The 2025 Utah General Legislative Session just concluded after 45 days chock-full of bills that would have negatively impacted the beauty and wildness of the Wasatch. Luckily we have you - dedicated members of Save Our Canyons who show up time and time again in the name of preservation. Whether you contributed one of 15,000 messages we sent to elected officials, or donated to support our legislative advocacy, your support was critical— thank you! In the face of bills that would have green-lit the proposed Parley’s gravel pit, funded major private developments with taxpayer dollars, and transferred sensitive alpine lands into state hands, together we rose to the challenge and helped stop or substitute almost every bill we opposed.
Notable wins for Save Our Canyons members include:
- Helping remove provisions from HB 355 that would have essentially green-lit the proposed gravel pit in Parley’s Canyon.
- Convincing the sponsor of SB 316 to remove provisions allowing a state development authority to conduct Environmental Impact Statements and Assessments.
- Supporting solutions for transportation and habitat restoration in HB 196 and HB 251.
- Adding 3,000 public messages to the wave of opposition that blocked SB 337 from funneling power and taxpayer money to private developments.
- Working with the sponsor to table SB 236, preventing Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons from becoming state parks.
Listed below are bills that we tracked through the 2025 session.
Bills that passed:
House Bill 355 (Oppose)
HB 355 Mining and Critical Infrastructure Materials Amendments
Status: Passed on 4th substitution
Sponsor: Representative Casey Snider, District 5, Cache County
SOC Stance: Oppose
As initially written, this bill would have significantly raised the chances of the proposed gravel pit in Parley’s Canyon coming to fruition. Thankfully, due to significant community input from members of Save Our Canyons, our partner organizations, and proponents of local control like the Utah League of Cities and Towns, this bill was significantly changed through four substitutions, removing any direct impacts to the proposed gravel pit in Parley’s Canyon.
Save Our Canyons members alone sent over 12,000 messages to elected officials!
The final bill permits commercial gravel pit operators to expand on all land they own or control before January 1, 2026, a blow to local land-use and zoning authority. At the core of this bill is an attempt by several state leaders to increase the availability of Critical Infrastructure Materials (Sand and Gravel) near quickly developing areas to reduce transportation costs. There are carve-outs that prevent this from impacting the proposed gravel pit in Parley's Canyon. This initiative has many private supporters in the industry, and brings up tough questions about where the state will source aggregates if we continue to grow at exponential rates. Unfortunately, the efforts taken so far to reduce the cost of aggregates have begun with attempts to supersede the authority of counties and municipalities rather than providing communities with the resources to make informed decisions. We recognize the need to source gravel as our communities grow but believe the crisis mentality promoted by bills in this initiative is based on pressure from industry rather than fact. As you may remember, last year’s HB 502 returned a state-sponsored study that confirmed we are not set to run out of these materials any time soon, and recommended that decisions around this sourcing remain at the local level.
The negative impacts of this bill were significantly reduced because of YOU, thank you for participating in the democratic process by contacting your elected officials. We expect to see more bills in this initiative come up over the next several years, and will continue to raise awareness through action alerts. As these questions arise in the coming years, we encourage lawmakers to provide resources, rather than mandates to local communities.
Senate Bill 316 (Oppose)
SB 316 Military Installation Development Authority and Other Development Zone Amendments
Status: Passed on 3rd substitution
Sponsor: Senator Jerry Stevenson, District 6, Davis County
SOC Stance: Oppose
Senate Bill 316 is the annual clean-up bill for the Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA). In addition to funding defense developments in the state, MIDA is responsible for funding ski resort expansion in the Wasatch to the tune of several hundred-million dollars in bonds.
To learn more, read these Salt Lake Tribune articles about MIDA-funded developments at both Sundance and Deer Valley. We are very concerned about the misuse of MIDA bonds to facilitate resort expansion in the Wasatch, but our primary concern with this bill was a provision allowing MIDA to act as the lead agency in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process.
This would have allowed this quasi-governmental development authority to assume the role of a federal agency in Environmental Impact Statements and Assessments in sensitive ecosystems – an obvious conflict of interest. After over 2,000 messages to elected officials by Save Our Canyons members, the sponsor of this bill removed that provision in the third substitute, which was adopted. We remain critical of the misuse of MIDA to fund ski resort developments, and will continue to oppose any expansion of this authority until our concerns are addressed.
Senate Bill 195
SB 195 Transportation Amendments
Status: Passed on 7th substitution
Sponsor: Senator Wayne Harper, District 16, Salt Lake County
SOC Stance: None
SB 195 is this year’s “omnibus” transportation bill, a massive piece of legislation with wide-ranging provisions that impact the entire State. Due to the scale, this bill saw seven substitutes, the most of any bill we tracked this year. While this bill had a lot of controversy around its attempt to reign in Salt Lake City’s planning authority, it also has interesting language specific to the Little Cottonwood Canyon EIS. Specifically, this bill requires UDOT to stick to the sequential phasing protocol stated in the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Little Cottonwood Canyon Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). This is already required under federal National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) standards, but SB 195 enshrines that in State code. The sponsors’ stated intention with this bill was to ensure that UDOT does not begin Phase 3 (which includes the gondola) if Phase 1 (increased tolling and bussing), or Phase 2 (road widening, snow sheds) solve the traffic issue. While we support this effort to prevent UDOT from phase skipping, we have concerns that including the word “gondola” in code could have adverse consequences down the line.
