Help Protect the Wasatch Watershed! Winter 2020 Newsletter

Help protect the wasatch watershed! Winter 2020 Newsletter

”Far Out” taken by Samuel Werstak; Instagram @sam_werstak; Email: [email protected]

Dedicated to protecting the beauty and wildness of the Wasatch Mountains Membership Is Our Foundation Written by our Executive Director, Carl Fisher

In the winter of 2018/19 Save Our Canyons in effort to update our strategic plan, issued a community survey. After spending some time with the results a few clear organizational actions emerged. One of these actions came from several in our community who did not understand their standing with the organization and a request for a more formalized membership plan. We spent the better part of the year, all the while working on other projects and campaigns confronting the Wasatch what being a member of Save Our Canyons means. Today we are pleased to roll out to you the outcome of this process. wINTER 2020 Newsletter One of the benefits of being a dues paying member of Save Our Canyons is that you are counted and get a voice in the Membership Is Our Foundation…….....P2-P3 direction of the organization. Membership dues are as follows:

Board Bulletin...... P4 • Renew Membership Starting At: $35/year • Join Today Starting At: $35/year Support Local...... P5 • Give Monthly Starting At: $5

Year One………...... …P6 These membership dues are a critical element to support the work that we do for our community and the Wasatch and this work is guided by the following principles and values. Eliminating Single Use Products….....P7 The Wasatch Mountains need a comprehensive and integrat- Saving Our Canyons From Ourselves….....P8- P9 ed plan which transcends political subdivisions and human jurisdictional boundaries, and prioritizes values at risk. Some Who Gave Alta Veto Power?...…...P10-11 of these values include, but are not limited to: watersheds and waterways, native plant and wildlife habitat, natural aesthet- Good, Bad and Ugly…...P12-P14 ics, and a diversity of recreational experiences that enjoy, but do not degrade the aforementioned values. Given the continued intensification of use and surrounding growth, strict Music In The Mountains……...... P14 adherence to a plan and set of community guiding principles grounded in science with implementation of projects that aid Conservation Through Photography.....P15 or enhance these values is imperative. Organized opposition to projects that damage or degrade these values is necessary.

So, as part of our membership update, we also felt it important 3690 E Fort Union Blvd STE 101 Cottonwood Heights, UT 84121 to articulate our organizational values to help our community https://saveourcanyons.org better understand what we are working to protect. 801.363.7283 [email protected] • We believe in healthy ecosystems and wild landscapes and ALEXIS KELNER that this is the highest inherent value, regardless of how Editor Emeritus they may serve people.

2 Save Our Canyons, Winter 2020 www.saveourcanyons.org • We believe the Wasatch are essential for human mental and physical health and quality of life. • We believe it is a moral imperative of all humanity to preserve them for others, human and otherwise, including those who deserve to enjoy the place and values in the future. • We believe in acting ourselves on all of these beliefs, but also in creating and sustaining a society that deeply embraces and acts in protection of the place and these values.

If you agree with these principles and values, we hope that you will make your way over to saveourcanyons.org/join and either sign up or renew your membership. While we will continue to improve upon the perks of membership, you will guarantee you the following as part of your membership:

• Connection to a community passionate about conservation • Discount on ALL Save Our Canyons event tickets • Direct access to our brightest conservation leaders • 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 • Ability to serve on Save Our Canyons project advisory committees

The Citizens’ Committee to Save Our Can- yons is a community of people who are all very different yet realize that our dif- ferences cannot yield different Wasatch’s, there is only one Wasatch. It doesn’t matter what you get from the Wasatch or by which means you use it, we must rally behind a unified vision or else the whittling away of the Wasatch will perpetuate. Today, the Wasatch receives nearly 10 million visitors annually. Your membership will help ensure the Wasatch remains healthy and resilient in the face of climate change and com- pounding population/visitation pressures. On one hand, these pressures are daunting, however, we believe our community shares these core beliefs and values that banding together as members of Save Our Canyons is the surest way to realize success for the Wasatch and our community which is con- tinually inspired by this amazing place.

