Citizens’ Committee to Save Our Canyons
www.saveourcanyons.org
November, 2013
A beautiful female bobcat with kitten was spotted by SOC’s Clay Northrup practically within SLC’s limits. Read Wild Utah Project’s Allison Jones’ article on Mammals of the Wasatch on page 4. Save Our Canyons is an organization of citizen activists “dedicated, since 1972, to the beauty and wildness of Wasatch canyons, mountains, and foothills.” Save Our Canyons is the quarterly publication of the Citizens’ Committee to Save Our Canyons CONTENTS: Pressident’s Message ............2 Wasatch Mammals ................4 SOC Projects ...........................6 Blue Ribbon Commission.... 7 Upper Bells Canyon ..............8 SOC on Outdoor Recreation Advisory Committee ......10 Happy News ........................11 Honors Student at U of U ..11 Good, Bad, Ugly ..................12 Book Review ........................13 ULLR Ball Great Success ....14
ALEXIS KELNER Perennial Editor GALE DICK Associate Perennial Editor
President’s Message
Looking Forward – and Back
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orward: During the past year Save Our Canyons has been working with Eric Mitchell of FIFTHOCEAN CONSULTING to develop a strategic plan for the organization’s future. This undertaking has been made possible by the generosity of Peter and Kathy Metcalf, long-time supporters of SOC. It has been an intense process involving many hours from our Staff and Board of Trustees as we face significant challenges: long-term stability of the organization and ways to be more effective in the future while preserving our mission intact. Our vision is and will remain to see that wild lands are treated as sacred, that citizens are empowered to take action to protect and preserve open spaces for all to enjoy. The values that guide our work have been stewardship, tenacity and passion with our focus on the Wasatch Range while engaging the community. We have learned that there is overwhelming support of our mission by the community of Salt Lake Valley. They are the people whom we serve and who make our work possible by their support. 798 people participated in the process. 756 people participated in a community survey (an unusually high 84.5% completion rate). Eric Mitchell conducted discussions with community partners, business partners, donors, participants in the SkiLink project and SOC members. 6 key informants were also interviewed. On the basis of the information and opinions gathered from this process and many discussions of the board some particular goals for our future emerged. •SOC will have a robust, dynamic and engaged board. (even more so than in the past). •SOC will increase and diversify funding sources and mission impact. •SOC will have appropriate staffing to address critical conservation and preservation issues impacting the Wasatch Mountains, canyons and foothills. •SOC will have engaged, diverse and committed members. •SOC will powerfully tell its story and increase community awareness about its activities and initiatives.
We developed many suggestions for evolving the roles of board and staff, as well as for board recruitment and organization.
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Back:
These are all parts of our future, but as we look forward we also should Look Back. Save Our Canyons has a lot to brag about. So let’s do that here. There have been important victories during the last 41 years that have been achieved because of public support, donors, work by our board of trustees, invaluable service and dedication by staff past and present, and by the efforts of pro bono attorneys and hundreds of volunteers. So here are some of our accomplishments worth celebrating with hope for even more important victories in the future. •SOC successfully promoted the Lone Peak Wilderness with some 14 years of publicizing and lobbying and getting a bill introduced. It was passed by congress in 1978. This was our first big victory and the first “capital W” Wilderness area in Utah. •SOC played a central role in creation of the Twin Peaks, Mt. Olympus Wilderness areas in 1984. •SOC managed to keep Olympic competitive venues out of Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons and got the SLC Organizing Committee to re-locate the cross-country venue from a site in Parleys Canyon to Soldier’s Hollow near Heber. SOC members participating as members of the Venues Committee made this happen. •SOC submitted comments to the Forest Service that resulted in their turning down the Snowbird’s proposal to build a Gad III lift that would have provided lift access to skiing in White Pine Canyon. Can’t prove cause and effect here but we believe we were convincing. The Record of Decision also denied their request to add Scottys Bowl to the resort. •In the 1980s SOC played a key role in convincing Salt Lake County to formulate a master plan for Wasatch canyons and foothill development and played an active role in formulating the ordinances (FCOZ) coming out of it. •SOC successfully sued Salt Lake County over Harper’s Gravel Pit in Parleys Canyon when they expanded their operations beyond what had been permitted. We won the suit but had difficulty getting Salt Lake County to enforce the conditions the suit challenged. •SOC played a role in SLC’s acquisition of the popular Willow Heights open space area in Big Cottonwood Canyon. It had been threatened by plans to subdivide it for housing. www.saveourcanyons.org
