ve required Salt Lake City to supply water to dry lots in the Wasatch Mountains by routing water up the canyons or diverting it from streams.
If the bill passed, we would’ve seen less water making it to the Great Salt Lake and an impaired water supply for people in Salt Lake City’s service area.
Thanks to your help, HB 276 was held in the House Natural Resources Committee. We expect the bill to be studied in the interim and make another appearance in the 2024 session.
The legislature appropriated $100 million dollars for the Utah Department of Transportation to enhance bus service, enact tolling, build a mobility hub, and add bus stops in the Cottonwood Canyons.
This will be supplemented by $50 million from the Cottonwood Canyon Transportation Investment Fund, bringing the total amount to $150 million.
We support the legislature’s decision to fund common-sense solutions to help alleviate traffic in our canyons.
Robust transportation options are critical for the preservation of the Wasatch Mountains. This is true not only for the current threats our mountains face, such as the proposed gondola up Little Cottonwood Canyon, but also as we consider access to public lands for all users. Year-round bus service to the canyons, with enhanced service in the winter, would reduce the number of vehicles on the road. We could further promote equitable access by adding routes to connect communities west of I-15 to the Wasatch Mountains.
We noticed a good deal of conversation around public transportation this session, including talk of turning last year’s Free Fare February into “Free Fare Forever”.
Utah is one of the fastest-growing states, which comes with opportunities and challenges. One of the most notable challenges is building the necessary infrastructure to support a growing population while protecting our natural landscapes–the reason so many chose to call Utah home.
During the session, we saw an effort to exempt mining projects from local land use ordinances, including the proposed gravel pit in Parley’s Canyon, and open up new mining sites throughout the state (HB 527).
As we are facing the possible development of a massive gondola system that will change Little Cottonwood Canyon forever - we want to provide a space for Central Wasatch Resort Employees to share your input, concerns, and ideas about how we can better advocate for you and transportation solutions that will also work for you!
There is a common misconception that resort employees can get up the canyons without an issue and somehow magically avoid the red snake. We know that you are struggling to get to work on time, navigate the canyon safely, carpool with one another as your schedules vary, wish shuttle services were provided by your employer, and so many other obstacles you face.
Save Our Canyons wants to hear from you, the resort employees up Big or Little Cottonwood Canyon, that make the winter seasons possible year after year. So far we have 183 people who have completed the employee survey, and we have a goal of reaching at least 300!
We will be releasing the results of the survey Summer 2023 and all answers will be kept anonymous.
The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) started an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in 2018 to find transportation solutions for Little Cottonwood Canyon (LCC). In August 2022, UDOT announced the gondola as its preferred solution. UDOT will issue its Record of Decision (ROD), or final decision, in the coming weeks based on comments from the Final EIS. UDOT will then need to find funding for the alternative it selects.
Meanwhile, the Wasatch Front Regional Council (WFRC) voted to include UDOT’s phased gondola proposal in the Draft 2023-2050 Regional Transportation Plan. The WFRC develops a new transportation plan every four years for the Salt Lake and Ogden metropolitan areas.
2018
UDOT began an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for LCC and Fort Union Blvd. to assess transportation solutions. UDOT opened its first comment period to receive input on the scope of the project.
We have spent the last two months working hard to bring the community together by hosting Writing for the Wasatch Workshops. These workshops provided the opportunity for those who are interested in advocating for yearround transportation solutions, additional Wilderness Area Designations, caring for public lands, caring for all groups who enjoy the Wasatch, and so much more, to have a place to share those thoughts and ideas.
Our main goal for the last two workshops was to remind the community of the importance of contacting their elected officials and to complete postcards that we will send directly to Governor Cox to amplify the importance of four main goals:
1. Year-round transportation and access for all.
2. A gondola-free Little Cottonwood Canyon.
3. Further protecting our watershed.
4. Keeping the Wasatch wild.
Our Grassroots Intern, Julia Stegvik, designed incredible images for each goal to encourage folks to color them in and interact with one another. Advocacy can take many forms and it has been inspiring to see how many of us want to see the Wasatch Mountains taken care of for now and for future generations. We want to send a massive thank you to our partners at Patagonia and Black Diamond Millcreek for providing welcoming spaces to host these incredibly important workshops and to all of you who joined us!
We can show unity in a variety of ways by: attending a public meeting, a Save Our Canyons event, signing a petition, volunteering with our organization, or writing a Letter to the Editor or Op-Ed.
Ways to stay informed:
• Email list: Sign up for our action alert emails through our website
• Facebook: Save Our Canyons
• Instagram: @saveourcanyons
The proposed gondola is approx. 8-miles long. It would begin at the base of LCC and include two stops: Snowbird Ski Resort and Alta Ski Area. The gondola would consist of 20 towers and 2 angle stations, ranging from 130 to 262 feet tall. The estimated cost for the phased gondola project is over $1.4 billion (including the cost of the gondola, snow sheds, temporary enhanced bus service, etc.). Originally, UDOT estimated the cost to be $550 million.