There are many important and timely decisions being made and we want our members at the table with us. A new perk Lone Peak Photographer and Save Our Canyons Supporter Chris Alan Monte; “Storm Gradient” to membership is that members in good standing will be able to help us form policy and advise on initiatives. If you have passion about the Wasatch and ideas as to how we can tackle some of the pressing issues confronting the region, we’ll keep our members informed about meetings to discuss issues of the day from conservation to recreation and transportation issues.

On behalf of our board, dedicated staff, interns, volunteers and members, I hope you will join our coalition for the Wasatch, and become a member of Save Our Canyons today.

www.saveourcanyons.org Save Our Canyons, Winter 2020 3 Board Bulletin Written by Save Our Canyons Board Chair Bill Lockhart

Traditionally, the beginning of a new year is a time when many of us try to take a moment to pull away from the more immediate things that occupy our minds and our time and attempt to measure, by met- rics both nebulous and concrete, how we’ve done. And I can say we at SOC are feeling good about our 2019. With a lean, five-person staff, 13 Board Members, five Interns, and an ample supply of tireless commitment, we were able to keep the Wasatch wild for another year. But we never pause to reflect on what we do without remembering that it is only possible because of you, our 8,000 Wasatch Defenders. Last year you helped us:

• Generate support to stop the proposed recission of the critical 2001 Roadless Rule • Remove over 300 pounds of trash within the Wasatch Mountains • Remove 10 illegal fire pits • Replace 5 Wilderness Designation Signs • Coordinate the assistance of over 50 volunteers • Host over 25 events to educate the community about the impor- Save Our Canyons Board Chair, Bill Lockhart tance of the Wasatch • Take over 625 kids on hikes in the Wasatch, many of whom have never been there before • Stop the Nordic Valley expansion • Keep Grizzly Gulch wild for another year

In the last quarter of 2019, we set the goal of raising $100,000 to help us keep pushing. To continue working hard to achieve legistlated protection of over 80,000 acres in the Central Wasatch. To resist the never-ending drive for an interconnect that would kill the wildness of the upper Cottonwood Canyons. To educate more kids about our watershed. And you really came through for us. Our community of Wasatch Defenders gave over $115,466 to help us protect the wildness and beauty of our shared Wasatch Mountain home – THANK YOU!

Because of your commitment to us, we commit to you that we will continue to fight hard for what we all know the Wasatch deserves, including:

• Legislation that permanently protects our watershed, healthy ecosystems, and wild landscapes • A Grizzly Gulch, Patsey Marley, and Wolverine Cirque that remain wild, • Protection from increased industrialization of the canyons from resort expansion and ski interconnect • Development of sensible, long-term transportation solutions that improve the experience of accessing the Wasatch while recognizing that there is a limit to the visitation pressues the Wasatch, as we want and need them to be, can bear. • Wide ranging actions to address the looming threat of damaging levels of visitation

Let’s resolve together to make 2020 a year in which we come closer together as a community, passionate and dedicated to protecting the wild places we all love, that feed our souls, and that are such an enormous part of why we each know this place is right for us. And let’s make it a year in which every single one of us takes action to protect what is so important to us—not just annually or occasionally but consistently, as part of the way of life we enjoy because of the Wasatch. If you haven’t already sign up for our email list to receive direct actions that help to protect the public land in the Wasatch: https://saveourcanyons.org/enews.

4 Save Our Canyons, Winter 2020 www.saveourcanyons.org sUPPORT lOCAL Written by Campaigns Coordinator Alex Schmidt Become a Member Join Today Save Our Canyons relies critically on the support of individual members and local businesses. Join today for only $35: https://saveourcanyons.org/join!

Renew Now Renew your one-year membership today for only $35, and keep doing your part for the Wasatch: https://saveourcanyons.org/renew.

Give Monthly Become a monthly member for as low as $5 a month: Pivot into a custom Save Our Canyons pack https://saveourcanyons.org/give-monthly.

