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Access unites unlikely alliances for area at Big Cottonwood Canyon Recreation Site – Deseret News

Access unites unlikely alliances for area at Big Cottonwood Canyon Recreation Site – Deseret News

Cyle Buxton has owned land in the Big Cottonwood Canyon area for 50 years, and before that, his ancestors owned land for 130 years.

But what good is land if you can’t access it?

Jamie Kent is part of the Wasatch Backcountry Alliance and has been recreating in the wooded, remote area south of Donut Falls Road since he was a teenager.

You could say he grew up on the land, and with him, the land became a popular recreation destination.

“Everything was loved by so many people,” Kent said

But what good is recreation if you can’t access the playground?

Outdoors enthusiasts normally clash with private landowners – dismayed by the lack of access, no trespassing signs, fences and gates that cut off the land they love. There has been a long history of conflict, even threats.

A popular song written by Woody Guthrie in 1940 simply said, “This Land is Your Land,” but is it really?

The Cardiff Canyon Controversy

Buxton said landowners have put up tons of no-trespassing signs — 780 of them — in an effort to comply with U.S. Forest Service land regulations on the area — whose use is in dispute for better for a decade when it comes to motorized access.

About 1,400 acres of the Cardiff Canyon area is privately owned – nearly 300 acres more than Brighton Ski Resort.

The backcountry terrain offers descents on Mount Superior, Cardiff Fork and Cardiac Ridge that some backcountry skiers say are unmatched.

At issue is an old mining road that provides access to this land, as well as private cabins – established in the late 1880s long before the US Forest Service existed as an agency.

The road, however, crosses the lands of the Forestry Service, which prohibits motorized access. For 12 years, there was a lull in that conflict when the federal agency gave the nod to a special use permit. That permission, however, would unravel later, creating a delicate fight or bruise in the middle of the negotiations – depending on who you talk to.

The Forest Service claims there were use permit violations, but landowners say there was no clear path to mitigate those alleged violations, incidents they say were vague and unsubstantiated.

The gate on the trail to Donut Falls. A group of concerned landowners, skiers and hikers are coming together in a coalition to express their dismay that the U.S. Forest Service has cut off access to a recreation area on private property because it involves a Service road Forester. The group gathered at the Donut Falls gate in Big Cottonwood Canyon for a discussion on Monday, October 28, 2024. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Buxton said he received 38 citations over several years for violating access laws, all of which were eventually dismissed. No trespassing signs have been torn down and laws ignored by some landowners who see the area as a private playground, rules or no rules.

Now, Buxton and some of the other landowners have put aside differences between hikers and cross-country skiers and formed an unlikely alliance to negotiate a raft of regulations with the Forest Service that they say keep traditional access to the terrain at bay.

With the expiration of the special use permit, one of the most popular recreation areas is in handcuffs.

Landowners and recreationists even tried to get advice from Utah’s private property ombudsman to help negotiate a way forward, only to be rebuffed. It’s a federal issue, after all.

Lawyer Robert Tee Spjute, in a mediation paper submitted to the private property ombudsman last year, highlighted the issue.

“Unfortunately, in recent years, it appears that the tone of the US Forest Service has shifted from one of good faith and cooperation to one of negativity and accusations. Due to the changing nature of the Forest Service, the CCOA (Cardiff Canyon Owners Association) has decided not to renew their special use permit. The Forest Service changed the locks on the Cardiff gate, installed security cameras and prevented private landowners in Cardiff Canyon from accessing their property by “normal means of transportation.”

Spjute wants a clear understanding of the agency’s expectations and an agreement that satisfies public rights and landowners’ private property rights — without being hit with what he says are unfounded violations and ambiguous expectations.

The attorney pointed to a 2001 research memo by a Forest Service official to the regional forester that states the agency has a legal obligation to provide reasonable access to landowners and cannot limit access to private landowners.

A group of concerned landowners, skiers and hikers are coming together in a coalition to express their disappointment that the Forest Service has cut off access to a prime recreation area on private property because it involves a Forest Service road, the group gathered at gate Donut Falls in Big. Cottonwood Canyon for a discussion on Monday, October 28, 2024. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Dave Whittikiend, supervisor of the Wasatch-Uinta-Cache National Forest, which includes Big Cottonwood Canyon, said there have been no citations for Buxton in seven years and that the Forest Service has no jurisdiction to control what happens on private land. Although there may have been notices of non-compliance, the special use permit has resolved these issues.

Dea Theodore, a Salt Lake County councilman who represents the canyon areas, tried to negotiate an arrangement that would keep all parties happy and provide a path forward.

But it was frustrating for her.

“Navigating the Forest Service was the hardest part,” she said Monday, under a sprinkling of rain amid trees desperately trying to cling to leaves as the wind whipped around a group of landowners and others from the Donut Falls trailhead area.

Whittikiend said negotiations are ongoing.

“We sent the application for a special use permit to the Cardiff Canyon Owners Association and they responded with questions and some negotiations on the terms and conditions and we continue to work with them on that. Ideally, we can issue a special use permit that meets everyone’s needs, and that’s where I’d like to see it land.”

Efforts, frustration and hope

Theodore formed This is Our County to bring disparate voices to the table to address a diverse set of challenges that include public access to right-of-way canyons, public safety issues, fire hazards, water access and of management and many other data. the canyons’ proximity to the fast-growing Wasatch Front and the recreational access they proudly boast.

But she’s frustrated with the process involved in getting a special use permit renewed and the conditions set by the federal agency. Whittikiend says the federal agency is willing to fix the problem

Dani Poirier, director of the Wasatch Backcountry Alliance, speaks as a group of concerned landowners, skiers and hikers come together in a coalition to express their disappointment that the Forest Service has cut off access to a prime recreation area on private property because it involves a Forest Service road. The group gathered at the Donut Falls gate in Big Cottonwood Canyon for a discussion on Monday, October 28, 2024. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

“We have the same frustrations,” said Dani Poirier, director of operations at the Wasatch Back Country Alliance.

Many of the landowners and outdoorsmen at Monday’s meeting said they share the same goal as the Forest Service: protecting and protecting the land that is one of the many wonders of the Wasatch Canyons and a critical player in the watershed of the valleys below.

“So many people want access,” Spjute said.

Part of the problem is getting caught up in two different agencies, he explained. There are some structures that need to be moved, but Salt Lake County says those issues must be resolved with the Forest Service before negotiations can move forward, but the Forest Service says they must be resolved with the county before any movement is on the plan. allows.

“The Forest Service would really like to have access over private property (on the road), and landowners want access to their private land,” he said. “I think ultimately we want a special use permit,” with protection against ambiguous subpoenas.

Whittikiend agrees, but said he can’t speak to the county’s requirements.

“We want to provide reasonable access under the law, and we would like to see the recreational public be able to legally travel on some kind of access route, whatever it is, to access the national forest that is above the private. land.”

Two of the nearly 800 private property/no trespassing signs are seen on the trees. A group of concerned landowners, skiers and hikers are coming together in a coalition to express their dismay that the Forest Service has cut off access to a prime recreation area on private property because it involves a Forest Service road. The group gathered at the Donut Falls gate in Big Cottonwood Canyon for a discussion on Monday, October 28, 2024. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News