Save Our Canyons supports lower-cost solutions that utilize our existing infrastructure, such as carpool incentives (ex. occupancy-based tolling), year-round enhanced bus service with stops at multiple locations and more frequent service at peak times, enforcement of the traction law, and mandatory parking reservations at ski resorts.
2021
2019
Based on the first comment period, UDOT modified the EIS to also consider avalanche mitigation, parking at popular access points, and spillover congestion onto Wasatch Blvd. A public comment period was open from March-June and again from November to December. UDOT ended the year with a list of over 100 concepts.
UDOT released the Draft EIS with two preferred alternatives: the La Caille gondola and an enhanced bus system with road widening. UDOT opened up a 70-day public comment period. After making revisions to a chapter in the Draft EIS, UDOT opened an additional public comment period in December 2021. The two public comment periods resulted in over 14,000 comments.
2022
UDOT released the Final EIS and identified the La Caille gondola, with a phased approach, as their preferred alternative. A final comment period ensued and UDOT received another 14,000 comments, bringing the total number of comments from 2020-2022 to over 35,000, shattering UDOT records.
In June, UDOT identified three alternatives; an enhanced bus system with road widening, an enhanced bus system without widening, and a gondola beginning at the mouth of LCC.
After nearly 7,000 public comments, UDOT published an addendum to add the options of a gondola and cog rail both beginning at La Caille, in addition to an enhanced bus system with and without road widening, and a gondola beginning at the mouth of LCC.
While we’re disappointed UDOT is still considering the gondola after widespread opposition from local communities and public officials, we still have time to act:
1. SUBMIT A COMMENT TO GOV. COX (URL on website and social media)
2. Donate to Save Our Canyons to help protect the wildness and beauty of Little Cottonwood Canyon (Venmo: Save Our Canyons).
Good: Ullr, the mythical Norse God of Snow, has been gifting the Wasatch Mountains with a record-breaking amount of snowy goodness.
Bad: With a snowpack above 500 inches, wildlife (elk, moose, mule deer, etc.) are having to move lower in elevation to find food. Since development regulations aren’t at the forefront of Utah’s priorities, wildlife are getting pushed into areas where they shouldn’t be. In February, 50 to 60 elk moved into the mouth of Parley’s Canyon. Two died in collisions on a Friday morning and a third was euthanized after it was injured by a car.
Ugly: With extreme weather patterns due to climate change, it could get muddy and ugly as the snowpack above 500 inches starts to melt. Will the rivers and streams flood? And the real question is, how much of the water will make it out to the drying Great Salt Lake? Or is the solution to the water crisis still to pray for rain?
Good: Over 35,000 comments were sent to Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) during 2021-2022 across two comment periods in response to the proposed gondola in Little Cottonwood Canyon with 88% in opposition of the gondola being built. This community engagement is exactly what has slowed this process down and your continued involvement in this process is exactly what protecting Little Cottonwood Canyon needs. Not only have individuals spoken out against the gondola, but Salt Lake County, Salt Lake City, Cottonwood Heights City and County Council have passed resolutions supporting a common-sense solutions approach to the UDOT Little Cottonwood Canyon Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
Bad: We are not at the end of this process. Not even close. UDOT will continue trying to figure out how to fund a $1.4 billion project that only serves two private resorts and does not alleviate transportation issues across the valley. UDOT will release their Record of Decision (tentatively) in Summer 2023.
Ugly: Politicians are headed down a path of replicating historical mistakes, rather than learning from them. This talk of cutting down trees to save water highlights the lack of critical thinking skills amongst those who have sought office to protect the public, the public’s trust, and wild spaces. It is a crisis greater than the shrinking of the Great Salt Lake. Trees are essential in the shared ecosystem that is the Wasatch. Trees reduce ambient temperatures, they provide a complex network in the soil that supports biodiversity of life that leads to water retention, and they purify our watershed.
Good: We need legislative action to slow the effects of climate change - less pollution, less water use, and not deforestation. Thank you to Salt Lake County for hosting a meeting on Feb 7th for bringing together scientists on this issue to amplify the importance of conservation.
And thank you to Laura Briefer (Director of Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities), Ben Abbott (Professor of Environmental Science and Global Hydrology at Brigham Young University) and Ph.D. student Brian Brown, and Rebecca Hotze (District Ranger for the Salt Lake Ranger District with the Forest Service) for being part of this conversation during the meeting.
Bad: This whole cancellation of bus service in the midst of a comment period, when local officials and organizations are encouraging people to ride the bus to help protect our canyons from damaging projects like a gondola, doesn’t smell right to us.
Good: Rep. Stratton proposed a bill to expand mining operations across the state while dodging local regulations. It likely would have shifted the ongoing lawsuit between Tree Farm LLC and Salt Lake County in favor of Tree Farm and its proposed 634-acre gravel pit for Parley’s Canyon. Thanks to your engagement, HB527 didn’t make it out of the House Rules Committee. Hoorah!
