Update: Save Our Canyons' Lawsuit Against UDOT Over the Proposed Gondola

Save Our Canyons has entered the next phase in its lawsuit with the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) over construction of a gondola in Little Cottonwood Canyon (LCC). Before embarking on a project of this magnitude, UDOT is required to conduct a thorough environmental review. Instead, UDOT overlooked important environmental impacts, conducted a flawed analysis of project alternatives and conveniently reached an outcome that only benefits ski resorts and politically connected developers.

Background of the Lawsuit

In late 2023, SOC filed a lawsuit against UDOT challenging the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that it prepared to support its decision to move forward with the gondola project in LCC. Our primary concerns center around UDOT’s process for identifying and evaluating the alternatives it would analyze to address the transportation problems of the canyon. SOC believes that this process put a heavy thumb on the scale in favor of the gondola, and our lawsuit claims that UDOT’s effort to look at alternatives was both inadequate and defective, failing to adequately address several key issues vital to the long-term health of the canyon's ecosystem. 

LCC is a unique and sensitive area, home to diverse wildlife, and providing invaluable opportunities for outdoor recreation. UDOT's decision to prioritize the gondola would increase congestion, disregarding the canyon's ecological significance and the concerns of many thousands of community members who have voiced opposition throughout the EIS process.

Key Allegations In The Lawsuit

• Inadequate Environmental Review: We contend that UDOT's EIS did not comprehensively evaluate the environmental consequences of the gondola. This includes foreseeable impacts on recreation and visitor use, as well as the adjacent Wilderness areas. Moreover, the EIS failed to account for the cumulative effects of increased traffic and tourism on the canyon's fragile environment.
• Ignoring Viable Alternatives: UDOT's decision-making process overlooked more sustainable and less intrusive alternatives to the gondola. Options such as improving existing transportation infrastructure, implementing shuttle systems, or enhancing public transit were not given sufficient consideration. These alternatives could effectively address transportation challenges while minimizing environmental harm.
• Gondola arbitrarily adopted after being rejected: At first, UDOT wisely rejected alternatives that included large parking structures, including one for a gondola, right where it now wants to put the gondola and its parking structure. And for good reason—this is already an area that UDOT itself identified as the “main bottleneck” contributing to traffic jams, so it made no sense to add to the problem with vehicles turning and merging to get in and out of the gondola base facility. But, shortly after politically connected businessmen who stood to financially benefit asked UDOT to change its mind, UDOT reversed itself and put the gondola on the short list of alternatives it would consider.

Administrative Record Review

A significant development in our case is the forthcoming receipt of the administrative record from UDOT, expected in September, 2024. This administrative record contains all documents, communications, and materials generated by UDOT during its decision-making process for the gondola project. Because our case is built solely on this record, rather than the witness and exhibits involved in a more typical trial, the receipt of this voluminous set of documents will begin a careful review process by our attorneys.

We are confident that a meticulous examination of these documents will strengthen our case. Our ultimate goal is to ensure that UDOT reconsiders its decision, taking into account more sustainable alternatives that align with the long-term preservation of the canyon's natural beauty. Thank you for your ongoing support of our litigation, and stay tuned, online and in upcoming newsletters, for updates and opportunities to take action to keep LCC gondola free.

Board Member

Board Member

We're excited to unite around the Wasatch Mountains during our 20th Annual Lone Peak Celebration presented by KÜHL. All revenue that Save Our Canyons makes during this event will be used to continue our efforts in protecting the wildness and beauty of the Wasatch Mountains.

YOUR TICKET INCLUDES:

• Heavy hors d’oeuvres
• Your choice of craft cocktails provided by Beehive Distilling, wine provided by KÜHL, beer provided by RoHa Brewing Project, coffee/decaf/tea, and other non-alcoholic drinks
• Live music from Lapdog Band (Instagram @lapdogband)
• Access to an incredible silent auction
• All proceeds supporting the protection of the Wasatch Mountains 

Save Our Canyons NEW Merchandise

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Board Member

Save Our Canyons would like to welcome our new Executive Director Spencer Shaver!