•SOC was the whistle blower on an FAA plan to route flights to and from the Salt Lake International Airport along flight paths that passed low over existing Wasatch Wilderness areas. We formed a coalition including SOC, Salt Lake County, Little Cottonwood Canyon ski resorts and businesses that managed to stave off this plan that would have impinged on wilderness values and ski business viability in the Wasatch. •SOC has been working for years to enlarge the Wilderness areas in the central Wasatch and convinced then Salt Lake Mayor Peter Corroon to convene a committee of stakeholders including environmental organizations, all affected ski resorts, Wasatch Powderbird Guides, Salt Lake City (including members of its Department of Public Utilities with responsibility for our watershed), and the City of Sandy. SOC representatives participated in all of the many meetings of this committee over a period of nearly a year in the process of formulating and achieving consensus on Wilderness legislation. We gained the support of the International Mountain Biking Association. All this resulted in the introduction of a Wasatch Watershed and Wilderness bill in congress. It has not yet passed but remains one of our highest priorities. •SOC was part of a group including the Sierra Club, the Wasatch Mountain Club and Trail Riders of America that formulated a successful strategy that led to Salt Lake County’s giving up its RS2477 claims to “rights of way” on federal lands in the Wasatch. The work was done by a SOC intern and was good enough to impress Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon and his planning staff and the claims were withdrawn. This was a first for Utah and an important step in countering a strategy to render potential Wilderness in the state ineligible for consideration. •SOC has been a vigilant watchdog of schemes to get
around FCOZ. We enjoyed confronting a developer who testified to the Salt Lake county Board of Adjustment that SOC had agreed that his request for an egregious variance to build a mansion at a notable scenic site should be granted. When we confronted him, he denied having ever done so. The Board of Adjustment meeting at which he made this false claim was recorded and, when the developer realized we had the tape, he melted away like the Wicked Witch of the West. •SOC led a campaign objecting to a Snowbird plan to build a “mountain coaster” on Snowbird land across the highway from the base of the resort and on the lower part of Mt. Superior. This started with a “Honk Your Disapproval Rally” at rush hour outside the Salt Lake County Complex. Later the Salt Lake County Board of Adjustment voted against the county planning staff’s recommendation that the coaster should be approved. The coaster’s site was subsequently moved to an area within the resort itself. •SLC played a central role in the huge and successful effort that killed SkiLink. Special credit for that success goes to our Executive Director Carl Fisher, the legion of writers of Op-Ed pieces and letters to the editor, the volunteers that put on a very large fundraiser to finance full page ads in local newspapers, Mayor Becker’s organization of Wasatch Summit and to the hundreds of individuals who displayed – and continue to display – “Stop SkiLink” signs in Salt Lake City and Park City.
Based on what Save Our Canyons has done there is reason to believe that, with a stronger and growing organization in coming years, we will win many more substantial victories for a wild and beautiful Wasatch.– Gale Dick
A Rare Convergence The governing board and staff of Save Our Canyons all together at the same time: FRONT ROW, L TO R: Tom Lund, Gale Dick, Carl Fisher, Bill Lockhart, Clay Northrup. MIDDLE ROW: Alex Schmidt, Gayle Parry, Havilah Martak. BACK ROW: John Worlock, Gavin Noyes, Ron Younger, Bill King Alexis Kelner.
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“One of the coolest things about the Wasatch Range: all these mammals!” By Allison Jones, Wild Utah Project
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recently was given a copy of the Friends of Alta 2014 Calendar, titled “Animals of Alta”. But upon closer inspection I see it was misnamed – it should be “Mammals of Alta”. Adorning its pages are photos of bobcats, coyote, mountain goat, red fox, porcupine, marmot, moose, deer, ground squirrel, pika, badger and short tailed weasel (or ermine, if you prefer). Why is it that when people think of “animals”, this usually translates into “mammals”? Perhaps it is because they are the vertebrates with whom we share this planet that are the most closely related to us. We see in mammals correlates of our own behaviors, struggles, relationships and, in a nutshell, both their and our natural history. And we are fascinated with this group of creatures…they can,
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if we are lucky enough to see them on a hike here in the Wasatch, instill in us a sense of wonder, as well as insights into community ecology and these mammals’ role in it. I remember ski touring once into Mill D Fork of Big Cottonwood Canyon and getting a quick glimpse of a white short-tailed weasel searching for vole runs tucked under the layers of snow, and knowing that just a couple of months before this critter was brown. Does the camouflaging transition from dark to white happen with the very first snow? And there was the time I was taking a quiet, early morning trail run up Willow Fork in Big Cottonwood Canyon at the height of summer. I rounded a corner and found myself face-to-face with a large female moose. This snapped me out of whatever far-away place my mind was in a moment ago.
