Citizens Committee to Save Our Canyons

www.saveourcanyons.org

June, 2014

One Wasatch Interconnect

Newly named Ski Interconnect is dragged out from the crypt of horrible proposals.
See pages 4 and 5 for details.
Twin Lakes/Twin Lakes Pass in Big Cottonwood Canyon.

Howie Garber photo.

Save Our Canyons is an

organization of citizen activists dedicated, since 1972,
to protecting 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
Chairmans Message.............2
Stepping Aside.......................3
Happy Trails, Havilah........ ..3
Theres Only One Wasatch...4
Local Skiers Response to
One Wasatch.......................4
ONE WASATCH
One Horrible Plan .............5
Resorts/Climate Change .....6
Lone Peak Celebration..........8
Businesses/Volunteers........10
SOCK programs walk ........11
Good, Bad, Ugly ..................12
State of the Rockies Report.14
Bishops Hypocricy..............14
A Mountain Accord ............15
ALEXIS KELNER
Perennial Editor
GALE DICK
Associate Perennial Editor

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CONTENTS:

Chairmans Message

SOC Founders Honored

at Lone Peak Wilderness
Celebration
Changing something that works is always hard. SOC
founders Gale Dick and Alexis Kelner stepped off the
Board on April 26 at the annual Lone Peak Wilderness
Celebration to become members of SOCs Honorary
Committee. No fewer than five standing ovations were
delivered by the 250 attendees that night celebrating
the legacy of these two individuals. Gale said the
greatest thing about running this organization for the
past 42 years are the friends he has met and the fun he
has had.
Alexis thanked his wife Karla for her forbearance in
having their home used as a campaign headquarters,
and demonstrated his quick wit by offering to teach a
future activist how to use the 1950s vintage printing
press that he and Karla purchased for use by SOC.
The press proved exceptionally useful for production
of SOC flyers, notices, and newsletters during the first
fifteen years of SOC activities.
Many attendees that night were well prepared for
this change in SOC leadership, but it was still sad to
see these two passionately talented and committed
individuals passing the joys and the burden of
protecting the Wasatch to a new generation.
Like windswept limber pines, Save Our Canyons
has been holding the ridgelines of the Wasatch in
place for the past 42 years. The organizations Staff
and Board of Trustees have been busy nurturing the
sapling pines to keep things intact for the next 42
years. We recently completed a yearlong strategic
planning effort preparing
for the succession as
well as understanding
the
opportunities
and
challenges that lie ahead.
Our goal is to grow even
more effective in order to
match the ever-increasing
pressures
facing
the
Wasatch. SOCs strengths
include
our
extremely
dedicated and talented
cadre of staff, volunteers,
and members. We also have
a clear and focused mission
and set of priorities that are
broadly shared and valued

 Save Our Canyons,

June, 2014

within our community.

SOCs challenges include maintaining and
institutionalizing the core values established by our
founders, and structuring ourselves so that we continue
to grow and adapt to the pressures that lie ahead. We
intend to diversify our conservation strategies, increase
our funding, and ensure the people in our community
understand the many critical roles the Wasatch plays
in each of our lives.
Change is also an opportunity. We are fortunate to
have been able to plan for our future growth alongside
our organizations founders. We know who we are, we
know where we want to go, and most importantly we
know what we want the Wasatch to look like 100 years
from now.
What we realize as we look forward is that we need
to do more, we need to do it better, and we need the
support of our friends. We need to reach out within
our community to increase support for the protection
of the Wasatch. This broad network of support will
not only lead to more land protection, but will lead
to a stronger community of people who will be more
capable of handling future challenges.
Nobody can surpass the individual contributions
that Gale and Alexis have made in their lifetimes
toward the cause of protecting the Wasatch.
Fortunately though, we can all finish the great
work they began by harnessing the collective power of
our community permanently to enshrine the Central
Wasatch in its proper place
as the communitys most
valuable asset. We might
not need to know how to
use Alexis printing press,
but we will definitely want
to have fun and make new
friends as we carry this
good work forward.
Gavin Noyes
Gale Dick, left,
and
Alexis Kelner
Photo by: Brandon Cruz

www.saveourcanyons.org

Stepping Aside
By Gale Dick. SOC cofounder
After 42 years of participation in Save Our Canyons,
its time for me to step aside as a board member and,
since the mid-nineties, as president, Age and health
problems eventually begin to take their toll. As long as
I can do so, I shall participate in the work of Save Our
Canyons and serve on advisory committees.
Since Alexis Kelner, Floyd Sweat and I started
the organization in 1972 there has been a steady
and heartening growth in the effectiveness, the
accomplishments and the influence of SOC. Anyone
who has participated in the ongoing growth of the
environmental movement of this and the last century
knows that the success of any group depends on the
contributions of many individuals over a long period
of time.
Save Our Canyons is what it has become because of
the work of people who have been willing to serve as
trustees, a series of executive directors and staff, many
hundreds of volunteers who helped with mailings,
answered questions at our tables at farmers markets
and street fairs, on trail repair and highway cleanup
crews. The volunteers have helped put on our fund
raising events and led hikes. They have alerted us to
opportunities and unrecognized problems. We have
been blessed with a long series of student interns
who have done remarkable work on Wasatch issues.
None of these would have been possible without our
membership and our donors.
I am proud of our collective successes and hope for