Pivot RnD, a Utah based gear development company stepped up their support this year by creating cus- Membership Benefits tom Save Our Canyons fanny packs and backpacks. • Connection to a community passionate about con- Lead Designer CJ Whitaker reached out to SOC with servation the idea to get more mileage out of their annual • Discount on ALL Save Our Canyons event tickets donation to the organization by sourcing seconds • Direct access to our brightest conservation leaders from the materials they use in the development of • Ability to serve on a Save Our Canyons advisory com- their products to create these colorful, custom bags mittee for your Urban and Backcountry needs. • An exclusive Save Our Canyons membership event • Quarterly newsletters delivered to your door or via Flashy and functional — we’re excited to have these email (your preference) bags to help us create more visibility for the orga- • Action Alert emails that focus on direct actions to nization, while raising funds that will go towards protect the Wasatch watershed protection, land use planning, recreation and transportation, public land protection, and ski area projects. Other Ways To Donate Your tax deductible donation enables us to continue pro- So many companies have shown support over the tecting the beauty and wildness of the Wasatch Moun- years and we’re grateful to add Pivot RnD to those tains. There are multiple ways you can support or donate that put their time behind protecting the wildness to Save Our Canyons! and beauty of the Wasatch Mountains. If you own a business and would like to get involved within Save Donate stocks, bonds, mutual funds, IRA accounts, real Our Canyons please contact grace@saveourcanyons. estate, life insurance, business interests, and bequests org. through your will or trust! You won’t want to miss getting your hands on one If you’re interested in leaving a legacy of support for the of these bags. We’ll have the whole stock available at continued preservation of this amazing range and the our Lone Peak Celebration on March 7 at The Gar- communities it supports please contact Sarah Sleater at den Place at Heritage Park! You can also purchase a [email protected] or 801-363-7283. backpack for $75 and fanny packs for $35 by calling 801.363.7283 or emailing [email protected].

www.saveourcanyons.org Save Our Canyons, Winter 2020 5 Year One Written by Save Our Canyons Supporter Brian Medeiros

My name is Brian Medeiros and I am a photographer, videog- rapher, drummer, and human from Utah! For well over half of my life I’ve been playing drums, fortunate enough to play all over the world, and never thought I could be as passionate and captivated with any- thing else on this dream-chas- ing journey.

Just about a year ago, I invested in myself and got a great cam- era to document and capture the beauty I seek out in this wonderful world. I was hooked. Boom. Game over. Totally in love with this new avocation!

I’ve been absolutely blown away and humbled from the incredible amount of support and encouragement from people dear to me, from count- less acquaintances, and from a Brian Medeiros, Year One Photobook, Kickerstarter March 2020 staggering amount of people who don’t even know me. I’m very appreciative for the opportunities I’ve had within this year, the places I’ve been, the people I’ve met, and it’s all lead into many people supporting my work by having prints hanging in their homes, offices, etc. — SO COOL.

I will be launching a Kickstarter campaign in March to help fund a book, a book that will be a tangible collection of images that I’ve captured within my first year of finding this insatiable passion in photography. These photos are taken from all over the United States and beyond, many of them being from within my beautiful home state of Utah. Each capture holds a special place in my heart to remind me where I was at the time, who I was at the time, and the beauty that I found in each moment.

A portion of the proceeds for each book sold will be going to the wonderful Utah nonprofit organization “Save Our Canyons” which will assist in keeping the Wasatch wild. My Kickstarter will be live in March and you can view some of my photos during the Save Our Canyons Lone Peak Celebration on March 7th at The Garden Place at Heritage Park!

Thank you for supporting my work and for supporting Save Our Canyons!

6 Save Our Canyons, Winter 2020 www.saveourcanyons.org eliminating Single Use Products Written by Development Director, Grace Tyler

Dozens of movies ranging from Wall-E to Blade Runner have depicted a population that has ruined all ecosystems and filled the world with trash – among other things. The levels of garbage that we produce has humans is overwhelming. A World Bank report projects that the amount of solid waste we generate on earth will double by the year 2025. If current trends continue, we are likely to go from 3.5 million tons to 6 million tons per day by that point. If that’s not bad enough, the figures predict that trash production will only keep growing for the foreseeable future. Plastic, it turns out, is a much worse and more immediate problem for ocean life than climate change. It’s clogging waterways, leading to flooding in underdeveloped nations. It’s killing birds and fish who consume it, and much much more. Our abundance of trash isn’t just impacting oceans, but the Wasatch Mountains as well.