Ugly: Last summer, Cardiff Canyon landowners decided not to renew their permit for reciprocal access for motorized access across public land, to their properties in the canyon. While we must respect private property rights, the land owners have hired mercenaries to harass the public using public lands. If you are approached by these individuals particularly if you are on public lands, it is important to notify law enforcement. Some areas of the Wasatch are a patchwork of public and private lands so it is important to know land ownership when enjoying your public lands.
Ugly: Rep. John Curtis’s bill to rejigger wilderness boundaries passed. The Wasatch is riddled with Wilderness quality lands deserving of the nation’s highest protection — lands that are likely to otherwise be converted to condos, parking lots, ski chalets, gondolas, and gravel pits. Yet, the best Utah’s Delegation could come up with was designating the former Boy Scouts of America Camp Tracy up Millcreek Canyon as Wilderness. Gobblers Knob, White Pine, Mineral Fork, Bear Trap, Silver Fork, Days Fork, Grizzly Gulch, Flagstaff, Mill D — all overlooked. Finishing the Bonneville Shoreline Trail (BST) should not come at the expense of collaboration and certainly not at the expense of conservation and with a loss of Wilderness.
Good: Our 50th Anniversary Celebration Presented by KÜHL has come and gone and we want to take a moment to express our gratitude. This was without a doubt, the most memorable and successful fundraising event Save Our Canyons has hosted. Working behind the scenes we see our members’ names on emails, donations, or in our database, but don’t often have the opportunity to interact face to face. It was a pleasure having an evening with our community, and celebrating the protection of wilderness in the Wasatch Mountains.
• A climate positive games
• Water resource management in Mountain Zones
• Conservation and enhancement of biodiversity and cultural heritage
• A commitment to human rights for all aspects of the games
• Commitments to gender equality, inclusion, and diversity
These are areas Utah has struggled with, but the sky is really the limit for how we can rise to these challenges. We are not anywhere in the vicinity of the podium today, but we recognize these critical issues that confront our community. Perhaps the games and coaching of the IOC can help Utah not only get on the podium, but can ignite the flame within ourselves to strive for gold.
We are encouraged to report two commitments that we’ve worked on that show they are taking these priorities seriously. First, as we were hosting our listening sessions, Fraser Bullock, President and CEO of the Salt Lake City - Utah Olympic Committee, promised there would be no Olympic venues in the Cottonwood Canyons!
Your tax deductible donation enables us to continue protecting the beauty and wildness of the Wasatch Mountains. Become a member by donating online or by mailing in a check to: 3690 E Fort Union Blvd STE 101; Cottonwood Heights, UT 84121. Join Save Our Canyons relies critically on the support of individual members and local businesses. Join today for only $35: https://saveourcanyons.org/join!
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Renew your one-year membership today for only $35, and keep doing your part for the Wasatch: https://saveourcanyons.org/renew.
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Save Our Canyons has had a bit of a sordid history with the Olympic Games being in Utah. Yes, there were a few scandals that plagued the 2002 Winter Games, there was a hyper-politicized land exchange at Snowbasin, efforts to burn rings into Salt Lake City’s Foothills, and attempts to put Olympic venues in the Cottonwood Canyons. Some of these came to fruition yet others were squashed.
Our concern wasn’t ever about the spirit that the games invite or the accomplishments of these athlete’s pursuit of greatness, it was and is today out of an abundance of concern for what the Olympics would invite into our Wasatch Mountains, the infrastructure that is required to host the world in our relatively small range.
As Utah looks at the 2030 or 2034 Olympic Games, we’ve been engaged with the Salt Lake City - Utah Committee for the Games, which has included Save
Our Canyons in meetings with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to learn about their expectations for host cities. We also partnered with Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall to host listening sessions on the games.
As we worked to prepare for these games while being transparent with our concerns, we also stated to both the Mayor and the Utah Olympic Committee that with the infrastructure we already have, the major benefit we see to hosting the games is if we could go for gold on social and environmental issues that our region faces.
Not only were we encouraged by how our partners received this idea, we were further encouraged to see the IOC’s requirements for environmental, social, and economic responsibility include things like:
As you are also aware, there is a massive mine being proposed in Parley’s Canyon, which we believe should be designated as Utah’s Olympic Legacy Corridor. The world will travel this corridor as they come from SLC to venues on the Wasatch back. Yet, Granite Construction and developer Jesse Lassely are aggressively pursuing this mine, and even working to alter Utah’s already abysmal environmental policy framework to remove local communities from having any say or jurisdiction on mining proposals. Again, Fraser Bullock came through powerfully stating, “We must NOT allow this tragic marring of this beautiful canyon—we owe it to our children, our reputation in the Olympic community, and to ourselves.”
Without the Wasatch, there would be no Olympic Games in Utah. While Salt Lake and Utah are looking to host the games, the Wasatch Mountains cradle them. We’ve got a lot of work to do, and we look forward to working with partners to take these sentiments and put them to work, helping give the Wasatch, and our communities, the respect, protection, stewardship, and compassion they are more than deserving of receiving.
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 scan