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Is there a calf with her, I wondered? If so, she could be aggressive (and this is the time of year to expect it). Wait – be still. She’s leaving. Only now do I realize I’m standing in the middle of a carpet of multi-color wildflowers – pink geraniums and pea flowers, blue lupine, yellow groundsel and salsify. Yes, we have a lot to learn from observing and studying the mammals that grace the Wasatch Mountains. And, as the Friends of Alta calendar conveys – there are a lot of them. Fully 57 species of mammals make their home in these mountains. This should come as no surprise as this range spans an elevational gradient of 5,000 to 11,000 feet, and this impressive range coupled with varied and unique geology and topography translate into a variety of habitats to support a variety of mammals. And you don’t have to travel up to Albion Basin to see some of these critters, in fact many feel plenty safe down in our border neighborhoods in the foothills, where they are not hunted and there are fewer predators. On that note, protecting these critters throughout the Wasatch Range is a special trust that our society must live up to. We are already doing a lot of things right in the Wasatch mountains to ensure that the species of mammals we are blessed with now are still up there for all of our grandchildren to enjoy. For example there is no livestock grazing in the main canyons above the Salt Lake Valley, so our local, native mammals don’t have to compete with sheep and cows for forage or suffer other negative effects from this human impact. But we can and must do more. That is why it is important to support Save Our Canyons and the
various initiatives they are involved with such as the Wasatch Legacy Project and the Wasatch Summit Partnership to try to ensure that future land use planning, transportation and zoning efforts proceed with the over-riding goal to keep our treasured Wasatch ecosystems, and all the species that rely on them, functioning and intact. And as far as that goes, the science of conservation biology tells us that managing large areas of these mountains as actual or de-facto, roadless wilderness areas is probably the biggest bang for our buck to ensure viability for many of our Wasatch mammal populations, especially the ones that are wide-ranging. Here’s to Save Our Canyons helping to bring more of this wilderness and sound roadless area policy to the Wasatch! ❑
Allison Jones, Wild Utah Project
Opposite page: Moose in Albion Basin, Alta At left: Mountain goat in upper reaches of Mt. Timpanogos. Good mountain goat viewing during winter is possible from the parking lot at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon. Both wildlife photos from Howie Garber’s “Utah’s Wasatch Range: Four Season Refuge.” Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
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Save Our Canyons:
“Projects on Top of Projects” By Carl Fisher, Executive Director One year ago, it seemed that all hell had broken lose across the Wasatch Mountains. Projects on top of projects were on the table. To name a few of them: •The SkiLink project had a bill before the US Congress to mandate a ski interconnect; •The Foothills and Canyons Overlay Zone (FCOZ) was being revisited to look at what development was appropriate in our canyons; •Tavaci had successfully disconnected from Cottonwood Heights and rejoined Salt Lake County; •The Wasatch Summit effort had kicked off an multijurisdictional effort to make decisions on long term land-use, resource, and transportation planning; •Salt Lake County had kicked off an effort to update the General Plans that govern Parleys, Big Cottonwood and Little Cottonwood Canyons; •Snowbird had released its plans to construct a monstrosity on Hidden Peak complete with rotating restaurant; •Ski Utah and some ski areas had resurrected their dream for a seven resort Ski Interconnect; •Alta’s update to their Master Development Plan included lifts up Grizzly Gulch and potentially up Flagstaff Mountain; •The US Forest Service was trying to decide how to interpret the Congressional legislation that permitted ski areas to utilize the areas in their boundaries for summer recreation. Each one of these issues, projects, or campaigns that we work on requires its own unique attention. They require meetings with resorts, industry leaders, policy makers, land managers, members, volunteers, board members, other organizations and the hard working staff of Save Our Canyons. We stretch our extremely limited resources and take all of these issues head on. To what end? Well: •There is no longer a bill before Congress to push SkiLink; •We made sure that the conservation voice and perspective was heard loud and clear in the FCOZ report; •The rezone of Tavaci was denied by the Salt Lake County Council at a hearing where nearly 50 people unanimously spoke in opposition to the project; •Save Our Canyons secured a seat on the Executive Committee of the Wasatch Summit planning effort to help ensure the environmental & recreation perspectives are represented and that a robust and inclusive public process ensues. Transparency and openness must be a guiding principal in planning the future of our mountains; •Save Our Canyons had representatives on the Steering Committees for the General Plans who advocated for protection of our water resources and recreational
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opportunities as it pertains to Salt Lake County; •Hidden Peak’s rotating restaurant is gone and the square footage of the building is right up against the lower limit approved by the USFS; •The USFS denied the portions of Alta’s expansion that had elements of resort expansion or ski interconnect; •The draft rule for summer recreation at ski areas is currently open for public comment and SOC is working with our members and partners to make sure our perspectives are incorporated. •Additionally, we’ve worked with Rep. Jim Matheson to reintroduce, for the third time, the Wasatch Wilderness and Watershed Protection Act into the US House of Representatives.