My name is Spencer Shaver, and I am the new Executive Director of Save Our Canyons. I have had the good pleasure of meeting a handful of you in person, but I look forward to meeting every one of you, and the work we’ll do together on behalf of the beauty and wildness of the Wasatch Mountains.

Since I first arrived in Utah, I’ve felt the pull of the Wasatch, propelling me toward opportunities, experiences, and slope angles that this Minnesota-born backcountry enthusiast did not know were possible before I got here. The people, the places and the community that make the canyons of the Wasatch some of the best public land in the world have kept me coming back, driving toward trailheads at all hours of the night and early morning to chase new adventures, wild failures and everything in between. I’ve made the Wasatch and public lands here my home. In our home, I see the smiling faces at our trailheads as signs of both changes to come and a reminder that the integrity of the ecosystem, which draws us all together in the first place, is a priority that we all must organize around if we’re to preserve it. 

Understanding the traditions and principles that have protected the Wasatch since the founding of Save Our Canyons in 1972 is my first priority. I have immense respect for those who have advocated on behalf of the public lands, watersheds, flora and fauna of the Wasatch. One of the principles I hold is that public lands should remain in public hands, managed in trust by federal and state governments to both protect and preserve natural resources for current and future generations. 

I’ve worked to find common ground in uncommon places in order to protect landscapes my community considers non-negotiables; places we will work to protect for future generations with everything we have. I look forward to learning more about our community’s non-negotiables and adding my voice to a community of advocates who have provided their time, resources and knowledge, and then passed lessons from one generation of Save Our Canyons’ community to the next. If there are traditions, principles or values that I need to understand so that we can pass them on to our generation, then the next, I invite you to help me understand them.

Change is a challenge. Challenges create opportunities. When I think of the future of the Wasatch, I see our community turning those challenges into better opportunities to protect our public lands. I have a friend and mentor that reminds me that in conservation, victories are temporary and losses are forever. 

I hope to apply lessons learned over the first 52 years of our organization’s history to launch us toward new victories, to learn more lessons, upholding our values, legacy and principles, while adding our own experiences in the Wasatch to the story of the next 50 years. With your help, and the support of a growing community of advocates for the Wasatch, I’m confident that our voices will be heard. Another friend reminds me that with public lands, if our community isn’t at the table, we’re on the menu. We’ll need more voices to be at more tables and your help to welcome new members to our community for what’s to come. 

I’ve felt a strong sense of relief when speaking to each and every donor, advocate and supporter of Save our Canyons, who are all here for our own reasons but show up to stand united under a common cause. In the conversations I’ve had with you so far, I can feel the passion our community has for our mountains, canyons, rivers, forests, fauna and favorite trails. Some of the trails, public lands and wild places where my brother and friends taught me to backcountry ski, across the Wasatch, would not be accessible to me, or many others, without the hard work and dedication the members of this organization have demonstrated. For all of the passion I see, and the work you have done so far on behalf of the Wasatch, I am grateful. 

What are my reasons for wanting to protect the Wasatch for the next generation? That passion for a place is rare, and even rarer for some of the best, most accessible public lands anywhere to be only minutes away from you and I, instead of hours or days. We can access Wilderness, these public lands, and the world-class beauty of the Wasatch every day. This is one of the best places in the world to do what I love to do, and I advocate for what I love. Your reasons, my reasons and the public land itself are all worth advocating  for, in whatever ways that it takes, to protect for the next generation. I’ve seen the cost of not engaging, and I’m committed to being a part of what it takes to protect the places I call home however I can.

From my time advocating on behalf of Wilderness and public lands, I’ve learned passion for a place is the single most important thing that people can bring to the table when we advocate to protect the places we love. Check a farmers market’s art table in Salt Lake, your maps app on a Saturday morning or look at any park and ride on a powder day - the people in our community  have passion pouring out of our ears for the Wasatch. I’m excited to see what we can do with it, what we can accomplish together with a shared vision for future generations here and a shared passion for the beauty and wildness of the Wasatch.

Yours For The Wasatch,

Spencer Shaver

Executive Director

Utah is growing fast, and with growth comes inevitable development. That leads us to the recently introduced S.B. 172 Protection Areas Revisions by Senator David Hinkins (Emery County), which is eerily similar to last year’s H.B. 527 Mining Operations Amendments. While perhaps a well-intentioned bill meant to create more aggregate material for development, it’s hard to ignore how wide-reaching and disastrous the consequences of this bill would be, intended or not.