many more. SOC has spent a good deal of time in the

past year revising the manner in which the organization
operates. I am convinced that we have made a sound
plan for leadership succession, for better distribution of
tasks, for increased financial health and effectiveness.
I have great confidence in Carl Fisher, our remarkable
Executive Director, and his staff.
Playing a role in Save Our Canyons has been for
me a great adventure and education. I am glad to see
a new generation of environmental activists who are
better prepared than we were in 1972. I frequently
realize that one of the great pleasures of working on
land use issues is the group of like-minded people one
gets to know.
I also am confident that working to protect the
beauty and wildness of the Wasatch canyons, mountains
and foothills will be rewarded with many successes
since this aspiration is, as repeated polls and surveys
have shown, shared by an overwhelming majority of
the people living around this wonderful mountain
range. We and our sister organizations represent these
people.
A legacy reminder to future Save Our Canyons
activists: In the past 42 years, despite their frequent
puffery, the ski industrys contribution to Utahs gross
state product has hovered around 1%. Check this
annually. Climate change may very well diminish this
contribution. q

North, To Alaska Happy Trails, Havilah!

By Carl Fisher

When Havilah Mills started working with SOC

in 2008, she was immediately immersed in the
planning of Lone Peak, our annual fundraising
gala. Over the years, this event came to be the
cornerstone of her work with SOC. So when
she told us that not only would this Lone Peak
Celebration be her last, but also that it would be
her last day, it seemed truly fitting.
Havilah is a person you want on your
team. Reliable, dedicated, smart, funny, with a
sometimes painful attention to detail. Planning
events and parties, working with members
and volunteers, helping to run our small office,
preparing mailings, making signs for rallies. In
a small office like ours you tend to be a jack of
all trades. She is passionate about the Wasatch,
usually rolling into the office on her bike, after

www.saveourcanyons.org

either going for a morning hike or ride in the

Wasatch.
While working at SOC, she also ran a green
clothing company; she served on the Salt Lake
County Bicycle Advisory Board, and developed
a passion for baking. For now, shes headed up
to Alaska to lead bike tours, a change of pace
and place. Whatever she does we know shell be
successful at it. We all wish her the best, and while
we will all miss her around the Wasatch, we find
comfort in knowing that wherever she goes and
what ever she does, her jovial personality, quirky
sense of humor and lust for life will continue to
drive her towards success and happiness.
Thank you, Havilah for all that you helped
SOC to accomplish!

Save Our Canyons, June, 2014

Theres Only One Wasatch!

John Worlocks March 23 KRCL Wasatch Environmentsl Update
This is a warning! The Central
Wasatch Range is under siege!
The governors of the seven ski
resorts in the Central Wasatch,
organized in concert by their
leader, Ski Utah, have declared
that the Central Wasatch is
their territory, which they now
identify as One Wasatch. This
reminds us of the American
Pledge of Allegiance: One
Nation, indivisible, with liberty
and justice for all.... but it
reads instead as One Wasatch,
indivisible,
with
downhill
skiing for all....
Last week, Ski Utah gathered
the leaders of all seven Central
Wasatch ski resorts at a press
conference to express and
pledge their allegiance to their
new idea of One Wasatch.
One Wasatch is not a celebration of the majesty and
the beauty of our mountains and canyons, but is instead
the commercial idea of the development of mechanized
connections, by chair-lift or gondola, knitting the seven
Central Wasatch resorts into one mega-resort. The
mega-resort could advertise eighteen thousand acres
of skiing with one hundred lifts, thereby entering into
competition with Colorados and Californias resorts.
This mega-resort, One Wasatch, would rival even

some of the major complexes in

the European Alps.
It is obvious to us that the
One Wasatch Ski Resort will
be marketed to out-of-towners,
as locals already have their
daily choice of ski venues. In
fact, there are quite a number
of simple interconnections
between resorts which do not
require the machinery implied
by the new One Wasatch
proposal.
We are opposed to this bad
idea. It will further carve up the
Wasatch into smaller enclaves
of
back-country
freedom,
while knitting together the
commercial resorts into more
tightly held and protected
fiefdoms where only the paying
public is welcome.
The cute phrase One Wasatch expresses Ski
Utahs ambition to tie the Central Wasatch into a
single mega-resort. We propose a counter slogan,
which is Theres Only One Wasatch, This carries the
implication that many of us depend on the Central
Wasatch for sustenance. We love the wildlife, and the
beauty, and the solitude and comfort that are offered by
its Wildernesses and its wilderness-quality watershed.
Lets not waste it.

One Local Skiers Response to One Wasatch Proposal

By Paul Broadhurst
Shortly after the press conference announcing the proposed One Wasatch interconnect of
all seven resorts, we got a thoughtful note from a local skier. He and the Salt Lake Tribune have
granted permission for us to excerpt some of his questions and comments.
They (the One Wasatch promoters) are providing
a solution for something that the Utah public hasnt
been aware was a problem. Are people avoiding skiing
or vacationing in Utah because there werent enough
ski lifts, or because all of the central Wasatch ski resorts
arent linked together? Are there recreational skiers that
arent satisfied with current combo passes available to
ski Alta+Snowbird, and Solitude+Brighton? Is there a
tourist that isnt coming to Utah because they wanted
to ski from Deer Valley to Snowbird in a day? If so, they
can. Ski Utah already offers an interconnect ski tour
between these same seven resorts and from available
numbers, reviews, and feedback online it doesnt look
like this is a huge demand. Do these ski resorts really
think that they are missing out on business from people
who want to be able to ski between all seven ski resorts
in one day? If so, collaborate on a central Wasatch ski
pass, and just allow all access to visitors to be able

