A new online dashboard shows the current and historical environmental conditions of the Central Wasatch — and anyone who wants to can access it.
The Central Wasatch Commission unveiled the major feat this week after long working to create it with the University of Utah. The idea is to provide information to residents and recreationists who might not typically have the same data that policymakers do.
The tool presents trends about five elements — air quality and climate, geology and soils, vegetation communities, water and wildlife. It features interactive maps, webcams and environmental histories, which its creators hope will improve decision-making and land management in the Central Wasatch region.
“A more informed user will make better decisions about how to use the recreation areas in the Wasatch, and this will, in turn, mitigate impacts and harms to our environment,” said Monica Zoltanski, Sandy City mayor and a Central Wasatch commissioner, at the dashboard’s launch.
The commission was created in 2017 to help address transportation and the economy as it coincides with recreation and the environment. The group now encompasses nine jurisdictions: Alta, Brighton, Cottonwood Heights, Millcreek, Park City, Salt Lake City and Sandy, as well as Salt Lake County and Summit County.
The environmental dashboard will be updated with a sixth element — visitation — later this year. The Central Wasatch Commission requested a visitor-use study in early 2021 to analyze the region’s visitor capacity, transportation systems and recreational opportunities. That is slated for completion this December.
Phoebe McNeally, a research professor at the University of Utah, said that the dashboard’s creators hope it will serve as a “one-stop-shop” for the public to consume environmental data about the Central Wasatch area.
Commission members also emphasized the tool’s educational value for elementary-aged to college-level students.
“Accessible and clear information about the Wasatch and the ecology of the mountains is an important first step in conserving them,” said Carl Fisher, executive director of Save our Canyons and member of the commissions’s Stakeholders Advisory Council.
He added: “This dashboard, if utilized by governments and businesses and all of the partners in the Wasatch Mountains, can help forge a path for conservation of the incredible things that lie in the mountains just minutes from the city.”