Looking back, I’m staggered by what we’ve accomplished. These are only a few of the things that we’ve been spending our time on, not including the canyon clean ups, the educational presentations, the outreach at farmers market and festivals, the compilation of email alerts and information on our website, etc. And to know that we’ve done it with only 3 full time staff! How many full time positions do you think are on the other side of the issues we work on? How many resort employees & consultants are working on these various proposals? How many attorneys and consultants are working for Terry Diehl and Tavaci? Save Our Canyons is a formidable underdog. At times, yes, it is completely overwhelming, but the culture of Save Our Canyons, a culture that started over 40 years ago, is a culture that will continue for at least 40 more. I’ve now been with the organization for over a decade, starting as a volunteer sitting at the very same farmers markets I mentioned above. I’ve learned that we are good at a lot of things, but the one thing we are bad at is dodging nearly every issue that threatens our water supply, or our recreational access/experience, or whatever scheme one or all of the resorts are pursuing this year. The use in the Wasatch is growing, the number of projects that are confronting the Wasatch is rapidly increasing, so too is the importance of protecting this place, what we have left. The one thing that is not increasing is our capacity to address these issues. This organization should easily be able to have twice as many people working on our campaigns, but we can barely afford the three we have. I don’t believe that this is because people don’t value what we do; I actually believe (based on information gathered during our strategic planning effort) that there is more support for this organization than we currently have the capacity to handle. I do think that some feel that since we have been around for 40 years that we have become an institution (we like to think so),
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maybe that we have an endowment (we don’t), that we have one or two donors who fund us (we depend on hundreds of donors to keep our organization afloat), or that we get funding from foundations (we barely have time to write emails, let alone grants). I’m forever grateful for all the support we get, for all those who have been instrumental in all the successes this organization has seen. It’s truly humbling. However, there’s much more work to be done and we need the support to address our capacity issues so that we can take them on. •The Wasatch Summit is just barely getting started and needs our attention, participation and advocacy. •We need to organize the community around the Wasatch Wilderness and Watershed Protection Act to get the rest of Utah’s Congressional Delegation to support the legislation. •We need to make sure that Save Our Canyons is intimately involved in the redrafting of the FCOZ ordinance to help guide appropriate and environmentally responsible development in appropriate areas of our canyons. •We need to be ready to not only thwart the next iteration of Tavaci, but work to implement policies that make sure our foothills are protected from high density developments, regardless of what jurisdiction the project eventually lands in. •Be need to be there to comment on USFS projects as they come down the pipe and work to shape policies that protect our watershed. •We need to engage in the planning processes at the
county level to defend recreation access, our watershed and the high aesthetic qualities of the Wasatch we enjoy today; •We need to work to find solutions to the “problems” in the canyons all the while trying to figure out what the problem is. Transportation, land-use, too many people? Depends on who you ask. •We need to be an advocate for protecting our quality of life Help us build our capacity to address these increasingly important issues confronting the Wasatch. Even if you can’t contribute financially, there are a number of ways to help. Make sure you get our emails and forward them to your friends, encourage your friends to join or sign up, follow us on Facebook and encourage your friends to do so as well, distribute our newsletters to businesses you frequent, come volunteer at one of our out- reach events. If you enjoy looking up at the Wasatch and seeing a wild landscape -or- If you recreate in any capacity in the Wasatch -or- If you are one of the 600,000 people in the Salt Lake Valley who get your water from the Wasatch, then please consider making a contribution to support our work. Looking back, we’ve done a lot of good for the Wasatch. Looking forward we have a lot to do. I look forward to building on the momentum we have and continuing to do what we do best - being an informed and innovative voice for protecting the Wasatch Mountains! ❑