This past year during our Wilderness Stew- ardship Project we picked up three (42 gallon) bags of trash within Lone Peak Wilderness Designation Area and 21 (42 gallon) bags of trash during five highway clean-ups — averaging over 300 pounds of trash within the Wasatch Mountains that we removed! We are not the only ones within the community concerned about the levels of trash entering into the Wasatch. On average during the summer we are tagged in over 30 Instagram posts highlighting trash in our watershed, and over 67 posts encouraging people to practice the 7 Leave No Trace Principles.

Between water bottles, coffee cups, and beer cans explorers of the Wasatch are setup to create garbage unless they have the correct tools. Lucky for you, we have created a partnership with Liberty Works to produce custom Save Our Canyons 20oz, 32oz, and 15 lbs of trash after doing a short hike in Big Cottonwood Canyon, Tahir Razzaq (@ tahiristan) 64oz bottles to help reduce waste in the Wasatch and beyond! Eliminating single use products is our best defense against the problem of trash in the canyons. We have also integrated the 7 Leave No Trace Principles within our Wilderness Stewardship Project and SOCK- ids programs.

When purchasing one of the Save Our Canyons Liberty Karma bottles 10% will be donated back to Save Our Can- yons to help protect your backcountry lines, crags, trails, and water quality. You can purchase the bottles online at: https://libertybottles.com/collections/save-our-canyons. Next time you stop to get coffee before climbing up Little Cottonwood Canyon use our SOC coffee thermos. Or before you head out into Lone Peak Wilderness fill up our 32oz water bottle that not only helps to reduce waste, but also helps to show your support for #KeepingGrizzlyGulchWild. Then stop by your favorite hydration station to fill up our 64oz growler with your favorite brew.

We would like to give a big thank you to Liberty Works for contacting us about the partnership and for creating these amazing items. Let’s start 2020 by taking a strong stance against trash in the Wasatch Mountains.

www.saveourcanyons.org Save Our Canyons, Winter 2020 7 Saving Our Canyons From Ourselves Published in Utah Stories, December 2019 Written by David E. Jensen

The peaks of the Wasatch Range stand like stone sentinels over the valleys below—silent witnesses to a burgeoning population that seeks year-round refuge amid the tranquility of these beautiful and inviting canyons and slopes. Wasatch Front residents are fortunate to live within the very shadow of our favorite recreation destinations, but as Utah’s population continues to push against the boundaries of the valley floors, a surplus of desk-bound techies, weary urbanites and outdoor adrenaline junkies, desperate for escape from the daily grind, flee to the ever-diminish- ing solitude of Utah’s canyons and other wild places. As a result, “getting away from it all” becomes more difficult with each passing year.

As natives and visitors alike flock to Utah’s world-renowned ski resorts and hiking trails, the problems become evident. Big and Little Cottonwood Can- yons, with a single lane in each direction and an overwhelming traffic burden, face an access crisis caused by too many private vehicles, resulting in a steady worsening of Salt Lake’s equally famous noxious winter air.

Save Our Canyons Save Our Canyons is at the fore- front of regional transportation planning for the Wasatch Front, focusing on “the conservation of the wildness and beauty of the Wasatch Range while Howie Garber Images donates 30% of the proceeds to Save Our Canyons when purchasing his photography! acting proactively to have dependable, efficient and clean energy powered options for public transportation to the many trails and areas up and down the Wasatch Range.”

Part of Save our Canyons mission is to alleviate the car-centric burden of single-occupancy vehicles (SOVs) and their negative impacts on canyon roads, airshed, watershed and wildlife in these fragile, high-altitude settings.

Carl Fisher is the executive director of Save Our Canyons. I asked him about SOCs view of an ideal transportation future for the high-density access currently being imposed on the Cottonwood Canyons, and to a slightly lesser ex- tent, Millcreek Canyon, where a toll helps keep visitation in check and at least partially pays for the damage done by irresponsible visitors.

