Backcountry skiing in the Lone Peaks Wilderness area of upper American Fork. If this deal went through, the ~100 person per day count that visit this area in winter could shoot up to 10,000+ persons per day in the nearby vicinity...
I’m talking about
American Fork Canyon people. Ya know it?
Maybe so, maybe not. But just because you may not ever go to the upper reaches
of this watershed in the winter or summer, does that mean it’s all good to
allow public land managers to sell off and sell out to privatized corporations,
who will then develop,build, sell, and trash our once public lands??? This is concurrently a huge issue elsewhere in the great state of Utah. See
Great Public Lands Gamble Here.
As all eyes turn to the Cottonwood Canyons scenario for Mountain Accord, I hope to gain your attention to the south.
For starters, the Uinta Wasatch-Cache National Forest has
been swapping land with private entities recently like hot cakes. It’s as if they
are all sitting around at a monopoly game, only the money is real, and the
land, the mountains, the railroads, they all will be changed. You can’t just
trade land like that, can you? Why wouldn’t they (USFS) hold their ground and
LEASE portions of the forest out via SPECIAL USE PERMITs for seasonal
operations, continue to manage these lands in an appropriate fashion, and even
make some money on them? This would make way more sense. It would first allow a
complete, and thorough evaluation process to happen before any “Connecticut
Avenue” for your “Reading Railroad”.
Are we really in such a Do or Die decision making
process, like the introduction of “Speed Die” (From Wikipedia: “First included
in Monopoly: The Mega Edition Variant, this six sided die is rolled with the
other two, and accelerates gameplay when in use”). Does anyone else think that
its not such a great idea to make such important, future carving land swaps
that will last for hundreds of years, in the timeframe of a couple o’
weeks?? I know how you’re going to answer me, Mountain Accord, “The greater SLC metropolitan
area is going to double its population in the next 50 years!”, but that means
we have 2,600 weeks until that happens…not 2.
In return for placing
these land holdings into public ownership and protection, the Ski Areas would
propose and benefit from: (my comments in Italics)
1. Station stops on a mountain-rail system which would
provide reliable, fast, unique, and marketable transit to the resorts and to
major dispersed recreation access points. The canyon road would still be open
to vehicular traffic.
2. Approximately 258 acres for base-area management and
future development (with new culinary water for up to 108 units at Alta) to
support activity at transit stops.
3. Additional water for snowmaking. Water is a major issue.
4. Ski permit boundary expansions of 210 acres (140 in
Hidden Canyon, 70 in lower Silver Fork).
5. Approximately 416 acres in American Fork Canyon. Hmm, lets take a little closer look at this
one.
In addition to the possible privatization of OUR public
lands in Salt Lake County, my big beef is with
#5. Proposal #5 is off the map,
both literally and figuratively. It lies in Utah County, where who knows what’s
going on, but those few higher ups in those agencies involved (likely Snowbird,
USFS, Utah County, and surely a handful of wealthy capitalists). Utah
county is set to boom like no other, and is already well along in that process. A major base development and privitized McMansion Village in the upper reaches of AF is ever closer to being a done deal.
Somethings fishy here...Public Lands Under Consideration to become Private? And its faded out and off the map...
Pissed yet? You should be.
Diving deeper, we find this ain't the first time that the 'bird has tried to slide a quick one under the radar. The Hidden Peak structure has been a topic of discussion recently, and quite the eyesore. See 7/2014 Salt Lake Tribune article
Here. They tried to add in a tram from the top of Hidden Peak into American Fork as an
amendment to their existing and approved Master Plan.
Lastly, I say if there’s a train up LCC and BCC, do we
really need a base area, which would be more like a privately owned village up American Fork Canyon, one of the last unspoiled gems
of the Wasatch? This is a place where right now you can go and experience vast Wilderness, untracked powder
slopes for weeks, real exploration, unnamed ski runs, even a few remaining
possible “first descents”, a canyon with no major developments and virtually no light
pollution? Should capital gains for private investors (the "economy" as some politicians like to so blindly put it) even be considered a
possible trade for OUR PRISTINE PUBLIC LANDS? It’s time gain the momentum and stop that
corporate entity that is about to eat up some of the few small pieces of
unspoiled mountains that we have left.
Just a few of the many wilderness views in American Fork.
If you think this is totally bogus, you should DO something,
don’t just hit “like”. Conservation doesn’t happen by itself.
Comment about the “416 Acre Land Swap in
American Fork Canyon” to the Mtn Accord by
emailing HERE.
Go to the
Mtn Accord meetings (
Especially tomorrow, the 18th of February! But where is the info on the Utah County version of Mtn Accord?)
Mountain Accord Public Q&A’s/Open Houses
- February 18, 2015
- Salt Lake City Library
210 East 400 South, SLC UT, 84111
Cottonwood Canyons Scenario Discussion: 3-5 p.m.
- February 23, 2015
- Our Lady of the Snows
10189 Utah 210, Alta, UT 84092
Open House: 5-7 p.m.
- February 24, 2015
- Black Box Theater, Eccles Center for the Performing Arts
1750 Kearns Blvd., Park City, UT 84060
Executive Board Q&A: 6 – 7:30 p.m.
Open House: 7:30 – 8:30 p.m.
- February 25, 2015
- Skyline High School
- 3251 East 3760 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84109
- Open House: 6 – 8:30 p.m.
- February 26, 2015
- Wasatch County Senior Center
465 East 1200 South, Heber, UT 84032
Community Meeting: 6 – 7:30 p.m.
Talk to people, spread the word. What a shame it would
be to see this gorgeous place turn into yet another Deer Valley, The Colony, etc.