Blue Ribbon Commission By John Worlock, SOC Trustee
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or all of its four decades, Save Our Canyons has focused its primary attention on the nearby canyons of the Central Wasatch Range. Our defining purpose has been a dedication to “protecting the wildness and beauty of the Wasatch Mountains, Canyons and Foothills.” Since most of our purview lies within Salt Lake County, we have been both partners with and opponents of the County in the changes that have taken place in the past four decades. In 1997, Salt Lake County adopted an ordinance called the Foothills and Canyons Overlay Zone, or FCOZ. The purpose of FCOZ was to achieve a balance between environmental protection and property rights. The protection of the watershed was a primary driver for the FCOZ ordinance. This was a pretty good ordinance, and we note here that our major conflict with the county occurred when they saw fit to override their own ordinance and give a green light for Tavaci’s illegal access road at the mouth of Big Cottonwood Canyon. Anyhow, Save Our Canyons has been happy for the past year to have our Executive Director, Carl Fisher, sitting on the so-called Blue Ribbon
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Commission, formed to give citizen input, guidance and vision for a 21st century update to the County’s FCOZ Ordinance. The Commission has now concluded its work and sent its recommendations to the Salt Lake County Council and planning staff. Briefly, the recommendations cover: 1) Environmental Protection and Aesthetics, 2) Watershed Protection, 3) Private Property Considerations, 4) Transportation, Access and Public Infrastructure, including Public Health and Safety, and 5) Recreation, both dispersed and commercial. This list reminds us that our Canyons serve an important variety of interests. In addition to these generalities, there some new specific recommendations: 1) to note that “One Size Does Not Fit All,” meaning that each canyon and each locale has its own characteristic uses and needs, 2) to designate a specific new Mountain Resort Zone, and 3) to provide a solution for the problem of transfers of development rights for properties severely constrained by zoning. For the full report, and more, go to slco dot org. We will follow with interest the County’s response to this document. We also promise to be vigilant to see that they enforce their own zoning laws.❑
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The View North from On Sept. 6, 2013, having had it with the office environs, the Save Our Canyons staff took our conference table meeting to Lone Peak via Jacobs Ladder. Standing atop Lone Peak gives you a unique perspective on the Wasatch and on that particular day we could see from Mt. Nebo to Willard Peak. Out in the Wilderness, with my comrades, looking down at a sea of man. In my attempt to try and capture the scene I took 7 photos, purposefully eliminating the sea, in hope
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www.saveourcanyons.org
m Lone Peak’s Summit of sharing the scene with others who might not be able to stand atop the peak of namesake of our state’s first Wilderness Area. I processed the 7 photos in Photoshop, stitching them together, because as I often find on my outings in the Wasatch - one photo can rarely do the scene justice.
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Save Our Canyons Staff Sits on the Utah Outdoor Recreation Advisory Committee utdoor recreation is essential to Utah’s economy, O health and way of life. The Outdoor Recreation Advisory Committee created by Gov. Gary Herbert,
is the first of its kind in the United States to bring together government agencies, user groups, outdoor sporting businesses and conservation organizations to address recreational access, use and the future of recreation on public lands in Utah. This Committee will report to Brad Peterson the Director of the new Outdoor Recreation Office, within the Governor’s Office of Economic Development is an exciting development for our state and Save Our Canyons is hopeful that the collaborative efforts of Gov. Herbert, Brad Petersen, his staff and the Committee as a whole will result in some constructive discussion and action that will positively affect recreation and public land use in Utah. Utah Outdoor Recreation Office Vision Statement: Establish a nationwide recreation management standard, acknowledging that outdoor recreation is an essential component of Utah’s culture, identity, diverse economy, and well being, and ensuring that the State’s natural assets can sustain economic growth and quality-of-life dividend for years to come.