According to Fisher, “SOC believes that we need to do a better job of delivering people to the bases of these canyons without their vehicles. Regionally, we need to connect people to the bases of these canyons from their points of origin (airports, hotels, cities, communities) on mass transit/ridesharing. In the canyons, we should make better use of the infrastructure we have and not convert what is now open space into more parking, roads, and rail or gondola

8 Save Our Canyons, Winter 2020 www.saveourcanyons.org routes. We think all of those concepts should be analyzed and their actual impact understood. We think we can go a long way by simply reducing the number of vehicles via increasing vehicular occupancy, and that running more year- round buses can solve many of the issues we face.”

Several proposals over the years have attempted to circumvent a dubious future for canyon access. The Mountain Accord, for example, sought compromise between stakeholders in an unprecedented but contentious attempt at collaboration that ultimately failed. That consortium is now known as the Central Wasatch Commission. Past ideas included rapid transit bus or light rail, monorail, gondola, toll booths, more parking lots, and even the ludicrous suggestion of digging a tunnel from Park City to Big Cottonwood Canyon, along with a trans-canyon tunnel connecting the four resorts in both canyons. The tunnel idea, once considered to be “dead and buried,” is an extraor- dinarily bad option with an unreasonable price tag and unthinkable envi- ronmental consequences, yet it was proposed again at a CWC meeting earli- er this year. Most of the other proposals—including widening the roads— would permanently damage the canyons as well.

UDOT The Utah Department Howie Garber Images can be found online at https://www.howiegarberimages.com of Transportation is the state agency tasked with planning, building and maintaining Utah’s transportation infrastructure. I contacted UDOT about their master plan for the future of Wasatch Canyon transit development, but they did not respond by press time.

Fisher says UDOT supports the perpetual use of private cars over more efficient methods of delivering people to the base of the canyons. In his view, “… working with UDOT is like being given a nail gun to turn a bunch of screws. UDOT is a very roadway and car-based organization. Our view is that the canyons should be accommodating fewer cars in the future than they are today, and we need to do everything we can to keep the cars away from the canyons. We need more park and ride lots throughout the valley, we need transit service (buses, BRT or light rail) serving those locations. We need direct-to-resort bus service so Alta patrons don’t have to ride through all the Snowbird stops for example, and so dispersed users don’t make the system stop every mile up the canyon. For weekends and holidays, we think using school parking lots and perhaps during the week, using church parking lots as park and ride locations with transit service makes sense.”

The Wasatch Front faces a daunting forecast for future growth that could potentially deposit another million residents here in the next 30 years. The results of so many people using limited resources would certainly overwhelm and perhaps even destroy the very characteristics that make the canyons so alluring, so a clear vision going forward is critical. The ski resorts love the money that added visitation brings, but we risk literally loving our canyons to death. Just look at our national parks for a preview of what’s coming to a canyon near you if something isn’t done soon.

Interested in more on this topic? Check out the Utah Stories podcast today: http://bit.ly/2spdY6V

www.saveourcanyons.org Save Our Canyons, Winter 2020 9 who gave alta veto power? Written by Save Our Canyons Member Jack Stauss

Winter 2019, historic by all standards. Snowfall totals in a cold February fed the soul of the skier. It let us experience the mountains in ways that we had not in many years. Throughout the winter, I skied all four of the Big and Little Cottonwood resorts on powder days, as well as logged over fifty days ski touring in the Central Wasatch. It was an amazing privilege, and a season I will remember for the rest of my life. And yes, along with historic snowfall we saw historic visitation and traffic congestion.

For my part, I also logged time at the state capitol and at Cen- tral Wasatch Commission meetings, trying to understand what the future of these mountains was going to look like. While we can be pretty certain there will be less snow in the decades to come, there are still a lot of question marks when it comes to transportation and alpine development. Until last November, it seemed like the various stakeholders had reached consensus regarding the latter. We were going to have a “national conservation and recreation area” that would protect the last undeveloped regions at the top of both canyons. It would implement land swaps that would make the former, the transit Jack Stauss, Save Our Canyons Member question easier.

Well, in the final stages of the bill, Alta Lift Company pulled out. Since then, we have watched the different direc- tions the ski areas have taken the fight to battle of access and transportation on their own.