 Save Our Canyons,

June, 2014

to ski any resort at any time that they choose over a

time period. The customer will figure out whats best
for their needs using the current resorts opportunities
during the vacation time that they have.
I would challenge Ski Utah and the Utah Office of
Tourism to commission a large study and/or survey of
prospective tourists or former Utah visitors to speak
candidly about why they choose other locales to spend
their dollars and vacations. From personal experience
and first hand discussions with others the main reasons
that people choose not to visit Utah have nothing to
do with the snow or amount of available ski lifts; but
is due to the lack of on-mountain activities, slopeside
lodging, lack of afterhours on-mountain nightlife,
liquor laws, Sunday business hours/closures, and in
the words of one friend from Colorado, because the
State shuts down at 4pm. In Colorado where the
skier visits outnumber Utah 3:1, many resorts are not
www.saveourcanyons.org

geographically close to one another and involve a 23+ hour drive from the Denver airport. If more than
three times the tourists are willing to do that on their
vacation, then I think accessibility and logistics are not
their top priority when making their choice.
Every time one of these ski area connection proposals
is announced it is distracting from the true facts and
driven by corporations that want to create a marketing
opportunity for the biggest and best mega resort. This
will be done at the expense of the local watershed, non-

ski area recreational pursuits, and resident wishes, as

have been loudly spoken every single time one of these
expansions is proposed. The true concerns of skier visits
and traffic impact are not being addressed or worked
on based on factual data. I would strongly encourage
Utah citizens to speak for themselves and not allow
a ski area alliance, including corporations based in
other states and countries, from making decisions that
impact your lives. ----Paul Broadhurst

ONE WASATCH

One Horrible Plan for the Central Wasatch Mountains

By Carl Fisher, Executive Director
Two months ago the Utah Ski Industry held a media
event in which they kicked off a campaign for One
Wasatch. One Wasatch. A name brilliantly chosen
for advertising to skiers worldwide. They want to
offer One mega-ski-resort with the name of One
Wasatch.
So, what is the problem? What is One Wasatch?
To find out you might go to their website, but please
read on: well spare you the sales pitch.
One Wasatch is a concept driven by Ski Utah,
supported by all seven Central Wasatch Resorts. Their
goal is to connect all seven resorts with three or more
mechanized lifts, over the tops of the iconic Wasatch
ridges, and then to offer one pass to ski all seven resorts.
They would offer 18,000 acres of skiing, 100 lifts, 750
runs, which sounds like good advertising copy. They
probably will not advertise the fact that the Wasatch
will not be One Wasatch for snowboarders, as 2 of
the 7 resorts will continue to be for skiers only.
One thing that Ski Utah and the resorts got right
is that there is only one Wasatch. We only have
One: One Watershed, One Wasatch for year round
recreation; One Viewshed, One Wasatch for a growing
population of nearly 2 million people; One Wasatch,
One Environment for wildlife and solitude. And since
we only have One Wasatch, we need to share it.
The Ski Industrys One Wasatch proposal fails to
recognize that and represents the defacto expansion
of the seven Wasatch ski areas. Ski area expansion on
public land is prohibited by the Forest Services Resource
Management Plan, but Ski Utah is hoping to align all the
interconnecting lifts on private land. While it might be
possible to build the lifts on private land, the terrain
their out-of town clients will be skiing on will surely
encompass public lands. But since alignments are to
be determined, there is no way of knowing exactly
how much.
It is ironic that while describing the need for
interconnect, Ski Utah President, Nathan Rafferty,
talked about how he skied from Park City Mountain
Resorts Legacy Lodge at 9:30am last weekend, skied
through the backcountry to Snowbird, and was back
to Park City by lunch (1:30pm). What a wonderful

www.saveourcanyons.org

experience! Its available already to any and all. So,

much of the touted interconnect already exists. The
interconnected ski resorts only need to agree on sharing
the proceeds from the interconnect ski passes. They
can begin selling that experience without building any
more lifts, or lodges, or condos, or restaurants. Its
available, now.
From its inception, and even before that, we at
Save Our Canyons have been deeply involved in the
important process called Mountain Accord. It is an
ongoing attempt to balance all of the needs and wishes
of the various users and beneficiaries of the Central
Wasatch Range both Front and Back. We have been
pleased that the ski resorts, and Ski Utah, have joined
us in that effort. One of our hopes was that Mountain
Accord might develop schemes to get the resorts
the clients they want, perhaps by improvements in
transportation. But what was revealed at their recent
press conference was that they want both: enhanced
transportation and interconnecting skilifts. This is too
much!
The Central Wasatch Range is too important to
be sacrificed in a marketing ploy by the ski industry.
We hope that youll get engaged with us, bring your
friends and join Save Our Canyons in our campaign to
stop this latest scheme for ski area interconnect. It was
a bad idea 30 years ago, and a bad idea 20 years ago,
and it gets worse as the mountains fill up with their
devotees.
There is Only One Wasatch! Lets fight to proect
it!
Heres what you can do: visit the website www.
tinyurl.com/qzasrql, and sign our petition Stop
Interconnect and One Wasatch. Then go to www.
mountainaccord.com and make a comment on how
One Wasatch is antithetical to the Mountain Accord
process.q

