Winter Save Our Canyons Newsletter

Photo Credit | Grey Jensen | Instagram @grey_jensen

Dedicated to protecting the beauty and wildness of the Wasatch Mountains

WINTER 2022 Newsletter • • • 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

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What In The Wasatch?: P4-P5 50th Anniversary Celebration Presented By KÜHL: P6-P7 Advocacy Works – But The Wasatch Isn’t Protected Yet: P8-P9 Save Our Canyons Kids: P10 An Advocate For The Wasatch: P11 Opinion: Why Spend More Than $500m When This Option Exists?: P12-P13 CWC Short Term Project: P14 Parley’s Canyon Update: P15 Become A Member: P15

Outdoor Thrift

Calls for Better Canyon Stewardship, in Opposition to Gondola B Written by Amy Ward, Co-Founder of Outdoor Thrift Instagram @outdoor.thrift | outdoorthrift.com

I was the lucky kid who grew up with the Wasatch Front as my backyard playground. It is a privilege to have such easy access to so many trails, rivers, lakes, and canyons as a child (and now an adult), and for that, I am humbled and grateful. Like so many others from the area, these mountains have played a vital role in shaping me and my family’s lives, and I believe they have the power to do the same for many generations to come, so long as they are protected and cared for responsibly. As a lifelong Salt Lake County community member, outdoor enthusiast, and business owner, I unequivocally oppose the proposal of Gondola B due to the variety of threats it poses to the greater good of our community.

We packed out what we packed in; we took time to appreciate the majesty of our surroundings; we understood that nature is a gift, and to leave no trace.

These simple lessons I learned as a child span the boundaries of adolescence in a profound way. What I have come to know now is, nature is not ours to claim.

Anyone who has spent more than an hour unplugged and beyond the sight of the city should know this, too. Rather, we have the opportunity, and responsibility, to be stewards of it. An 8-mile mechanical footprint from a gondola system in Little Cottonwood Canyon is not steward-friendly. The “World’s Longest Gondola” seems more like a publicity gimmick than anything else, and it is very disappointing.

I remember hiking to Lisa Falls with my grandma and cousins when I was small. She would pack us drawstring bags full of granola bars, fruit snacks, a water bottle, and an extra pair of socks. My grandma had a way of making everything magical and full of adventure! We hiked the root-ridden trail practicing careful foot placement so we wouldn’t trip and wake the sleeping mountain giant. We looked for tadpoles in the pools and listened quietly to hear the sounds of nature we couldn’t hear otherwise. And boy did we have fun! The outings with my grandma are my first recollection of ever learning about stewardship.

UDOT is proposing Gondola B as the preferred method to “substantially improve roadway safety, reliability, and mobility on S.R. 210 from Fort Union Boulevard through the Town of Alta for all users on S.R. 210.” The identified need is “to reduce 30% of the vehicles in peak hours in order to reduce travel times, congestion, and queuing on the current road.”

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However, it appears that many of the reasons to explain this method of choice are spoken in tones of ideal scenarios. For example, the total cost of constructing the project is budgeted at $550 million. But what happens when the market turns like it did in www.saveourcanyons.org

A note from Save Our Canyons:

With less than 50 days left in the year 2022. Save Our Canyons would like to take the time to say thank you to everyone that participated in our 50th Anniversary Year. As the Citizens Committee to Save Our Canyons, we found it incredibly important to highlight outside voices during our last newsletter in 2022.

If you are new to the organization, we are dedicated to protecting the wildness and beauty of the Wasatch Mountains. Please enjoy articles written by: Outdoor Thrift, Jack A. Stauss, and ​​The Deseret News Editorial Board.

Please make sure to follow Save Our Canyons on Facebook and Instagram (@saveourcanyons) as we post live updates about important meetings, articles, petitions, and more! This is the fastest way to get updates about protecting the beauty and wildness of the Wasatch Mountains.

2020-2022 and the cost of materials sky-rocket? Or the cost of labor? Or Supply-Chain issues perpetuate?

Will citizens be taxed more to cover the costs, or will the project be abandoned as an open wound? I have worked for the past several years at a local real estate development company, and not one of our projects has ever finished on time and on budget to our original projection. It is simply the nature of construction to have change orders, schedule delays, and other contingencies.