Snowbird, whose General Manager was at the Save Our Canyons Lone Peak Event in March, rolled out the RIDE app. Last season the app allowed skiers to carpool with one another to get up to the Bird. This fall, they included the rest of the ski areas, creating a digital rideshare program that will certainly decrease canyon traffic. They have the analytics to prove that it works.

Similarly, Brighton has implemented an innovative and in many ways, brave, approach to marketing and sales. This week, they have offered a sliding scale Jack Staus, Grizzly Gulch, #KeepGrizzlymMild #KeepGrizzlyGulchWild of ticket prices. Tickets are as cheap

10 Save Our Canyons, Winter 2020 www.saveourcanyons.org as $29 on certain days throughout the season! This campaign will allow for the resort to be more inclusive and competitive in the crazy world of ski tickets and passes. Like the Bird’s app, the flexible hourly structure of these cheap tickets also relies on new technology. Solitude took an even bolder step. They be- came the first Wasatch resort to implement a parking fee in their lots. This is on a sliding scale, so the more people you have in your vehicle the cheaper the fee is. Plus, Solitude does not aim to profit from this scheme. They have stated that the revenue generated will go into funding bus passes for ticket holders, and any excess money will be donated to Breathe Utah, a local non-profit working to clean our air. While not a perfect solution, this is a good first step to taking serious action against single occupancy vehicles.

While I personally hope the NCRA will still be passed, I have been optimistic in seeing these individual changes from the companies. It will take a myriad of solutions to solve the problems in the mountains and I see all three of these as starting to break new ground in both transit and marketing.

So what about the outlier? Alta Ski Area was the first to shake up the NCRA, and subse- quently has doubled down on decades of large-scale status quo transit and development. Specifically, they were unwilling to support the NCRA, even if Grizzly and Patsy were devel- oped, because it would not allow for the poten- Little Cottonwood Canyon, Ben Schoffstall Summer 2019 Intern tial Park City interconnect. The long standing idea of ONE Wasatch is the ultimate loss of wildness in the Central Wasatch Mountains. Like the threat of SkiLink before it, it would permanently alter the landscape, both geographic and social, forever.

It has been saddening to see Alta, a community and ski area that I love, try and maintain this old school model. The model of industrial, mechanized tourism, of thoughtless development, and destruction of wild landscapes. As skiers, we must protect what we love: the snow and the mountains, not the shareholders pocketbooks. As people we must use innovative strategies to solve difficult problems that will affect our children and grandchildren. Surely these solutions are built from new ways of thinking about places, not entrenched in the 20th century’s poor land ethic. There has never been a more important time to speak truth to this issue, and protect the Wasatch Mountains for generations to come.

www.saveourcanyons.org Save Our Canyons, Winter 2020 11 GOOD, BAD, AND UGLY

Good: Citizen resistance from North Ogden neighborhoods protects Coldwater Creek! Last year, Nordic Valley Ski Resort’s new ownership (Mountain Capital Partners) proposed to construct a massive lift and lodge development into Coldwater Canyon, above North Ogden. Fortunately, this proposal has been shelved, but downstream the creek faces sustained threats. Local resident Spencer Alexander along with other concerned citizens have teamed up with Trout Unlimited to do an assessment of the creek and bring their findings before the City Council. This ambling wa- terway that deserves restoration and protection from further development.

Good For Now: Coalition wins as SOC and partners make case for roadless protections! In 2019, the State of Utah sought to unravel protections to over 4 million acres of roadless forests throughout the state. Utah’s failure to plan for growth is wreaking havoc on some of our most wild and intact landscapes and rescinding the Roadless Rule would have placed those lands on the chopping block. Quick work by citizens and organizations, including Save Our Canyons, resulted in the Secretary of Agriculture not accepting Utah’s petition, and hence the Roadless Rule continu- ing to protect 4 million acres of your public lands and watersheds.