Save Our Canyons, June, 2014

Canyons Resort Taking on the Impacts of Climate

Change with Real Efforts and Solutions
Interview With Mike Goar, Vice President and General Manager, Canyons Resort
Interviewer: Gayle Parry
Q. Do you believe in climate change? If so, how is
climate change affecting your business now and in
the future?
A: Yes, climate change is real. But the serious work
were doing here at Canyons, and quite frankly, across
all of Vail Resorts, to reduce our energy consumption is
not a reaction to climate change or an attempt to fight
it to save snow but rather a long-term investment in
the environment and sustainability. Yes, its important
to continue to chip away at our carbon footprint, but
all of our many programs, systems and efforts that we
approach with strategy and analytics - they are adding
up to make a difference with regard to energy efficiency
and waste reduction. Were taking the real world
impacts of climate change by strategically addressing
them not just with words but with real efforts and
solutions, all overseen by our environmental manager,
and that impacts a huge combined population of
guests, employees and local residents, the environment
and our profitability. Through the National Ski Areas
Association Climate Challenge, we were one of eight
resorts that participated in the voluntary program in its
inaugural year. The data collection was gathered over
the calendar year of 2011 from all facilities that were
owned and operated by Canyons, including lodging
facilities, on-mountain facilities, lifts and snowmaking
operations. As a result of the data collected, we now
have a baseline detailing our current carbon emissions
levels, goals for the future, tactics and timelines to
reach the goals.
Q. What are you doing now or plan to do to mitigate
its effects if any?
A. Running a ski resort uses a lot of energy. But it is
also why we are uniquely able to reduce consumption
in the areas of facilities, snowmaking, grooming, lifts,
and food and beverage. As a member of NSAAS
(National Ski Areas Association) Sustainable Slopes
Program, Canyons annually applies for sustainability
grants to advance programs that address climate
change. In May 2012, Canyons was awarded a grant
to install solar panels on the Tombstone Ski Patrol
hut. The energy savings is 2,200 kWh of electricity
per year or 1.5 tons of carbon. In addition, in 2013,
NSAA awarded Canyons with an in- service grant
for a complete energy audit completed by Brendle
Group. Brendle Group compiled a complete energy
portfolio, which will help Canyons to identify areas of
opportunity for reduction.
Canyons has been carefully monitoring its power
use since 2011. Once the baseline mentioned above
was established, specific reduction targets were set

 Save Our Canyons,

June, 2014

for a reduction of 3 percent annually. Through simple

awareness, education, and conservation efforts,
we have realized reductions in the following areas:
Unleaded fuel reduced by 19 percent; diesel reduced
by 14 percent; propane by 25 percent; natural gas
reduced by 2 percent, and electricity use reduced by
1 percent. As a member of Vail Resorts, we will also
roll up in the companys goal of a 10 percent reduction
of power use by 2020 as part of Vails Next 10. This
can be accomplished through reassessing operational
efficiencies, examining ways to improve snowmaking,
increasing building automation, investing in free
cooling and LED lighting upgrades, and implementing
additional energy efficient technologies.
The working relationship between Canyons and
the local utility company, Rocky Mountain Power, has
allowed us to run the resort as efficiently as possible
and capitalize on RMPs incentive programs. RMP
provides a number of incentive programs for reducing
our power consumption. The resort has utilized this
opportunity by performing energy audits of all resort
facilities including chairlifts, snowmaking facilities,
lodging and offices. Our most notable achievements
have been in our snowmaking operations as a result
of installing energy efficient snowmaking guns,
variable frequency drives on motors, and cooling
towers. Canyons also addressed the heat loss that
was occurring in the lift operation houses by installing
automated heater control. In 2012, canyons converted
the entire fleet of snowmobiles to 100 percent, 4-stroke
snowmobiles. Canyons was the first ski resort in Utah
to have their entire fleet consist of 4-stroke vehicles.
Canyons adopted a No Idling Policy in 2010. The
objective was to provide cleaner air for our guests
and guides, leading to an enhanced experience and
resulting in a reduction in fuel use and costs.
Recycling efforts advanced in 2007 with the
investment in a cardboard baler for the Grand Summit
Hotel. From this impetus, Canyons has drastically
reduced trash pickups and lowered fuel usage and
costs. As of January, 2014, Canyons has implemented
recycling programs in all village and on-mountain
lodging and dining facilities, at all lifts and in all backof-the-house areas. Guests use blue recycling containers
in their room for glass, metals, plastic, cardboard and
paper. In the summer of 2013, Canyons implemented
a composting program for all base area restaurants,
banquet facilities, and on-mountain restaurants. In
seven months time we have diverted over 30 tons of
material that would have otherwise gone to the landfill
or 20 metric tons of CO2 in the atmosphere. As of 2014,
Canyons is diverting almost 40 percent of its waste
from the landfill through composting or recycling but
the resort has established a company goal of diverting
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over 45 percent.
The Canyons Food and Beverage Team has made great
efforts to reduce their amount of waste and they have
become a leader in the community by demonstrating
the importance of buying locally. Examples include
our relationship with Summit County Beef, which
sources meat from our local ranching community.
Our award-winning restaurant, The Farm, has a goal
of being the first Zero Waste Restaurant in Utah and
sources the majority of its products from sustainable,
regional farms.
Canyons is committed to being responsible stewards
of the land on which the ski resort operates. One of
the areas that we focus on is the overall health of the
forest within the resort boundary. With the assistance
of the Wasatch Cache National Forest and local forest
ecologists, we have trained staff to identify signs
of disease and indicators of beetle infestation. The
sawyers employed by the resort, work diligently to
thin out areas of overgrowth, contributing to the longterm health of the forest.

Q. Do you have any plans for educating the public

on climate change? What groups would you target?

