As someone who is passionate about the role nature plays in promoting physical, spiritual and mental health; I realize how essential our Wasatch Canyons are to connect our urban communities to nature. Not only are these canyons surrounded by populated urban centers, but they also host commercial ski resorts, numerous hotels, restaurants, homes and cabins. In addition, they connect people to nature through multiple-use activities such as backcountry skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, fishing, camping, outdoor concerts and festivals.
I believe there are three critical items that need local, county and state support to protect these wonderful canyons. These include:
• Forest health.
Some elected officials have disregarded our canyons multi-use in their management quest. Unfortunately, this leads to forest degradation, compromised watersheds and endangers the wellbeing of our canyon guests and residents. The most recent example is Mountain Accord.
Instead of Mountain Accord focusing on the important mission of realistic transportation solutions, their goal became more federal and wilderness designation. Instead of promoting best management practices for an aging forest, a healthy watershed, trail improvements and restoration, they petitioned Washington, D.C., for designation which leads to a “let it burn” fire policy. That doesn’t work for heavily populated canyons.
This misguided policy becomes even more concerning with the pattern of climate change, less snow pack and the recent warning from the U.S. Forest Service that over the next 10 years, we will probably lose 50 percent to 75 percent of the sub-alpine fir trees, due to the Balsam Woolly Adelgid insect.
As a certified forest firefighter, it is very concerning to see these increased fire hazards. We are told these two canyons have close to 5 million visitors per year. When a fire starts, pushed by canyon winds and fed by uncontrolled dead underbrush, our guests may not be able to get off those trails fast enough. So the very canyons that we invite people to enjoy and recreate can become a death trap. Fortunately, elected officials in Washington recognized the folly and danger of Mountain Accord’s management proposal.
• Transportation
I recently attended a meeting where University of Utah engineering students relayed their study of transportation solutions for the canyons. Granite Community Council requested the study and I commend them and the students for their hard work, insightful solutions and recommendations.
Of concern, though, is that we are being told that we do not have money and resources to invest in and maintain our canyons’ infrastructure, restrooms, traffic congestion, etc. To which I ask, how much money are those canyons generating, both directly and indirectly, and where is the money going? Before any canyon tolls (tax) are proposed and collected, we must know the answer to these basic questions. UDOT is currently conducting an EIS for the canyons. Public comment runs through May 4. I encourage readers to request the financial impact of the Wasatch canyons.
• Backcountry
The backcountry offers invaluable outdoor experiences and solitude and is an enormous economic driver for skiing, hiking, and camping. Unfortunately, many elected officials have pandered to the backcountry community, inciting them for votes, but delivering few tangible benefits. Although many private landowners in the canyons are willing sellers at fair value, elected officials have offered no fair and equitable process to transfer these lands into public ownership. The transfer of certain lands increases the public’s access to the backcountry and the quality of experience.
Year after year, the backcountry community has witnessed endless litigation and promised solutions, only to realize the private land is still privately owned. We must enact a simple process for private holdings in the backcountry to move to public ownership through fair and just compensation.
Robert Edgel, Salt Lake City, is running for Utah House District 35. He holds an M.S. degree in wildlife and land conservation and has years of work experience protecting and enhancing Utah’s wildlife populations and watersheds.