Another example of UDOT having a dangerously idealistic analysis is that they say “the gondola can operate independently of S.R. 210, avoiding delays related to adverse weather”, including avalanches. There are 64 slide paths in Little Cottonwood Canyon, and a proposed 22 towers and 2 angle stations crossing those paths throughout the canyon. It takes just one structure to be damaged for the gondola to not be operational. Then it is likely to take several days to clear the avalanche, repair the damage, and get the system back up and running again. Of the 50 peak days the gondola is supposed to serve, it is highly unrealistic to expect that it would be operating all of those days.

I speak for the community at Outdoor Thrift when I say that we unequivocally oppose the Gondola B proposal. We urge UDOT to prioritize stewardship over industrialism in the approach to finding solutions to the traffic issues in Little Cottonwood Canyon. We believe that through education, tolling, rideshare programs, parking reservations, micro-transit, incentives, and traction requirements, we can avoid the need to www.saveourcanyons.org

undergo such a catastrophic project as Gondola B. We stand with Save Our Canyons and the 80% of Utah voters who oppose the plans to spend near $600M of tax-payers money to construct the invasive machinery. We will also be standing with them as we oppose further taxation for maintenance, repair, and gimmicky marketing operations. Part of our mission at Outdoor Thrift is to help make the outdoors more accessible to people. The Gondola could not be farther from that as it only serves ski resort users, paying customers, and a handful of dignitaries who are sure to be invited to experience the luxurious new toy.

Eventually, I want to be able to take my grandchildren on hikes throughout Little Cottonwood Canyon and give them the same kind of experience I was given as a child. c fear that their stories will be far different than mine: navigating around cement blocks, staying out of the polluted water, and listening to the constant hum of machinery.

We can and we must do better.

I call on all users of the canyon to take your stewardship seriously and maximize our opportunity to make a lasting change during UDOT’s phasing period.

I also call on UDOT to stop idealizing the data and capitalize on the non-invasive structures already in place to resolve the issues. Have faith in our future, consider the lasting impacts of your choices, and enable us to be stewards to this land that we love: Little Cottonwood Canyon and beyond.

Save Our Canyons, Winter 2022

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What in the Wasatch?

Written by Jack A. Stauss, MS I Glen Canyon Institute Outreach Director

It’s easy to think about these and other plans for the mountains in a vacuum. The ski areas and developers want a gondola, so we get one. Private landowners get to do what they want to with their lands because this is America after all. But these things are more connected than meets the eye.

Today we find ourselves in the middle of a systemic failure of the institutions that are meant to protect the public and our shared mountain resources. Year after year, policy makers and land managers have failed to create lasting laws or zoning that would protect values beyond economic or privatized interests. And in that void, people with money and the ear of certain lawmakers end up in control.

There is a throughline from asinine projects across the state like the Lake Powell Pipeline, Bear River development (parching of the Great Salt Lake), the Inland Port, or downsizing of federal lands; to projects like the gondola or the ambiguity surrounding Cardiff. These are all carried out by a small group of lawmakers and profiteers that share a twisted vision of the American West.

Photo of Jack A. Stauss

Well, it’s here. It happened just as suddenly as it does every year. One minute we’re basking in the golden glow of aspen and oak foliage, long warm days running, biking, and playing in the alpine. And then – the first storm hits. Temps drop, snow flies and buries the summer in a distant memory. We pull skis and boards out of the closet, scrape off summer wax, and make our way up for those first scratchy turns.

At the end of October I skinned up Alta to dust off the ski legs. It was similar to many of my almost 15 years doing this ritual. Lots of friends and strangers all looking for that rush of wind and freedom that has evaded us since the spring. We all walked up at different paces, happy to be moving in the mountains on our skis again. As I climbed, I thought about what had changed in the Wasatch this summer.

Looking back downslope over my shoulder, it was impossible not to have “the gondola” in the front of my mind. A huge development project that UDOT found to tick all of the boxes of moving people from the mouth of the canyon to the top. When I read the announcement this summer I spit my coffee out in

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a mix of laughter and flabbergasted disbelief. It was such a blatant example of politics and money over the interests of the public. In conversations I’ve had, it’s clear to me that many still don’t fully understand how the gondola will function, what it costs, or why it’s not a good idea for transit or for skiers. And how it will ultimately change the character of the Wasatch.