A. Our objective is for Canyons to be best in class

and we can only succeed by ensuring the long-term,
year-rounds viability of the mountain and local
businesses. Our winter business remains strong, and
the multiple strategies engaged by Vail Resorts are
ensuring successful results year over year. Our pursuit
of bringing online more year-round activity across all
Vail Resorts mountains is to bring more people into the
outdoors, educate them on their favorite forests, and
make a strong dent in non-winter season losses.

A..Canyons is strategically focused on our social

responsibility to people, our impact on the planet,
and our success as a Park City business. We work
to integrate sustainability into business decisions,
company culture, businesses, development, employee
development, daily operations, and education by way
of guest interactions. There is so much potential in our
leadership in this space of sustainability education,
because of our ability to affect the behavior of all of our
hundreds of thousands of national and international
guests who visit us on an annual basis that when they
return to their hometowns, they are bringing newlylearned best practices from Canyons, Among the many
exciting possibilities of Canyons now being a part of the
Vail Resorts family is that Vail Resorts has a tremendous
communications vehicle for all of its sustainability
programs under the Vail Resorts Echo banner- they are
sharing so many stories of commitment that resonates
with guests ,employees and members of their local
communities.
Canyons has been a partner and supporter to
countless non-profits in the community. Partnerships
have included Recycle Utah, Summit Land Conservancy,
Mountain Trails Foundation, Basin Recreation and
many other land and conservation entities. Im also
looking forward to Canyons being a part of the annual
surveys Vail Resorts conducts across all of its resorts
and divisions. It asks its 18,000 employees, Do you
believe Vail Resorts is a sustainable company, and do
you understand your role in supporting the companys
sustainability efforts? Eighty-five percent of employees
company-wide last year answered, yes. q

Q. Can you see your resort installing solar or wind

power within the resort?

Mike Goar has read and approved this transcript of Gayle

Parrys interview with him.

Q. Do you think diversification and year-round

recreation will compensate enough for lost winter
business?

A. On-site renewable projects are being explored but

today, energy efficiencies, and reducing consumption
are our current focus and making great impact.
Canyons has been a participant in the Rocky Mountain
Blue Sky Program. This program allows companies
to purchase alternative energy through their power
provider. We offset 15 percent of our annual power
use with wind power purchases. The funding goes
directly to the wind farm and research of alternative
energy in the intermountain west.
This interview by Gayle Parry is the second installment
in a series of articles dealing with local Wasatch ski
area managers activities in dealing with global warming.
Future articles will feature our local resorts in their
fight to keep you skiing and boarding the white stuff.
Gayle is a Trustee of Save Our Canyons, a position she
has held for 15 years.
Photo by Brandon Cruz

www.saveourcanyons.org

Save Our Canyons, June, 2014

Several hundred enthusiastic Save Our Canyons members and guests p

2014 Lone Peak Wild

Thank you to all those who attended our

support we were able to raise a conside
work to protect and preserve the wildnes
canyons an
Special thanks goes to the volunteers
pleasure t
Great food, live music by the Lake Mary
our best fund raising event yet!Please
businesses and restauran

Photographs by

 Save Our Canyons,

June, 2014

www.saveourcanyons.org

participated in the 14th Annual Lone Peak Wilderness celebration.

derness Celebration

r 2014 Lone Peak Celebration! With your

erable amount of money to continue our
ss and beauty of the Wasatch Mountains,
nd foothills.
s who helped make this social event a
to attend.
y band, libations and mingling made this
be sure to check out and patronize the
nts that support our work.

y Brandon Cruz

www.saveourcanyons.org

Save Our Canyons, June, 2014

Many Businesses Supported the Lone Peak Celebration

We could not operate SOC without the participation of local businesses and individuals. Many thanks
to these great members of the community.
2nd Tracks
Airblaster
Alexis and Karla Kelner
Alpine Art
Alta Lodge
American Rec
Arbor Plus Tree Service
Ancestry.com
Bacchus Event Services
Bohemian Brewery
Bikram Yoga
Black Diamond
Bondi Band
Brandon Cruz Photography
By Proxy Co.
Caffe Molise
Camelbak
Canellas
Carluccis Bakery
Castle Peak Yurt
Chiropractic Works of Park City
Chums
City Cakes and Cafe
Coalatree Organics
Crazy Creek Products
Deep Frog Photography
Eagles Nest Outfitters
Epic Brewing Company
Frank Granato Importing
Frida Bistro
Rico Brand
G Brad Lewis Photo
Grand Trunk
Great Basin Chiropractic

Gregory Mountain Products

Grow Designs
Grow Wild Nursery
Hansen Co. Jewelry
Health 2 Go!
High West Distillery
Huddart Floral
IME
Knead A Massage
Kuhl
Liberty Heights Fresh
Log Haven
MacNichol Guitars
Mamachari Kombucha
Martine
Mazza Middle Eastern Cuisine
Meals that Transform by
Angela Martindale
Moab Jett
Moki Pottery
Mountain Miners Landscaping
Mountain Smith
Nick Short Photography
Publik
Nikwax
Orson Gygi
Osprey Packs
Inc
Outdoor Research
Patagonia Outlet SLC
Powderwhore Productions
Powerpot
prAna
Publik Coffee Roaster

Ramp Sports
Redwood Creek Wines
Rock and Ice magazine
Rossignol
Salt Cycles
Sherpa
Signed and Numbered
Splitboard Education Collective
Sprouts Market
Sugarpost Metal Art
Sundance Resort
Super Top Secret
Teton Sports
The Beer Nut
The Clymb
The Dodo Restaurant
The Front Climbing Club
The Tin Angel
Tony Caputos Deli
Trader Joes
University Guest House
Utah Mountain Adventures
Utah Moutain Education and
Development
Utah Symphony / Utah Opera
Voile
Wanderlust Images
Wasatch Tours Publishing
Wild Rooster Artworks Pottery
William Gray
Xeriscape Design
Xmission