House Bill 196 (Support)
HB 196 Vehicle Traction Amendments
Status: Passed on 1st substitution
Sponsor: Representative Gay Lynn Bennion, District 41, Salt Lake County
SOC Stance: Support
A common-sense solution to congestion, this bill improves the ability of highway authorities (like Unified Police Department) to enforce Traction Law during current or predicted weather events. Where previously a driver who ignored traction law could be fined for disobeying a police officer, once this bill is signed, the same driver can now receive an infraction of up to $750 that is specific to breaking traction law. This additional clarity and authority will keep the canyons safer and more free of congestion. In addition to improved, integrated transit systems, canyon tolling, and other efforts, we believe this change is an on-the-ground solution that will prevent off-the-ground developments. We thank Representative Bennion for her initiative, and ability to work with stakeholders throughout the canyons.
House Bill 229
HB 229 Transportation Funds Amendments
Status: Passed
Sponsor: Representative Kay Christofferson, District 53, Utah County
SOC Stance: None
While the provisions in HB 229 seem relatively benign, it sheds light on the possible misuse of funds by UDOT to purchase land at the base of Little Cottonwood Canyon for the proposed gondola project. The primary provisions in this bill permit the use of “corridor preservation funds”, typically reserved for voluntary purchases of land to extend highways, to purchase land for “fixed guideway” public transit facilities. Because we would like to see a valley-wide connected public transit system, we would typically support measures like this; in this context, however, we are concerned that this legislation may have been run to mask prior mis-use of funds.
Partially in response to this legislation, a group of homeowners at the base of Little Cottonwood Canyon recently filed a lawsuit that contends UDOT misused corridor preservation funding to purchase land for the proposed gondola base last year. Though this is separate from, and does not directly impact our ongoing litigation, it continues to illuminate a pattern where UDOT funnels resources and decisions towards a predetermined outcome before proper permission and public input are received.
House Bill 251 (Support)
HB 251 Pollinator Program Amendments
Status: Passed
Sponsor: Representative Ashlee Matthews, District 37, Salt Lake County
SOC Stance: Support
The Pollinator Habitat Program began in 2022 as a statewide initiative to improve and restore pollinator ecosystems in response to global decline in biodiversity. This effort is widely supported by conservation and agriculture communities, a beacon of hope for bipartisan stewardship of natural resources. We commend the sponsors helping make this program permanent, while also increasing the funding for it.
Bills that did not pass:
Senate Bill 337 (Oppose)
SB 337 Land Use and Development Amendments
Status: Did not pass
Sponsor: Senator Kirk Cullimore, District 19, Salt Lake County
SOC Stance: Oppose
Senate Bill 337 would have established the Beehive Development Authority. Among other duties, this quasi-governmental entity would have funneled taxpayer dollars into major development projects with little community involvement or oversight. Following in the footsteps of the contentious Utah Inland Port Authority and Military Installation Development Authority, this authority-to-rule-all-authorities would have provided even more power and funding for bad developments.
The Community Impact Projects established by the authority would have been initiated and led by developers, offering limited opportunities for genuine community input—despite the inclusion of “community” in the name. Our primary concern was that this would have created a pot of taxpayer money for ski resorts, gravel pits, and other developments to expand here in the Wasatch despite local opposition. Along with many other groups from across the state who were concerned with this power grab, we were successful in stalling this bill to prevent it from passing.
Save Our Canyons members sent almost 3,000 messages to elected officials, adding to the massive wave of resistance to this bad bill.
House Concurrent Resolution 11 (Oppose)
HCR 11 Concurrent Resolution Regarding State Parks
Status: Did not pass
Sponsor: Representative Steve Eliason, District 43, Salt Lake County
SOC Stance: Oppose
HCR 11, which never made it into a committee or to floor vote, was part of a multi-year initiative by the sponsor to expand Utah’s State Parks. While we appreciate the sponsor’s ongoing efforts to improve recreation opportunities and revenue, this proposed resolution included a concerning provision that would have transferred hundreds of acres of National Forest Land into State hands. The region of concern was at the top of Farmington Canyon, along Skyline Drive in Davis County – developing this alpine ecosystem into a State Park would likely have led to the eventual paving of Farmington Canyon, and increased the likelihood of other attempts to develop a relatively undisturbed part of the Wasatch. We don’t support any new infrastructure, including roads, campgrounds, structures, or pavement on public land in the Wasatch. With the state’s history of leasing and developing publicly-owned land, we believe the sensitive alpine ecosystems along Skyline Drive should remain under supervision of federal land managers.
Senate Bill 236 (Oppose)
Status: Did not pass
Sponsor: Senator Kathleen Riebe, District 15, Salt Lake County
SOC Stance: Oppose
The Cottonwood Canyons need more resources to deal with the overwhelming amount of visitors, plain and simple. Senator Riebe, who represents the entirety of Big Cottonwood Canyon and a portion of Little Cottonwood Canyon, introduced this bill with the intention of bringing more resources to the Canyons. We commend this effort, however, as written this bill would have turned Little and Big Cottonwood Canyons into State Parks – a well-intentioned move that would have had dire consequences for the beauty and wildness of the Wasatch. In state hands, pristine alpine and forest ecosystems would be much more likely to see excessive development in the name of so-called growth.
Save Our Canyons staff met with Senator Riebe to discuss our concerns, she listened closely and tabled the bill before it had a chance to be heard in committee. We are grateful for her efforts to solve issues in her district and look forward to working with her to bring resources to the Wasatch without transferring federal land to the State.
What’s next?
The impacts of the bad ideas this session would have been much worse if it weren’t for your support – thank YOU! Save Our Canyons remains committed to preserving the beauty and wildness of the Wasatch Mountains, and will continue to advocate for policies that keep our public lands pristine. We will continue to keep you updated on how these policy changes impact the Wasatch, and let you know how you can help. We look forward to using this year’s damage control as a learning experience for the future, where we plan to support more proactive legislation to bring resources to preserve and steward the Wasatch.
If you would like to contribute to our ongoing work shaping policy for the Wasatch, consider making a donation.