Ugly: Growth, development and infrastructure + climate change endan- gers wild forests! In the face of climate change and intensified use and development in our forests expect to be seeing more fuels projects. Decades of fire suppres- sion coupled with rapid growth is challenging forest management and health. We believe these Shared can be done in a way that Stewardship enhances forest condi- tions for generations to Priority Map: come. Save Our Canyons https://arcg. will continue to engage is/0TCW51 with land managers and communities to ensure these projects, which are inherently invasive, are done in a way that in- volves the community and protects and enhances the environment.

Great: Cooler heads prevail on Uintas Fuels project. Last summer, the UWC proposed to use a Categorical Exclu- sion (CE) to allow it to mechanically remove potentially all trees on a landscape of nearly one million acres, including hundreds of thousands of acres in Inventoried Roadless Areas. In response to our coalition’s comment letter on the project, the Forest Service in December said it decided to change course on how it will proceed with fire management projects in light of concerns raised about the massive “East Zone Fire Management Project” proposed CE. This

12 Save Our Canyons, Winter 2020 www.saveourcanyons.org GOOD, BAD, AND UGLY is excellent news! As the Forest Service emphasized that “ultimately, we (Forest Service) want to approve projects with public support and understanding. Therefore, we have decided to analyze smaller acreage projects using categorical exclusions on an annual basis.”

Bad, Be Aware: Federalism Commission castigates consensus conservation deal. In an effort to scare away an already-timid-toward-conservation-Congressional Delegation from protecting the Wasatch, the Utah Legisla- ture’s “Federalism Commission” sent a letter to the Central Wasatch Commission and Utah Congressional Delegation suggesting the consensus arrived at through Mountain Accord was not sufficient, and would actually damage, not protect the region! The State suggests instead of designating these watersheds with a protective overlay, we need to build and develop more in the Wasatch in order to protect human values. This from the cast of characters who be- lieved removing protections from Bears Ears and Grand Staircase, and believe an Inland Port is good for the Salt Lake Valley. This will likely be an ongoing topic in the upcoming Legislative session. We’ll need a big show of support if we are going to leave the Wasatch with a more certain future than currently exists.

Good: Buying a Public Lands Pass in 2020? Keep It Local. A great way to make sure your summer outdoor plans come to fruition is to invest early and purchase an annual Public Lands Pass. These passes, available at the U.S Forest Service office in Cottonwood Heights make visiting national parks, wildlife refuges and other federal lands across the country a bit more seamless. Plus, when purchased from the Wasatch office, 80% of the fee will be used on this forest. Helping your year-round homebase retain needed funds to manage the high visitation in the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest.

Good: Conservation Alliance funds SOC’s “Wild Forests and Connected Watersheds Program”. If you have been following our social media or email action alerts for a while, you may have noticed a lack of video media related to our work to protect the Wasatch Range. Now, thanks to generous support from the Con- servation Alliance we’re getting into the “enviro film” game. There is a plethora of creative, talented people working in the mixed media arena in and around SLC which is why we’re so excited America the Beautiful. 2020 Public Lands Pass to be working with Louis Arévalo on this project. Adding video production to our educational arsenal is very exciting and if you have great video (“B roll”) of the Wasatch Mountains that you would like to contribute please contact our office.

Good: Central Wasatch Commission poised to understand canyon capacities. In their January meeting, the Cen- tral Wasatch Commission at the request of their Stakeholder’s Council, gave a preliminary nod toward understanding canyon capacity in undertaking a Visitor Management Study. We believe if we don’t understand varying thresholds in the Wasatch, we cannot adequately protect irreplaceable ecosystems and manage visitors in the region. This information will be critical to guide the implementation of projects and planning in the region for generations to come. We just hope it doesn’t come too late!

