Over the next two weeks, the Salt Lake Ranger District (SLRD) of the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) is asking for your input on the Big Cottonwood Canyon Watershed Restoration Project, aimed at increasing wildfire resilience and improving forest health in Big Cottonwood Canyon (BCC). Save Our Canyons views catastrophic wildfire as one of the biggest risks to a healthy and vibrant Wasatch Range. As such, we support the goals of this project, and believe that robust community input can support these goals with site-specific knowledge. Your input will help ensure this project is a success, check out the plan and submit comments by June 23, 2026.
Click Here to View the Documents and Submit a Comment
Or Attend an Open House:
Monday, June 15 at Millcreek City Hall (6-8 PM)
Tuesday, June 16 at the Brighton Fire Station (6-8 PM)
The Perfect Storm for Catastrophic Wildfire
The Wasatch Mountains have a long history of intense mining, grazing, and logging, which severely deforested canyon areas by 1900. To mitigate the impacts to water quality and restore forest health, the Salt Lake Forest Reserve was established in 1904, allowing thousands of acres of forest to regrow. This incredible conservation effort forged a partnership between Salt Lake City and the U.S. Forest Service, leading to the establishment of a nursery where millions of saplings were grown and replanted between 1905 and 1920. This reforestation initiative effectively restored the watersheds and is the reason we have the beautiful, forested canyons we enjoy today.
However, since that reforestation, policies began heavily prioritizing fire suppression. Millions of dollars were sent towards well-equipped crews who were able to handle the biggest blazes. Despite well-intentioned efforts to protect human lives and property, the Wasatch Mountains have been largely devoid of natural wildfire over the past century of efforts to suppress every wildfire that starts. By focusing on reactive suppression rather than proactive mitigation, unnaturally dense stands of mature conifers now fill many canyons of the Wasatch Mountains, standing connected with decades of dead ladder fuel that can easily turn a low-intensity ground fire into a severe crown fire. Climax species such as subalpine fir and white fir have come to dominate these stands, choking out biodiversity due to tightly spaced canopies.
This issue is exacerbated by climate change and prolonged drought, which have led to longer, drier fire seasons. Beaver populations have been decimated, leading to fewer and narrower riparian fuel breaks, while fire-resilient aspen stands struggle to outcompete encroaching conifer populations. To cap it all off, the Forest Service has recorded widespread tree mortality caused by invasive pests, aka “beetle kill,” leaving wide swaths of dead standing trees. This is the perfect storm for a catastrophic wildfire right here in our backyard, which could decimate tens of thousands of acres of prime wildlife habitat, world-class outdoor recreation, and the water resources that millions of Utahns rely on. The status-quo cannot go on if we want to steward and enjoy healthy forests.
Details of the BCC Watershed Restoration Project
This all-hands-on-deck effort, led by experts at the SLRD, is a critical moment to address this issue.
The proposed action involves progressive treatments across roughly 4,900 acres of a larger 18,686-acre project boundary to reduce dead and downed trees, disrupt horizontal and vertical fuel continuity, and create shaded fuel breaks. The specific treatments detailed in the EA include:
Implemented by hand crews with chainsaws, dead trees and brush will be cut to reduce understory continuity and ladder fuels. Material will be piled by hand or chipped, and piles will be burned when conditions allow. Pile burns are typically planned during strategic windows prior to precipitation events and when atmospheric conditions are ideal for smoke to rise higher into the atmosphere, limiting impacts on air quality.
Hand crews will cut smaller diameter fuels, and scatter the material to break down and decompose over a few years, particularly in aspen stands.
Low-intensity, ground-based prescribed fire will be utilized outside of ski resort boundaries to promote aspen recovery, improve stand structure, and reduce dead and downed trees. Broadcast burning replicates low-severity fire that has been present in the Wasatch Mountains since time immemorial and comes with numerous ecological benefits. Broadcast burns are typically planned during strategic windows prior to precipitation events and when atmospheric conditions are ideal for smoke to rise higher into the atmosphere, limiting impacts on air quality.
Logs and local wood material will be felled directly into channels to decrease water energy, restoring riparian zones as identified by resource specialists. Beaver Dam Analogs (BDAs), and other low-tech restoration processes will also be employed. Save Our Canyons looks forward to partnering on these efforts.
Furthermore, due to the heavy fuel loading and historically low snowpack, this project is being pursued under an Emergency Action Determination, meaning the draft EA decision will not include a pre-decisional objection process. This is an unfortunate reality of the times we live in, and though we oppose this practice as a regular occurrence, we understand the time sensitivity of the current circumstances.
Keeping it Roadless: Effective Forest Management
We do not take this work lightly; it involves prescribed fire and chainsaws in sensitive ecosystems. However, this project perfectly demonstrates that good forest management and the 2001 Roadless Rule can and do work together. The good news? Fuel treatments, including low-intensity prescribed burns, lop-and-scatter, and slash-piles are fully permitted in Inventoried Roadless Areas (IRAs). The SLRD’s project ensures no new roads or heavy machinery will be used off roads, and commercial logging is not part of this project. Click here to learn more about the 2001 Roadless Rule.
A recent three-decade study revealed that wildfire ignition density is significantly higher around roadways, concluding that building roads into roadless areas is likely to result in more fires. Expanding road networks creates a problematic trade-off by significantly increasing ignition probability through vehicle traffic, maintenance, and human presence. Therefore, real wildfire resilience requires holistic forest health management, not additional roads that introduce more ignition sources. We support the Forest Service prioritizing wildfire management that maximizes the defensive value of existing road infrastructure. By performing these fuel reduction treatments in IRAs without expanding the road network, this project goes a long way to reduce the risk of severe wildfire while also benefiting habitat and water quality.
Take Action:
Click Here to View the Documents and Submit a Comment
Or Attend an Open House:
Monday, June 15 at Millcreek City Hall (6-8 PM)
Tuesday, June 16 at the Brighton Fire Station (6-8 PM)
We encourage you to read the project documents and submit substantive comments with the local knowledge and skillset you bring to the table. Electronic comments can be submitted through the online commenting tool at the Forest Service’s project website. You can reach out to the SLRD with any questions on the project, and feel free to reach out to the Save Our Canyons team if you’d like to discuss our stance.
Save Our Canyons
info@saveourcanyons.org