Similarly, a wildly popular sub-drainage in Big Cottonwood made headlines this fall as private landowners in Cardiff Fork chose not to renew their special use permit for reciprocal access with the Forest Service.

This threw a decade of shared use and right of way into the unknown. Many have wondered what this means for the future of Cardiff. Are we going to be asked to leave a cherished canyon, some of the best skiing anywhere in the mountain range? As it stands today, the public doesn’t have permission to cross private lands that checkerboard the drainage, and land owners no longer have motorized access across public lands to get to their in-holdings. (**Observations of illegal or questionable activity can be submitted via Save Our Canyons’ Communtiy Tip Form - https://saveourcanyons.org/ get-involved/community-tip-form)

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What does that mean for us that live and ski here?

Cardiff is simply a gray area now, with no plan.

Ski there, but tread lightly and with respect… or completely avoid the area which is predominantly public lands? The gondola has been pushed to the next phase of its life: the need for funding from the state. A year ago I would have said no way it would happen, but now I’m not so sure. The future of Little Cottonwood is as murky as Cardiff. In some ways it’s up to us - to advocate, to vote for better policy makers, but in others it’s starting to look like it might be too late for some of the projects many of us have feared for years.

He told me to stay diligent. To vote. To keep our community close. To galvanize. He asks us to look to Stegner: we need to build a society that matches the scenery.

I have watched winters come and go. Some with storms that changed my life forever, filled with powder and love. Some more melancholy – dry and gray, punctuated by grief. It’s easy to let time get away from us. But I always return to upper Little Cottonwood. On my walk this fall I saw familiar peaks and canyons that have come to define not only my experience on skis, but my identity as a person. I am part of this landscape, and it is part of me. It provides solace, energy, and the ability to interact with the wild. In the mountains I am not a separate being. I am part of the ecosystem that gives life to flora and fauna, to the city down canyon. I must believe that we can create a future where all of these values are upheld above the businesses and private interests.

I ripped my skins and clicked into my skis which gave me a grounded connection to the firm surface of early season snow. I gazed out over the glacial valleys around me, to the riparian areas, to the alpine. I thought of young friends just starting their lives here, just learning to backcountry ski. What will they see in 10 years when they stand here?

What will we leave behind for them?

Carl Fisher has waded through this his entire adult life. He knows the players and the moves they make, slowly, over the years to whittle down the Forest Service, to shift baselines so we lose sight of what was. So we fight with each other and miss a key moment in some boardroom somewhere in 2018 where a ski area executive buddied up with Mike Noel and nuked conservation efforts. I asked Carl, “what do we do now?”

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Save Our Canyons, Winter 2022

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50th Anniversary Celebration Presented By KÜHL Written by Grace Tyler, Development Director

Silent Auction Provided by: • • • • • •

Petzl USA Patagonia SLC Coalatree The Front and Clay by Gus Airbnb host giving away a week’s stay in Glacier, NP Osprey and Mountainsmith Morrison EVO 2 Tent

Thank you to everyone that made an in-kind donation.

Thank You To Our Sponsors

September 10th held at the Natural History Museum of Utah

Our 50th Anniversary Celebration Presented By KÜHL has come and gone and we want to take a moment to express our gratitude. Save Our Canyons was able to raise over $40,000; the money we raised ensures our ability to fight for the protection of the Wasatch Mountains at every opportunity!

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-toface. It was a pleasure having an evening with our community, and celebrating the protection of wilderness in the Wasatch Mountains.

We also had a $10,000 matching grant provided by Hank Hemingway going towards our legal fees associated with stopping a mining operation in Parley’s Canyon. We were able to raise $9,000 out of the $10,000 matching grant.

We would like to say thank you to everyone that donated during the event. Purchased a mug made

by Clay by Gus. Or bought something from The Hex Press and printed it on a Coalatree Sweater or Technical Shell. This event was a success because of you – THANK YOU!

We hope you enjoyed the live music provided by Wendy and The Lost Boys. Heavy hors d’oeuvres provided by Utah Food Service. And drinks provided by: Beehive Distilling, Red Rock Brewing Co, and Athletic Brewing Co.

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In our effort to protect the wilderness of the Wasatch, it is vital to form partnerships with community enterprises to further our cause. The following companies have continually supported Save Our Canyons. When looking for outdoor gear, a nice place to eat, refreshing beverages, and more; please remember to support those that support the Wasatch!