to bolster rural land conservation and economic development by creating a connection between recreation and conservation across the state will be a focus of the committee moving forward. Another major objective will be to bolster rural land conservation and economic development by creating a connection between recreation and conservation. At each meeting the Committee will hear presentations from a variety of groups and governmental agencies to learn what efforts are being made in our state to address public land use, youth recreation engagement and how all stakeholders can work together towards implementing the goals of the Outdoor Recreation Office. We are pleased to be offered a seat on the new Utah Outdoor Recreation Committee. Save Our Canyons staff is honored to have this opportunity to be the representative for our membership at the table with so many influential and passionate members of the outdoor community. ❑
There are 4 objectives of the Utah Outdoor Recreation Office, they are: 1. To grow and foster a vibrant recreation economy. 2. To promote Utah’s natural beauty. 3. To act as a clearinghouse of communication for the outdoor related stakeholders. 4. To enhance our quality of life and economic vibrancy through balanced land management plans and policies. One of the major incentives for the creation of this office is to create a program to encourage Utah’s youth to be excited about and engaged in outdoor recreation. The obvious question at the jump off of such a lofty undertaking is: How do we encourage the youth to become active in the outdoors and stay active for life? The Outdoor Recreation Advisory Committee will take examples from across the state to build a model that combines stewardship, education and recreational opportunities guiding future generations to address questions of public land management policy and access to allow for lifelong recreational opportunities across the state. Save Our Canyons has for many years worked to instill a sense of ownership and excitement about protecting our public lands across the Wasatch Range to all user groups and visitors. Further, working
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Happy News from Utah’s Deep Creek Mountains his bit of happy news was recently reported in one T of John Worlock’s weekly Wasatch Environmental Updates which air on KRCL:
“This message should better be called the Deep Creek Update, as it takes us far away from the Wasatch Front to the western edge of the state. There lie the Deep Creek Mountains. They are said to be scenic, though few of us have ever seen them. They rise abruptly from the nearly 5000 ft elevation of the Snake Valley in Juab and Tooele Counties to heights rivaling the Wasatch Range, exceeding 12,000 ft. at one point, They lie within their own Wilderness Study Area of some 69,000 acres, established in 1990 by the Bureau of Land Management, when they judged that it contained all the characteristics of capital-W Wilderness, and deserved to be so designated. In the intervening decades, Congress has not been swift to create new wilderness areas, so it remains a Study Area. We’ve taken an electronic journey out there, where the State and Juab County have suddenly reached an agreement with the BLM concerning the ownership of three motorized routes into the Deep Creek Mountains from the Snake Valley.
The county was claiming three routes, leading up the Granite, Tom’s and Trout Creek Canyons under the federal law known as RS2477, a remnant of the federal largess of the nineteenth century, seeking to stimulate immigration and development in the uninhabited West. Under that law, current claimants must demonstrate use as a public thoroughfare that is truly historic, as distinct from current off-road vehicular traffic. A few miles up Granite Canyon lies a clearing known as Camp Ethel, and Tom’s Canyon leads to an old logging site, so the agreement gives the state title to those roads, up to those destinations. The BLM agreed to keep the Tom’s Canyon road open to traffic up to the crest of the range, but with the option to close it if the off-road riders go off road, so to speak. Title to the Trout Creek route ends at the boundary of the Wilderness Study Area. As part of the agreement, Juab County pledged to abandon further road claims and enact ordinances limiting motorized access to the Wilderness Study Area. We applaud this resolution of Juab County’s RS2477 claims, and hope it motivates other counties to do likewise.” ❑
Wasatch Wilderness by an Honors Student at the U of U By John Worlock, SOC Trustee
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ave Our Canyons’ Campaign Coordinator Alex Schmidt has been working with Honors students at the University of Utah. Today we will give you some of their thoughts about our campaign for more true Wilderness, as designated in Congressman Matheson’s current bill, HR 2808, the Wasatch Wilderness and Watershed Protection Act. University student and Arizona resident MD writes to her congressman: HR 2808 has been introduced into Congress with the aim of designating more land in the Wasatch Mountains as wilderness and special management areas. The act will help protect the Lone Peak, Twin Peaks, and Olympus Peak Wildernesses and incorporate Grandeur Peak as Wilderness. I believe it is very important to protect these lands. It is important that Wilderness Areas be maintained for recreational use by the Salt Lake community. But it is not just the local Salt Lake people who enjoy the Wasatch Wilderness Areas. I have made many trips to enjoy the unique wilderness that Utah has to offer. While this issue affects Utah the most, there are many Arizonans like myself who enjoy trips to Utah to explore the wilderness.