Numerous Volunteers Made the Event the Success that it Was

Shelly Reynolds
Rachael Fisher
Bill Dunn
Sarah Jones
Josh Scheuerman
Chris Fraizer
Sumie Edwards
Bunny Sterin

10 Save Our Canyons,

June, 2014

Mike Eichorn
Mike Peterson
Andrew Scarcella
Berlin Jespersen
Kelsey Oliver
Steve Sleater
Jena Schmidt
Tiana Birrell

DJ Moody
Greg Jones
Alex Pastucha
Jessica Maddox
Erin Pastucha
Nelson Powers
Alex Porpora
Jennifer Kecor

www.saveourcanyons.org

SOCK Program Takes a Wasatch Walk

By Berlin Jesperson, student Westminster College
Place has been on my mind a lot lately. Maybe its the Wasatch. After walking with them and explaining
because I just got done with some classes focusing on to them all about our natural environment and how
place and being in the moment, but I think its more than we are so lucky to be so close to it, you could see them
that. I grew up here in Salt Lake, right in the Central becoming more interested with each step. By the time
Wasatch. The Wasatch Range has been a part of me my we reached the river the kids were so engaged, they
whole life. Since volunteering with SOC I have been finally put their music away and were playing in the
able to recognize so many more different connections water all together. There is something about wilderness
between our community
that tied us all together in
and the natural world.
that moment, at that place.
Communities are very
By truly understanding
much connected to their
the place we live in, we
surrounding
natural
become so much more
environments,
whether
connected and invested.
the individual chooses to
Seeing that realization
recognize that or not; Im
from the kids on our hike
not sure our community
with the SOCK program
could even survive without
made me so happy. We
the Wasatch Range. So
have the ability to show
much of what we do
people, to teach people
here is dependent on the
where we are and why
Wasatch, from something
its important. We are so
as fundamental as drinking
lucky here in Utah and to
water, to the place where
be able to visit protected
we make our fondest
Wilderness areas where
memories. I believe that if
we can learn about our
Berlin Jesperson
people begin to understand
interconnectedness with
this, a greater appreciation
the non-human world. It
for the Wasatch will surface.
becomes clear that Wasatch Wilderness legislation is
After taking some youth out from the Sorenson Unity crucial for this particular embattled area. Those kids
Center located in West Valley up to Big Cottonwood came to realize this is something I will never forget,
Canyon with the other SOCK (Save Our Canyons Kids) and one of the many reasons I am so appreciative of
volunteer, Kelsey, I learned so much. The majority of designated Wilderness areas. Our community truly is
the kids we took with us had never been up to the an amazing place, I mean were in Utah and, after all:
mountains; they didnt even know they were called This is the Place. q

PUT THIS MUST DO EVENT ON YOUR CALENDAR

Come learn about the values, the lore, and the hope of increased recognition
for Utahs rich Native American history.

Native American Perspectives of the Wasatch

A hike with Forrest Cuch, Ute Tribal Member
Call SOC to register, number of participants might be limited.
Sunday, September 21st 10 AM - Noon
Contact: Info@saveourcanyons.org

www.saveourcanyons.org

Save Our Canyons, June, 2014

11

Left: Rock Canyon cliffs will be undisturbed.

Above: The Utah Way of managing state and
federal public lands.
Right: Secretary of Interior Sally Jewell.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

GOOD. For more Utahns than you might expect,
Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell brings a refreshing
voice to this office. The Department of the Interior
affects Utah very directly and citizens of our state watch
nervously when a new secretary is being named. Think
of former secretaries James G. Watt and Gale Norton
to realize how bad it can get. Sally Jewell brought a
sigh of relief from many of these Utah citizens who
welcome and approve of federal jurisdiction of federal
public lands in the state. (See the article on western state
citizen support for public lands on a recent Colorado College
study on page 14). Jewell also has objected to Rep.
Rob Bishops efforts to rein in presidential use of the
Antiquities Act. (See Carl Fishers OP ED views on page
14). Pres. Obama has used Antiquity Act provisions
sparingly and there appears to be growing satisfaction
with Grand Staircase National Monument.

other agencies (e.g. the US Forest Service) or state

governments. Even though HB160 contains some of
the stirring language of the 1964 congressional act, it
was clearly designed to wrest control of wilderness
areas from the federal government and substitute a
Utah Way to manage such areas. Rep. Mike Noel (RKanab) supported the bill. Need you know more?
UGLY. Hissy fits have been on public display between
CEOs of Park City Mountain Resort and Vail Resorts.
John Cumming from Powder Corporation, PCMRs
parent company, blasted away at Rob Katz, Vail CEO,
writing: Your letters are part of a transparent plan to
pressure me and my company into agreeing to a Vail
takeover of Park City Resort. He went on to say it
will never happen. Katz retorted that PCMR was
causing unnecessary alarm in the community. Its
all connected to a lawsuit concerning whether or not
PCMR renewed its lease on land owned by Talisker
Corporation on time. Is this the harmonious sweetness
that is needed for One Wasatch to succeed?