One of the best parts about this event (other than you our members) is our silent auction and partners. We had some incredible items this year and we cannot say thank you enough to everyone that made an inkind donation. www.saveourcanyons.org

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ADVOCACY WORKS – BUT THE WASATCH ISN’T PROTECTED YET

Advocacy Corner 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 Here you will find a snapshot of social media outreach and advocacy efforts that transpired during the 45 UDOT EIS Comment Period. For the privacy of our social media followers we have blocked out people’s Instagram handles and photos.

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 the 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 2022 UDOT selected the gondola as the preferred alternative for Little Cottonwood Canyon. While we unwaveringly know the gondola isn’t a solution to the problems Little Cottonwood Canyon faces, year-round, and that UDOT’s ultimate pursuit of a gondola will make traffic worse for the canyons and on the corridors that connect to them.

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 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) there were dozens of Op-Ed and LTE articles published in local newspapers, thousands upon thousands of social media posts or comments, and over 10,000 people sent comments directly to UDOT by Monday, October 17, 2022.

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Save Our Canyons Kids YMCA Eisenhower

An advocate For The Wasatch Written by Julia Stegvik, Save Our Canyons Intern

Written by Claire Parsons, Wilderness Stewardship and Education Coordinator

Julia Stegvik Exploring Southern Utah SOCKids with YMCA Eisenhower Group in Little Cottonwood Canyon

We have been slowly rebuilding our Save Our Canyons Kids program after two years of COVID restrictions set us back. The past few months have been incredibly reassuring and exciting as we have been able to get out with 70 students from various afterschool programs, ranging from kindergarten to 8th grade!

The fall weather has been absolutely incredible these last few weeks and we could not wait to get back outside with the YMCA Eisenhower group we took out to City Creek Canyon earlier this April. On October 7th, we had the exciting opportunity to meet at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon and hike the Alpenbock Loop. We were eager to take them off of the foothills and get them into the heart of one of our most famous canyons. Many of these students are growing into their own and mentioned that taking the time outside and away from school was hugely beneficial to their mental health. They felt grateful for a few hours to decompress and be off their devices.

Site Coordinator, Lili Rivas shared with us: “The start of the school year has been very stressful for my teens, so being able to go outdoors was a breath of fresh air. Not many of them have the opportunity to go out

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into nature and enjoy the incredible views that Utah has to offer. It’s been a struggle finding physical activities that will be fit for everyone since all of my teens are at different levels of fitness.

Save Our Canyons was extremely flexible and found the perfect hiking trail for my teens. It was easy enough for the beginners and challenging enough for those with a lot of experience. The view was breathtaking as well and kept those who were out of breath motivated to keep going. After our hike our teens were already asking when the next one would be.

I’m excited to continue to collaborate with Save Our Canyons to keep the teens in my program interested in the outdoors.”

It is always an absolute joy to be able to show up for these students and share the Wasatch with them. We are always looking to build our Save Our Canyons Kids program to bring even more students out into the Wasatch. If you are interested in partnering with us, please email us at claire@saveourcanyons.org.

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Like many of us today that make up the rapidly expanding population of the Salt Lake Valley, I moved to Utah for the mountains. There is an indescribable beauty that can be found in the towering, snowcapped formations we are so fortunate to wake up to every day.

Coming from Illinois, a mostly flat state with little outdoor recreation, I was ecstatic to begin exploring the incredible wilderness areas that Utah had to offer.

I quickly began to realize that this resource was not as expansive as it seems.

Developers, ski resorts, and private entities have been attempting to reduce and invade the pristine wilderness of the Wasatch mountains for decades now. I was shocked to find that a state with such incredible access to this alpine world was not doing everything in its power to protect it.

Eager to get involved in protecting the Wasatch Mountains, I was quickly pointed in the direction of Save Our Canyons. I was a quiet supporter at first; signing petitions, making comments, and attempting to stay educated on each issue. Then, with the anwww.saveourcanyons.org

nouncement of the gondola and the proposal of the Parley’s mine, I knew it was time to get more involved.

I am so excited to be volunteering with SOC and helping preserve the Wasatch Mountains. Since moving to Salt Lake, I have engaged in as many outdoor activities as I can and like many, the Wasatch have become home. The personal connection I have with our canyons leads me to continue to seek action to protect this unique resource. The mission of SOC is one I believe everyone can resonate with.