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In particular, there are many people, including myself, who go to Utah for the mountain biking trails. As a mountain biker, I have enjoyed the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, and look forward to trying other popular trails in the Wasatch. Since the proposed act ensures that popular mountain biking trails will not be included in the land that will be protected, it is all the more important to protect the land surrounding those trails. MD goes on to say: Not only is this bill important because it sets aside wilderness land for recreational purposes, this land also sits above the Wasatch Watershed. The watershed is an essential source of water for the growing population of the Salt Lake area. I believe it is important to ensure that these pristine wilderness areas remain unpolluted by human development. MD recognizes the competition for water throughout the west, noting that “the Wasatch watershed is important because it is replenished every year by snowmelt. So, by preserving the land, we can ensure a steady supply of water in future years.” Thanks to Alex Schmidt and Honors Student MD for this testimony. ❑
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New Yellowstone Park Winter Visitation Plan will make the popular National Park a “cleaner, quieter, and far better” place for wildlife and non-motorized travel.
A Federal District Judge recently struck down the BLM’s land use plan that ignored archeological inventories and favored O.R.V. uses. Pictured: Factory Butte.
The Good the Bad and the Ugly (Mostly Good this Time) GOOD. It is always good to get feedback from SOC’s members. We recently received this heartening message from one of you, who called “to say thank you for all our efforts.” He said he is continually impressed by what this organization accomplishes and it is one of the only local charities he supports - mostly because he can see our efforts from his window. Said our victories were nothing short of remarkable and that he was moved by our last newsletter. OK, we’re bragging about words of praise. Why not? He said it; we didn’t. GOOD. Winter Wildlands Alliance is a sister environmental organization based in Boise. It has recently had a significant victory. You may have met some of their members at the big SkiLink fund raiser at Caterina put on by Jamie Kent and Jenny Macfarlane last September. Their victory comes with a new Final Yellowstone Winter Visitation Plan from the National Park Service issued after 15 years, 1.1 million public comments and the most grind-it-out, exhaustive campaign Winter Wildlands has ever embarked on. All of us benefit from the provisions of this visitation plan. From a Yellowstone National Park that a decade ago looked, smelled and sounded more like a wild west race track than the pristine winter refuge it was set aside to be, our nation’s first national park has made a remarkable recovery. Fewer vehicles, commercial guiding requirements, and tighter restrictions on noise and emissions have led to a Yellowstone today that is cleaner, quieter, and far better for skiers and snowshoers and especially for the Park’s iconic winter wildlife. Victories such as this require long-term dedication. Save Our Canyons is in for a similar long haul with Wasatch issues.
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GOOD – And Worrisome. On page 7 of this newsletter read John Worlock’s Environmental Update about the Blue Ribbon Commission’s (BRC) suggestions for updating Salt Lake County’s existing FCOZ ordinance. The ordinance as it stands has been at the center of many conflicts including a vexed history of the Tavaci development and its infamous access road as well a very large house close to streams and wetlands near Silver Lake near Brighton. Permission for these projects required variances from FCOZ to be granted by the County’s Board of Adjustment (BOA) and granted they were. In the case of Tavaci, SOC challenged the Board’s action all the way up to the Utah Supreme Court and lost. We were left asking whether a BOA was the right place to make these decisions. In the BRC report there is worrisome language “FCOZ need(s) to mesh with land uses that are realistic and practical” – “maintain the elements of the existing FCOZ ordinance that are working” – “reasonable exceptions and waivers would be allowed”. Nowhere in the BRC report is there a suggestion as to who or what will decide what is “reasonable and practical” or “working” or a “reasonable exception.” SOC’s experiences leave us worried. GOOD. SUWA reports that a Utah federal district judge just struck down the BLM’s land use plan for over 2 million acres of spectacular public lands around the Dirty Devil, Factory Butte and the Henry Mountains. The BLM’s plan prioritized ORV use above all else. The court noted that the BLM cannot open routes to ORVs unless it has first conducted site specific archeological inventories and minimized the harm to natural values. This decision is the result of 12 years of hard work. Patience is the watchword. Way to go SUWA! ❑
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Book Review Utah’s Wasatch Range: Four Season Refuge By Howie Garber. (224 pages, 9.5 x 12.5 in.)