Ugly: Alta Ski Area starts skier skirmish with other users (even own patrons). Like a selfish toddler, Alta ski area is conveniently forgetting that it shares the Wasatch with others. They have been asserting that other users are taking parking spaces for their resort patrons. Trouble is, Alta doesn’t have any proprietary parking, as pretty much all their infrastructure is situated on public lands, subject to non-exclusive use provisions in their permit. While we --->

www.saveourcanyons.org Save Our Canyons, Winter 2020 13 strongly recommend all users ride the bus, we also recognize that bus service is not adequate in frequency and duration, particularly for dispersed recreation. Until governments listen to the population and fully funded mass transit, improving transit access and service for all users, don’t be bullied by Alta. You can submit any observation or incident (more info = more helpful, especially photos w/ loca- tion): saveourcanyons.org/get-involved/ community-tip-form

Good, Great, Excellent: This past year, we in conjunction with UTA, the 4 Cottonwood resorts, Wasatch Backcountry Alliance and the Central Wasatch Commission helped fund a 26% increase in bus service to the Cotton- wood Canyons! It only cost $150,000 for the increase. Now if we could peel off some of the $66 million UDOT has for roadway improvements we could get some great service for years to come!

Can’t Wait To See You: At our 18th Annual Lone Peak Celebration on March 7th at The Garden Place at Her- itage Park. Tickets are on sale now at saveourcanyons.org.

Take the ski bus, it’s good for your soul!

MUSIC IN THE MOUNTAINS Written by Save Our Canyons Supporter, Chaz Prymek of Lake Mary

Save Our Canyons is important to me, they are doing the good and difficult work of protecting not only my name- sake, Lake Mary, but the land that shaped who I am.

I grew up in along and in the Wasatch Front Range, those trails, those peaks, those deep canyons and lakes carved out my imagination, my health, my gratitude, and influence the music I create greatly.

Those canyons saved my life on more than one occasion, we support the work Save Our Canyons are doing, and hope they continue to fight for the protection of these lands as well as the well being of all involved in between these ranges. Thank You SOC.

Check out Lake Mary’s music inspired by the Wasatch Mountains at lakemary.bandcamp.com

14 Save Our Canyons, Winter 2020 www.saveourcanyons.org Conservation Through Advocacy Photography Written by our Lone Peak Photographer and Save Corner Our Canyons Supporter Chris Alan Monte The threats to the Wasatch, to our watersheds, to the places that inspire our rapidly growing communities and the generations that will surely follow, are intense, complex, and need attention. What they need perhaps most of all is unity. We can show unity in a variety of ways by: attending a Save Our Canyons event, attending a public meeting, signing a petition, volunteering with our organization, or writing a Letter to the Editor or Op-Ed showing support for protecting the wildness and beauty of the Wasatch Mountains, canyons, and foothills.

What is an Op-Ed and LTE? An Op-Ed is a relatively short piece of writing 500 to 750 words that appears opposite the editorial page (Op-Ed) in print media. Online sources have Op-Eds too (i.e. The Huffington Post, CNN, Deseret News, Salt Lake Tribune, and more).

A letter to the editor (LTE) is shorter than an Op-Ed with about 200 words and typically does not con- tain as much evidence.

Chris Alan Monte; Broads Fork Spring Storm Where do you send an Op-Ed/LTE and what’s included? Like many transplants from the Midwest, I quickly fell for Letters must include the signature, full name, ad- Utah’s otherworldly landscapes when I first moved out West. dress, phone number and email address (if avail- Over the last five years I’ve spent as much time as I possibly able) of the author for verification purposes. Only could in the mountains and deserts of this state. the name and city will be published.

It boggles the mind to think that there are people on this Salt Lake Tribune planet that don’t see the value in protecting wild places. If LTE: [email protected] my photography could convince a few of those people how Op-Ed: [email protected] important these spaces are, I’ll consider it a success. Deseret News I’m incredibly thankful for the opportunity to work with Save LTE: [email protected] Our Canyons for the second year in a row at their Lone Peak Op-Ed [email protected] Celebration on March 7th. For more information about how to write an Op- It’s always encouraging to see a community of like minded Ed or LET, sample documents, and more please individuals working to protect the beauty and wildness of visit our blog today: https://saveourcanyons.org/ the Wasatch Mountains. I hope to see you at this year’s Lone the-latest/save-our-canyons-blog Peak Celebration!

www.saveourcanyons.org Save Our Canyons, Winter 2020 15 Citizens’ Committee to Save Our Canyons 3690 E Fort Union Blvd STE 101 NONPROFIT ORG. Cottonwood Heights, UT 84121 U.S. POSTAGE PAID SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH PERMIT NO. 7271

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