I am working for Save Our Canyons to help demand the environmental protection we need that Utah lawmakers ignore. To help educate residents about the issues in their mountains and what actions can be done to protect them.

To help connect the public to the incredible natural world in their backyard and the importance of its preservation. Issues plaguing the Wasatch wilderness will continue to arise for time to come. I am proud to be taking a step with SOC to help create solutions and preserve our wilderness for the future.

Save Our Canyons, Winter 2022

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Opinion: Why spend more than $500M when this option exists?

Published in The Deseret News on Oct 27, 2022, 4:00pm MDT Written by The Deseret News Editorial Board

If the Utah Department of Transportation chooses a massive and intrusive gondola system as its recommended solution to traffic problems up Little Cottonwood Canyon, officials say the first step would be a yearslong phased approach that begins with enhanced busing, tolls, restrictions on single occupancy vehicles and public transportation mobility hubs.

This would be implemented while the state searches for gondola funding. But, instead of a first phase, that sounds like a good test run for something that might make all other options unnecessary. Why not implement this and measure the results?

We encourage UDOT to do exactly that.

We oppose moving forward with a gondola because: 1. We are convinced it could negatively impact a vital watershed at a time of repeated drought conditions.

2. We are concerned about the lingering impacts of a drying Great Salt Lake and climate changes that could impact snowfall in the decades ahead.

3. We are concerned about equity, dedicating hundreds of millions of dollars to deliver skiers and snowboarders to resorts atop the canyon, while other needs — affordable housing, food insecurity, helping a homeless population — continue to need significant investment.

4. Finally, we aren’t convinced a Gondola, long term, will do what it’s intended to do: free the canyon from congestion as the Wasatch Front continues its population growth.

The Little Cottonwood Canyon Environmental Impact Statement states: “UDOT does not have funding to implement the proposed preferred alternative. The phased implementation plan will alleviate mobility, reliability and safety concerns that exist today, while addressing the long-term transportation need in the canyon.” We agree with all but that last clause.

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Unfortunately, rejecting the gondola and any plan to widen the canyon road has been labeled the “do nothing” approach, or a decision to leave things as they are. That is not correct.

A plan that keeps the current roadway intact but adds a variable toll, electric buses and a commitment to close canyon roads to all traffic once certain daily limits are met would not be doing nothing. It would be taking a smart approach that preserves an important canyon and minimizes environmental risks.

Combined with new systems Snowbird and Alta have already implemented, requiring parking reservations on weekends and other high-traffic days, we believe it would have a dramatic effect on traffic congestion with a minimum of cost.

No one seems certain where the money would come from to fund either a gondola system or an expansion of the highway up the canyon — the two alternatives UDOT landed on in a draft environmental impact statement in 2021. The department has said it will announce its final recommendation this winter, possibly after the new year.

Both projects have been estimated to cost more than $500 million each. With inflation and overruns, it is not hard to imagine each greatly exceeding that figure.

Even if the federal government chips in, this would be an enormous investment of public funds to largely benefit skiers at two resorts, while the state has many other pressing needs.

As the Central Wasatch Commission notes on its website, “Our close proximity to our watershed is unique.

Many states in the Western United States have to pipe their water for miles before delivery, while here in the Salt Lake Valley, it only takes approximately 24 hours for the water to be processed before entering our faucets.”

The drought has applied stress to that watershed. www.saveourcanyons.org

Michelle Kelly I Photo Submission

Development and construction of a gondola and its support systems may unnecessarily exacerbate that.

The arguments in favor of a gondola system are enticing. The eight-mile-long aerial tri-cable system would be the longest in the world. Proponents say it would be a tourist attraction year-round, providing riders with spectacular views. Unlike cars, it would not add to air pollution as it delivers thousands of people to ski resorts and back to base station, from which riders would be bused to a mammoth parking structure proposed for about a quarter mile northeast of La Caille restaurant.

But the impacts would be enormous. The gondola would require the construction of 22 towers measuring 200 feet high, built at intervals throughout the canyon. Not only would these permanently mar the landscape, they would each require access roads for maintenance vehicles. And as we’ve seen in other places, once those poles are in place, they will not be removed — even if a gondola system falls out of favor or economically no longer makes sense. www.saveourcanyons.org

Construction of the gondola option has been estimated at $550 million. That doesn’t include annual maintenance costs, which have been estimated at $4 million each winter and $3 million each summer. Potential tourist value aside, the gondola system would relieve congested traffic up the canyon only a few days each year when skier demand is at its peak.