The bill would allow mining operations to expand with little restriction or oversight from local governments, stripping our communities of the right to protect our quality of life and marring the beautiful landscapes we call home. Here are some of the most important changes the bill makes: 

CHANGES TO VESTED MINING RIGHTS

Simply put, S.B. 172 would make it easier for property owners to establish a “vested mining right,” or an unconditional right to use their land for mining purposes. Not only would property owners with a “vested mining right” be able to bypass local land use authority, they would be able to expand their vested right to any neighboring property they own or acquire. What’s more concerning is that this bill doesn’t just apply to land where a “mining use” is currently established. It would apply to land with a historical mining use, as well. 

The map above is the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining's "Utah Mineral Mine Map", which can be found here.

This bill would impact over tens of thousands of open mining claims throughout the state.

The bill also imposes significant hurdles to challenging a vested mining right. Parties would have one year to challenge, after which the right would be “conclusively established for all purposes.” Disputes would be resolved by the Board of the Department of Oil, Gas and Mining and if the challenge is unsuccessful, the challenging party can be ordered to pay the defendant’s legal fees.

CREATION OF VESTED CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE MATERIALS OPERATIONS

While mining activities involve minerals and other precious metals, critical infrastructure materials operations involve sand, gravel, and rock aggregate. S.B. 172 codifies “vested critical infrastructure materials operations,” or an unconditional right to use land for obtaining materials like gravel (AKA gravel pits). Similar to its treatment of vested mining rights, the bill allows vested critical infrastructure materials operations to automatically expand to neighboring properties and allows property owners to bypass local government regulations. 

DIRECT IMPACT ON THE PROPOSED GRAVEL PIT IN PARLEY'S CANYON

S.B. 172 modifies provisions of state statute that are part of a pending lawsuit between the developers of the proposed Parley’s gravel pit and Salt Lake County. This bill is a way for Tree Farm and Granite Construction (the developers) to retroactively apply a “vested right” to their property in Parley’s Canyon, allowing them to legislate their way to victory in the lawsuit and bypass Salt Lake County’s ordinance protecting the Wasatch Mountains, our air, and watersheds from mining uses.

At 634 acres, Tree Farm's originally proposed gravel pit would be the largest mining operation in the Wasatch since the “Point of the Mountain Quarry”. With this bill’s expansion of “vested use,” Tree Farm could easily expand the gravel pit to its adjacent properties, totaling over 1,000 acres in Parley’s Canyon. 

OTHER REASONS WE OPPOSE S.B. 172

• Local governments would be greatly limited in their ability to regulate mining operations within their borders, stripping them of their discretion to make decisions for the health and safety of their communities. 
• Mining operations use a lot of water, namely for dust mitigation. There's no telling what the exact impact of the bill would be on our water supply, only that it would require immense amounts of a resource we don't have, when our efforts should be focused on saving the Great Salt Lake. 
• Air quality would be severely compromised by dust and emissions, on top of Salt Lake Valley’s already poor air quality, especially during winter inversions. 

Beginning a mining operation should warrant careful consideration of the impacts on affected communities, wildlife, and the environment. It shouldn't be as straightforward as starting a mine at a site simply because the land has been mined before, or is adjacent to another mine. 

This is a complicated issue for the Wasatch Mountains and the entire state of Utah. Save Our Canyons opposes S.B. 172 and continues to work with government officials and community members to answer important questions about this bill.

WE URGE YOU TO CONTACT THE SENATE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND WORKFORCE SERVICES COMMITTEE, AND YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS TO LET THEM KNOW YOU OPPOSE S.B. 172 PROTECTION AREAS REVISIONS.

On Monday, December 11, 2023 Save Our Canyons filed a lawsuit against UDOT and the Forest Service challenging the decision to build a gondola in LCC, represented by our outstanding counsel at the public interest law firm Eubanks & Associates, PLLC and with local representation ably provided by Joel Ban.

Donating today helps to financially support the legal challenge of UDOT’s Little Cottonwood Canyon Environmental Impact Statement.