Mission
Save Our Canyons is dedicated to protecting the beauty and wildness of the Wasatch Mountains
Who We Are
We are professionals, recreationists, environmentalists, outdoor industry representatives, cabin owners, city dwellers – the Citizens’ Committee to Save Our Canyons! We value open spaces, environmental integrity, places to play, our water quality, scenic views, access to trails and the many, many valued assets that this Wasatch Range provides to our impeccable quality of life!
Our Organization
We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that is “dedicated to protecting the beauty and wildness of the Wasatch canyons, mountains, and foothills.”
Save Our Canyons is primarily reliant upon our wide spectrum of talented volunteers. Some people help out for a few hours here and there and others contribute almost every day of the year. Click here to get involved!
We also have a rapidly growing membership that contributes the majority of our funding. You can become a member by signing up and paying annual dues, which are used to finance our publications and contribute toward our many other efforts. Our members receive our quarterly newsletter, appeals, invites to special events, and more!
What We Do
The Citizens Committee to Save Our Canyons strives to educate the public and further the goals of protecting the natural environments around Salt Lake City. We achieve this through active involvement in planning processes at city, county, state, and federal levels. We raise awareness on issues of concern through various outlets (newsletter, mass media, local radio and community events, etc.) We also spend substantial time and energy working with local government entities, and their staff and elected officials, as approximately 20% of the land mass in the Wasatch Mountains is privately owned and, therefore, under the jurisdiction of these local government bodies. Another of our major activities is the effort to get citizens actively involved in public land issues. We accomplish this through our extensive volunteering program.
How We Started
The Citizens’ Committee to Save Our Canyons was founded in 1972 in response to the threat of urbanization of the Wasatch Mountains just outside of Salt Lake City. The opening of Snowbird Ski Resort along with its plans for tramways accessing satellite villages throughout the Wasatch, catalyzed the movement to protect the remainder of this beautiful area in its natural state. Save Our Canyons went public in January, 1973, after Mayor Jake Garn volunteered Salt Lake City as the proud host of the 1976 Olympic Games which had just been rejected by the citizens of Denver, Colorado. The day after this announcement, Save Our Canyons held its first press conference announcing our mission along with our opposition to Salt Lake hosting the Games. The first Save Our Canyons bumper stickers were distributed along with stickers reading, “Utah Yes, Olympics No”. The International Olympics Committee later selected Innsbruck, Austria as the site for the games.
Just 3 years before, in 1969, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was passed by Congress. NEPA defined a framework for public commentary under which all citizens could for the first time make their voices heard, allowing Americans to directly influence the outcome of critical decisions and the re-formulation of policies that concern public lands. In the years since then, Save Our Canyons has made full use of NEPA provisions to represent the convictions of citizens who are concerned for the future of the Wasatch and its treasures – primarily working with the US Department of Agriculture’s US Forest Service, which manages Wilderness and National Forest jurisdictions in the Wasatch range.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Save Our Canyons works to protect and steward the Wasatch Mountains for the shared and equal benefit of all people.
Save Our Canyons embraces diversity and equality in its mission and work. We are committed to building a team and leadership with various backgrounds, skills, and views, and a membership comprising all ages, races, ethnicity, abilities, income levels, immigration statuses, genders, and gender identities and orientations. This focus on inclusiveness aids us in our mission of protecting what the Wasatch Mountains give us — our watershed, a community of over 1,200 different plant and animal species, and more. There are many values individuals hold for these wild spaces including natural beauty, opportunities for reflection, awe, escape, and an endless variety of joyful, meaningful, fulfilling, refueling, grounding, and thrilling experiences. These opportunities are formative to the individuals we become and are deserving of protection and stewardship.
There are many barriers that prevent some people from enjoying what the Wasatch Mountains can provide. Those related to class and race have been particularly pervasive and consistent. The outdoor industry is often priced for the elite. In the greater Salt Lake Valley, a legacy of redlining and other discrimination has created an issue of access by concentrating underserved communities on the west side of I-15. Meanwhile, the Valley lacks a robust regional transportation system. Save Our Canyons is committed to better understanding and reducing these barriers.
Save Our Canyons is dedicated to better representing the community living along the Wasatch Front. We recognize that there is still a lot of work to be done. We strive to empower individuals to connect with the outdoors, foster a more inclusive community, and cultivate collective knowledge.
If you (or someone you know) could contribute in the areas of grassroots organizing, event planning, marketing, public policy and law, engaging with diverse communities, or non-profit finance and governance, contact us at or call (801).363.7283 and we’ll send you more information including the expectations of service on our board and an application form.
Past Accomplishments
We have had important successes and some disappointments in our 40-year history. We worked hard and successfully for wilderness designation of the Lone Peak, Twin Peaks, and Mt. Olympus wilderness areas in the Wasatch. Save Our Canyons, along with other local environmental groups, was instrumental in getting Salt Lake County to formulate and adopt a Canyons Master Plan to guide the granting of building permits on both public and private land in the canyons. This Master Plan, adopted in 1989, is now in the process of revision. Using all available avenues for public input, we have been participants in a wide variety of issues through the years: heli-skiing conflicts, the perpetual pressures from commercial ski resorts for more development, private land construction projects, trailhead access to public lands, location and size of sewer lines in the Wasatch canyons, avalanche control techniques and public transportation into the canyons.
We have had a board member who has served on the Citizens’ Advisory Committee for the Public Utilities Department of Salt Lake City that has important powers in maintaining the watershed role of the Wasatch Range. We worked closely with the Salt Lake Olympic Bid and Organizing Committees to keep Olympic venues out of sensitive environments such as Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons. We know and work with city, county, state and federal officials and citizen advisory committees as well as the people who plan and run the ski resorts in our mountains. We also have worked with the Sierra Club, the Wasatch Mountain Club, the Great Salt Lake Audubon Society, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, the Utah Wilderness Coalition, the High Uintas Preservation Council and many other environmental and mountain recreation organizations. A significant victory connected with these groups was convincing Salt Lake County to give up its RS2477 highway right of way claims in the Wasatch and Oquirrh Ranges where the legitimacy of the claims was patently absurd.
All research projects contracted by Save Our Canyons are limited to 10% indirect costs recovery.