GOOD. After 15 years of conflict and removal of rock

by private owners, Provos Rock Canyon has been
purchased by the city and public access to this very
popular wild amenity is assured. Congratulations to
all who brought about this happy
ending to the story.
Snowbirds Cliff Lodge
BAD. On March 4 a
Utah House committee
advanced HB160, a bill
designed to exert Utah
control over wilderness
designation.
One of
the strengths of the
famous 1964 Wilderness
Act is that congress
and congress alone can
designate federal lands
as
Wilderness
with
all the management
specifications laid out
in that bill trumping
the
authority
of

12 Save Our Canyons,

June, 2014

GOOD? The Salt Lake Tribune

reports that Dick Bass has
sold majority interest
in Snowbird Resort
to Ian Cumming, a
businessman intimately
familiar with Utahs
ski industry since his
family
owns
Park
City Mountain Resort.
This
development
needs
the
careful
attention of everyone
concerned about ski
resort
development
in the Wasatch. The
Tribune article goes on
to say that Bass was
pleased that his family
www.saveourcanyons.org

Well over 300 individuals attended a debate on

the states attempt to obtain federally controlled
public lands. A cell phone survey of 330 audience
participants found 60% of them supporting continued management of those lands by the federal
government.

Photos by Alexis Kelner

and Cummings could join together to direct the

resorts future development, including the longdiscussed and highly controversial plan to build a
restaurant around the Tram terminal atop Hidden
Peak. Save Our Canyons has long been embroiled
in this controversy. Much has changed since the
late 90s when the Forest Service granted permission
for such a structure, but plans keep changing and
vigilance will have to remain on high. As it has in the
past, SOC will continue to work with Snowbird for
our mutual benefit. It is encouraging that Snowbird
signed on to Jim Mathesons Wasatch Wilderness bills
inclusion of White Pine Canyon in that expansion.

University of Utah political science professor

Dan McCool, left, and Pat Shea, former Bureau
of Land Management director under President
Clinton, were effective in shooting down myths
promulgated by proponents of take back Utahs
lands from the federal government.

GOOD. A recent public debate concerning the

hoped-for takeover of federal public lands by the
State of Utah drew a packed house crowd at the
City Library. Utahs 1894 Statehood Enabling Act
was extensively debated. An instant cell-phone poll
of over 300 attendees showed a three to two ratio in
favor of keeping the land under federal control. A high
point in the debate had one of the proponents of state
takeover asking an opponent why he doesnt trust state
government to manage the lands. His three word reply
Swallow and Shurtleff drew enthusiastic applause..

1894 Enabling Act for Utahs Statehood

In their demand for the federal
government to relinquish title to
federal lands in Utah, it is reported
that lawmakers and the governor said
that they were only asking the federal
government to make good on promises
made in the 1894 Enabling Act for Utah
to become a state. What promises?
Here is what the Enabling Act says:
That the people inhabiting said
proposed State do agree and declare
that they forever disclaim all right
and title to the unappropriated public
www.saveourcanyons.org

lands lying within the boundaries

thereof; and to all lands lying within
said limits owned or held by any
Indian or Indian tribes; and that
until the title thereto shall have been
extinguished by the United States, the
same shall be and remain subject to the
disposition of the United States, and
said Indian lands shall remain under
the absolute jurisdiction and control of
the Congress of the United States.
That seems to require a willing buyer as
well as a willing seller.
Save Our Canyons, June, 2014

13

Recently Released 2014 State of the Rockies Report

By John Worlock, SOC Trustee
(From his KRCL Wasatch Environmental Update aired on April 27, 2014)

Colorado College recently released the findings in its

2014 State of the Rockies Report. It covers a survey of
voter attitudes toward various environmental issues in
the six western states, including Utah. At first glance,
we are encouraged by their findings. The headline
of the news release reports that Conservation could
impact Utahs 2014 ballot box.
The project director, Walt Hecox, tells us that The
West is a major political battlefield this year, and the
poll tells us congressional candidates would be wise to
consider their positions on conservation and land use
issues carefully. Utahns want their air, water, and land
protected, he says, and where a candidate stands on
these issues could potentially sway votes.
Come along with us as we visit some of the surveys
findings.
60% of Utah voters see themselves as
conservationists, independent of party affiliation.
Utahns are active in the outdoors: with two
thirds hiking regularly, and a similar number being
regular campers.
Dwindling water supplies are a serious concern
to three-quarters of the voting population, with an
equivalent number concerned with pollution of
lakes and rivers.

The survey finds that voters in Utah are avid

supporters of their public lands, which enhance
their quality of life with little or no burden on
traditional extraction industries. A strong majority
of 62% believe that environmentally sensitive
land should be protected from oil- and gas-well
drilling.
Voters in Utah want their state to encourage the
use of renewable energy.

While all of that is music to our ears, we begin to

wonder what State of Utah was surveyed for this
report. These are not the views held by the Utahns who
represent us in Washington. Nor are they found in the
pronouncements of our statewide elected leaders.
This discrepancy is revealed in one of the Surveys
most disturbing findings. Most Utahns acknowledge
that conservation is not an issue to which they pay
close attention. Furthermore too few are aware of the
positions of their elected representatives on such issues
as protecting their precious land, air, and water.
We, the Utahns, believe in clean air, clean water
and wild and undeveloped public landSo lets elect
leaders who share our views! q