An expanded roadway would be almost as expensive, and is likely to cause environmental disruptions.

No one should minimize the impact traffic jams have on neighborhoods near the base of Little Cottonwood Canyon during peak skiing days. But the gondola is likely to move this traffic jam only to Wasatch Boulevard, as people line up for spots at the parking facility.

A solution using an enhanced electric bus system, variable tolls, reservations and limits on automobiles would reduce traffic while costing less, preserving the canyon and leaving UDOT with flexibility. If, after a few years, such a system proves ineffective, the state could begin to look at other alternatives.

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CWC Short Term Project

Written by Claire Parsons, Wilderness Stewardship and Education Coordinator

PARLEY’S CANYON UPDATE Written by Grace Tyler, Development Director

Utah is the second driest state in the country. And it’s important to remember with mining proposals — a lot of water is needed for dust mitigation.

Granite Construction on behalf of Jesse Lassley and Tree Farm LLC has filed with the Division of Air Quality, New Source Review (NSR), since they have no water, they plan on trucking in the water for dust mitigation.

2022 Wilderness Stewardship Project

Our summer volunteer season was filled with many different collaborative projects. From trail work, to cleaning up Big Cottonwood Canyon, to removing invasive species from City Creek Canyon, we were dedicated to working with our partners across the valley to conserve the Wasatch Mountains. We would like to extend a special thank you to the Central Wasatch Commission (CWC) who awarded us their Short Term Project Grant! This grant was the driving force behind our busy and meaningful volunteer season that ran from May 2022 to September 2022.

With the support of the CWC we were able to continue our Wilderness Stewardship Project that focuses on reconstructing and bettering trails in wilderness designations across the Wasatch mountains. In June, we partnered with the US Forest Service Salt Lake Ranger District to maintain 3.5 miles of trail in Big Cottonwood at the Butler Fork Trailhead by removing brush and resurfacing the existing trail. We were also able to work with Salt Lake Public Utilities to remove 44 contractor bags of garlic mustard from City Creek Canyon. Salt Lake Public Utilities is trying their hardest to eliminate invasive plant species that are encroaching on riparian habitats so that native plants and pollinators who are integral to our watershed health, can thrive.

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In August, we co-facilitated a trash cleanup in Big Cottonwood Canyon with Keep Nature Wild and removed over 90 pounds of litter off of the highway. We picked up trash from Mineral Fork to Butler Fork. Even though we had a small crew of six, we were able to clean up these two miles in Big Cottonwood Canyon to leave the canyon better than we found it. Later in the month, we also partnered with Keep Nature Wild again to complete a massive river clean up along Big Cottonwood Creek with other community partners like: Seven Canyons Trust, Backcountry.com, and Uinta Brewing Co. In three hours, we were able to remove 8,500 pounds of trash! Volunteers spent the morning wading through the creek to remove anything from tires to real estate signs to bicycles to duffles bags.

This work day painted the picture of how much work there is still left to do to improve the quality of our creeks and rivers.

In just over three months and with the support of the CWC, we were able to engage with 105 volunteers this summer season! Our various workdays cultivate teamwork and a stronger sense of community. These projects are invaluable to the future integrity of our watershed and mountains!

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Proponents of this gravel pit have cited the proximity of the gravel pit and use of the gravel is good for the environment, however, this is completely undone by the amount of water they will have to truck into the area for dust mitigation.

Become A Member 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.

Join

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In a drought where we can’t even get water into a dying Great Salt Lake and drying Colorado River Basin, where we need to figure out how to reduce water consumption by 2—4 MILLION ACRE FEET… where do they plan to get all this water for dust mitigation?

Membership Benefits

Let Tree Farm LLC, Jesse Lassley, and Granite Construction (NYSE: GVA) know that we, as a community, value water conservation, wild mountains, clean air, healthy rivers and streams, in many regards we strive to leave them in better condition than when we found them.

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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

Sign our petition today: https://saveourcanyons.salsalabs.org/protectparleyscanyon/index.html.

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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

Photo Taken By Derek Tillotson Instagram: @derektillotson

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