USUALLY a few years have to pass before a 2nd Edition of a book is published. Not so with Howie Garber’s popular book Utah’s Wasatch Range: Four Season Refuge. His second edition has recently been released and it’s better than ever. It’s also available now, just in time for Christmas buying –– and giving. This new version is available only in hard cover. However, due to the improvements over the old it’s every bit worth the extra money one has to pay for the two pieces of hard cardboard. What are the improvements and changes? •The book is totally redesigned, with a cloth hard cover with silver embossing. •The new dust jacket is both “elegant” and durable.
their lives to protect the range from unfettered development. His thoughtful public recognition of the role Save Our Canyons has played – and will continue to play – in the preservation of Wasatch wilderness is especially welcome. ––Alexis Kelner
Howie Garber has been a resident of Utah since 1972. He earns his living as an emergency physician, in which capacity he has worked in seven western states. His second profession is photography, primarily nature and wildlife. He has won several awards for his photography over the years.
•Fifteen new photographs, including two historic photos of the Wasatch Mountain Club recreating in the Wasatch during the early 1920s, have been added. •Two new essays, one by this reviewer, the other by SLC Mayor Ralph Becker have also been added. Mayor Becker’s text deals with current planning initiatives. •Best of all: A portion of the book’s income will be distributed to Save Our Canyons, Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, and the newly organized Wasatch Backcountry Alliance. Howie Garbers book is a labor of love for both the Wasatch mountains, the animals who make it their home, and the residents of nearby communities who utilize them for recreation and as a source of priceless drinking water. His love also extends toward those individuals and organizations that have dedicated
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Save Our Canyons, November, 2013
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Ullr, God of Snow, approves of the Voile splitboard.
SOC’s Ullr Ball Was a Rousing Success SAVE OUR CANYONS once again hosted the Ullr Ball, a “pray for snow” party and fundraiser to honor Ullr (pronounced Oo-ler), the mythical Norse God of Snow, in hopes of bringing record snowfall to the Wasatch this winter. The event, which was made possible through support from Voile Manufacturing, was a big success. A group of approximately 150 snow-enthusiasts gathered together on the evening of Saturday, November 9th at The Garage on Beck to hear live performances by David Williams and Triggers and Slips. Guests were able to enjoy Uinta beverages and
Guests at Ullr Ball, enjoying refreshing beer from Uinta Brewery!
Photos by Mark Pelletier
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Save Our Canyons, November, 2013
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The Goddess of Snow showing off a pair of Voile skis.
participate in a “lucky draw” for a chance at winning winter gear and prizes, including the very coveted Voile V8 skis and Artisan splitboard. Many in attendance that evening signed postcards to their representatives, to show their support of the Wasatch Wilderness and Watershed Protection Act (HR 2808) and with Voile’s sponsorship, Save Our Canyons was able to raise a significant amount of money to support our efforts to protect the Wasatch!”
Special Thanks to: Voile Manufacturing, The Garage on Beck, Uinta Brewing, The Costume Closet, Ullr Boards, Steve Achelis and Wasatch Backcountry Skiing Map, Off Piste Magazine, SLUG Magazine, Jon Kammerer, Audree Thomason, Kyle Blase, Mary McIntyre, DJ Moody, Rachael Fisher, Sean Quill, Adam Morrey, Mark Pelletier, and all others who helped make the event such a success!
All eyes were on the band, Triggers and Slips, which played an amazing set of music for the large crowd.
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Save Our Canyons, November, 2013
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Citizens’ Committee to Save Our Canyons 824 So. 400 West St. Suite B-115 Salt Lake City, Utah 84101
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Protect Wasatch Wilderness NOW! Many members of the Utah Delegation don’t believe that protecting the Wasatch Mountains for purposes of our water quality and dispersed recreational opportunities is in the public interest. We need your help letting them know that in fact, over 90% of the local population wants to see no more development and infringement on the undeveloped areas of the Wasatch. Please take a moment, sign our petition, and help show our elected officials that protection of this range is good for the Wasatch, good for our communities, good for our economy and good public policy supported by a collaborative stakeholder effort.
Go to: www.Wasatchwilderness.org
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Save Our Canyons, November, 2013
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Save Our Canyons, November, 2013
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