Bishops Hypocrisy

By Carl Fisher, Executive Director

Editors Note: This article, authored by SOCs Carl
Fisher, is an updated version of one previously published at
sltrib.com.
Two years ago, President Obama employed the
Antiquities Act to protect nearly 15,000 acres in
California with a National Monument designation.
Neither I nor the organization I represent, Save Our
Canyons, generally gets involved with protection of
lands thousands of miles from where our interests lie
in the Wasatch Range. But what caught our interest
was a diatribe posted on Rep. Rob Bishops website
lambasting use of the Antiquities Act by presidents,
past and present.
We find it ironic that Bishop, R-Utah, called for
total transparency and public input when he
introduced HR 3452 and co-sponsored S 1883 the
Wasatch Range Recreational Access Enhancement Act
which required the Forest Service to dispose of pristine
inventoried roadless watershed lands without the
support of the congressman who represents the area,
without the support of the mayors of Salt Lake City
and County, without the support of the mayor whose
city is congressionally required to manage the area

14 Save Our Canyons,

June, 2014

for culinary drinking water of over 600,000 people;

and without engaging the public whatsoever in the
process.
In the same news release the congressman accused
the president of circumventing Congress by utilizing
the Antiquities Act. Bishop, Talisker, the Canyons and
Solitude resorts and the other Republican members of
the Utah delegation circumvented public processes by
introducing HR3452 rather than going through public
planning processes (the National Environmental
Protection Act and forest planning acts) or participating
in ongoing local discussions concerning our beloved
Wasatch Range.
Bishop went on to say that if projects are supported
locally, then they should have no problem passing in
Congress on their own merits.
Well. Bishop should then look no further than the
Wasatch Wilderness and Watershed Protection Act (HR
4267), introduced in Congress in 2010 by Rep. Jim
Matheson (D-Utah). His proposed legislation was,
and continues to be, supported by a vast stakeholder
process including local government officials, local
businesses, the ski industry, watershed managers
and local communities. Public open houses had been

www.saveourcanyons.org

held, local newspapers had cheered its introduction

as a much needed piece of legislation. The legislation
is supported by both Salt Lake County and Salt Lake
City mayors and local watershed managers. It also had
local support, including that of Snowbird Ski Resort.
If Congress is chomping at the bit to pass things on
their own merits, the Wasatch Wilderness and Watershed
Protection Act is awaiting action from Bishop.

The inability of Congress to pass broadly supported

public lands protection bills, fostered by honest,
transparent and inclusive processes, leaves the public
with little choice but to start looking to the executive
branch in hopes it will protect our national treasures
by utilizing the Antiquities Act. q

A
Mountain
Accord
By Mayor Ben McAdams,
Councilman Chris Robinson,
and Laynee Jones,
Program Manager
for the Mountain Accord.
Ben McAdams

Mountain Accord is a collaborative effort that focuses

on the future we choose for the Wasatch mountains. It is
our chance to seize the moment, to build on past efforts
and to make a blueprint and integrated action plan for
the future. The blueprint will address our open space,
transportation, and watershed needs - identifying
optimal areas for preservation, development and
environmentally-sustainable transportation corridors.
Our timeline is aggressive - we hope to have a
blueprint completed by January 2015. Communities
are rapidly growing and threats are real, so there is no
time to waste. Either we sit back and react to the forces
that are at play or we act now, putting ourselves in the
driver seat- and harness the ideas, knowledge, and
passion for this iconic place.
All the decision-makers are at the table elected
officials, civic leaders, government, private businesses,
and the public serious about making long-term
decisions and willing to compromise. Since our
formal launch in January we have engaged over
200 participants into four groups on environment,
recreation, transportation, and economy. Through
hours of thoughtful discussion and analysis of past
studies and data, we have agreed on a baseline of
common knowledge for upcoming decisions, and we
have a solid understanding of the issues we face (see
www.saveourcanyons.org

Existing Conditions and Future Trends report atwww.

mountainaccord.com).
A unique feature of this effort is the collaboration
between the Wasatch Front and Park City and
Wasatch/Summit Counties. We may live in different
jurisdictions and vote in different local elections but
when you stand on a ridgeline near a mountain pass,
you realize how arbitrary those boundaries are, and
that in reality, we are all connected. We know that our
health, our quality of life, open space opportunities,
and our economic prosperity are all connected to what
we collectively decide for this landscape 20, 30, even
100 years from now.
We have seen a lot of participation from the public to
date but we need more. Our next step is to set a vision
for the Wasatch mountains and explore specific ideas
to achieve our goals. Tell us what you think at www.
mountainaccord.com. Dont miss the opportunity to be a
part of something remarkable.
Ben McAdams is Mayor of Salt Lake County, Chris Robinson
is the Chair of the Summit County Council and Laynee Jones
is the Program Manager for the Mountain Accord.

Save Our Canyons, June, 2014

15

Citizens Committee to Save Our Canyons

824 So. 400 West St. Suite B-115
Salt Lake City, Utah 84101

NONPROFIT ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH
PERMIT NO. 7271

RETURN SERVICE
REQUESTED

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
Outreach and community education at S.L. Farmers Market
Dates: June 14, July 12, August 9, September 13
Location: Pioneer Park
Time: 8:00 am to 2:00 am

Big Cottonwood Canyon highway cleanup

Dates; June 15, July 17, August 19
Location: Miles 8 to 10 of SR 190 (Meet at BCC Park n ride
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Contact: Info@saveourcanyons.org

Dispersed Recreation Survey on the Central Wasatch Mountains

Dates: Ongoing (May 1 through May 2015)
Location: Varying depending on date and time
Time: Varies (4 hour blocks)
Contact: Berlin Jespersen (berlin.jespersen@gmail.com)
Volunteers must be 18 and over

16 Save Our Canyons,

June, 2014

www.saveourcanyons.org