Tired of Utah ski resorts expanding their territories

[bighornhunter]

Am I the only one that is completely sick of Snowbird and the other money hungry resorts constantly trying to expand! Don't get me wrong I like to ski but the constant battle of expanding their aresa through public ground is ridiculous! I saw this article in the link below and it hit home as Snowbird is now trying to lay a foothold in my stomping grounds of American Fork Canyon. The sad part is city governments are just as $$$ money as the resorts and love these ideas.

http://m.heraldextra.com/news/local...5858-9518-10c2aa47ba87.html?mobile_touch=true

 

[Deerlove]

I'm a local season pass holder and I completely agree. We need to keep are canyons as pristine as possible.

 

[Zeke]

I'm all for a tram from Tibble Fork to the top of Mineral Basin!
....as long as they let me ride it up and down all day, with my rifle, during elk season! LOL

I agree!
Keep the canyon open to "other" recreation, like hunting, than just skiing!
Zeke

 

[hossblur]

I have always found the ski industry amazing. If a logger goes up a mountain and cuts huge strips up the mtn. of all the trees, he is an environmental terrorist. Somehow the ski industry develops our mtn., clear cuts hillsides, and they are an exceptable sport?

I have never got how Robert Redford, flies in hundreds of private jets, during inversion season, drives thousands up the canyon in gas guzzling limos and suburbans, to come to his resort, and the others that clear cut hillsides, develop pristine wilderness with hotels and restaraunts, YET HE IS AN ENVIRONMENTALIST?

I don't ski, dont care if you do, but the ski industry somehow gets a HUGE pass when it comes to use of the mountains in Utah.


"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun"

 

[2stamp]

As much as I don't agree with everything they fight for, Save Our Canyons is being pretty aggressive to curb resort expansion and stop the One Wasatch lift concept. My main recreation during winter is skiing, but I don't want to see the expansion or lifts either. Most the lifts that are being pushed cross over prime backcountry area (which has some good extended potential as well).

Whenever there is a comment period for this stuff I try to put my two cents in to stop the expansion. The latest skeem I'm not too hip on though. There is a proposal to make the Wasatch a National Monument to stop the ski expansion and preserve the canyons as much as possible. My problem with that is it would extend down into AF canyon, one of my main single track riding areas. Not to mention that's part of the Wasatch unit. If the Grandstaircase NM is any indication, that would restict all sorts of travel. The mountains should be able to be managed for all recreation types.

And I definately don't want to see a tram from Tibble Fork to SB. No need.

 

[Finn]

The problem is that hunters have chosen, once again, not to be proactively involved in the process. So I started working with SOC last year on behalf of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, collaborating on the Wasatch Mountain Accord. It's been educational. And yup, the resorts are taking home all the prizes, there.

Meantime, The Wasatch National Monument is SOC's brainchild. As written, this NM wouldn't close or restrict anything that is currently in place, nor would it prohibit continued maintenance of existing roads, trails or structures. All it would do is prohibit any new development.

Working with non-consumptive organizations like SOC, I can't help but notice that there's a lot more common ground than disagreement. They're certainly easier to work with than some hunting organizations and just like my organization, their primary concerns are access, habitat and water quality.

 

[hossblur]

I don't think that is a fair statement. The reality is that hunters I believe are getting burnt out. We have to fight to stop development. We have to fight to save access. We have to fight the antis. We have to fight the gun grabbers. We have to fight the livestock men. We have to fight wolf lovers. We have to fight the DWR. We have to fight "conservation groups". We have to fight the media. We have to fight video games. Its easy for a single issue group to be proactive, because they can concentrate their message and focus their opposition. While I think trying to find common ground with SOC is great, theirs is still one simple(yeah I realize not simple) fight. As a hunter I am surrounded by outside fights, as well as the inner cancers that eat at me from inside my own ranks. After awhile its not hard to understand the tiredness that most of us feel.


"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun"

 

[1911]

Follow the money. Just like the annual AI hunt. If a feasible ski resort would fetch half a mill a year it would be riddled with trams. Instead you go with a sure thing.
http://www.monstermuleys.info/dcforum/User_files/4abc76ff29b26fc1.jpg

 

[Zeke]

....but most of all, we fight each other.

I'll bet some fingers are sore from all the pointing and chest-thumping! Huh Hoss?

Zeke

 

[2stamp]

>The problem is that hunters have
>chosen, once again, not to
>be proactively involved in the
>process. So I started working
>with SOC last year on
>behalf of Backcountry Hunters and
>Anglers, collaborating on the Wasatch
>Mountain Accord. It's been educational.
>And yup, the resorts are
>taking home all the prizes,
>there.
>
>Meantime, The Wasatch National Monument is
>SOC's brainchild. As written, this
>NM wouldn't close or restrict
>anything that is currently in
>place, nor would it prohibit
>continued maintenance of existing roads,
>trails or structures. All it
>would do is prohibit any
>new development.
>
>Working with non-consumptive organizations like SOC,
>I can't help but notice
>that there's a lot more
>common ground than disagreement. They're
>certainly easier to work with
>than some hunting organizations and
>just like my organization, their
>primary concerns are access, habitat
>and water quality.

Finn, I really hope the NM plan stays that way. I'm actually a little surprised a group like Utah Bowmens Assoc isn't involved in this. Or are they and I just don't know about it?

 

[Finn]

Reviving this old thread from last year with an update. The National Monument proposal is dead. It's been replaced with a proposal for a National Conservation and Recreation Area.

http://mountainaccord.com/why-we-need-mountain-accord/federal-designation/

Seems to me that this designation should be a lot more palatable to folks, but I haven't heard much by way of support from hunters, yet. So I'm curious what you ladies and gents think about it.

The argument has been made by some that since relatively few hunters venture into Millcreek, Big Cottonwood or Little Cottonwood, it's not an issue. But the municipal lands directly north of the designation get a lot of hunting pressure through every weapon season. While those lands are secure from development, I think we should consider what will happen to game populations when future development prevents access into or out of the designation.

 

[Packout]

The whole Mountain Accord process was a sham for those who enjoy utilizing American Fork Canyon. Mountain Accord ended at the Salt Lake County line and had no representation from Utah County. Yet Mtn Accord felt the need to recommend a land swap which included 400+ acres of Forest Service Lands from American Fork Canyon. This would have given Snowbird a complete green light to expand and develop extensively in Am Fork Canyon.