There is no place on this planet as unique as the Central Wasatch Mountains. Its close proximity to a large city, ease of access, quality of snowfall, and multiplicity of user groups all interacting and overlapping in such a tiny area can’t be found anywhere else. Within 20-30 minutes of a large metropolis you can snowmobile, snowshoe, X-country ski, trail run, helicopter ski, fish, hike, picnic, snowmobile, resort ski, backcountry ski, cat ski, and much more. Many see it as overdeveloped, but there are still many places you can go where just an hours hike will take you away from it all. There is a balance of developed and undeveloped spaces that exist here for the millions of people who live near by and go to the mountains for many different reasons. We have a diverse little range with so much to offer!

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Unfortunately, for some, enough is never enough.  The ski industry, that has already acquired almost all of the upper reaches of both Little and Big Cottownood Canyons, continues to scheme and try to expand their piece of the pie.

Over the past several years Wasatch Front locals have formed groups like Friends of Flagstaff and Stop Ski-Link as opposition movements to stop this expansion. After seeing the passionate response and success of the people coming together, I was inspired to help create a more permanent organization.  One that would represent the backcountry population and remain in place instead of having a group pop up every time a new threat arrived. Mark Menlove from Winter Wildlands Alliance gathered a group of us together and challenged us to create an advocacy group. A handful of dedicated skiers volunteered and the Wasatch Backcountry Alliance was born.

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For the past two years we’ve worked on growing our membership, creating infrastructure to disseminate information, raising funds to fight future issues, and becoming the voice for BC users in the media and in the political realm. I’m VERY PROUD and inspired by what this group has accomplished in a short time and with limited funds.

And then Mountain Accord came along.

The Wasatch Backcountry Alliance (or WBA) was invited to join the Mountain Accord (or MA) process, and we did, but with much skepticism. For the past year, we as a board have done an incredible job trying to figure out what the hell this “process” is and have done our best to protect the backcountry. We have attended all the meetings and instigated many of our own and our efforts helped change many things in the final blueprint. I’m sure we were a much bigger pain in the ass than they had expected from such a small group of volunteers.

Despite all that WBA has done, since the beginning it just felt all wrong to me. I’ve had a hard time getting behind it and fully participating. The MA process has done such a poor job of engaging and involving the pubic in a real way. Perhaps it has been by design because recent similar mountain development projects and their surveys have overwhelmingly shown that the public wishes to see no more expansion of ski areas in the Central Wasatch. The limited feedback MA has received from the public has also been opposed to more development in the canyons. Yet what have we gotten with the Mountain Accord? Every single ski area receives lift or base area expansion! How is this in “accord”? It’s ignoring the wishes of the very people these MA decision makers and stake-holders are supposed to represent.

I respect the work that everyone at the WBA did in trying to wheel and deal and politic, but this isn’t what I signed on for. The WBA wasn’t created to jump in with Ski Utah, the ski areas, and developers to help plan resort expansion, but to oppose it and protect the backcountry.

The large majority of the local population has spoken out on many occasions and clearly stated that they wish to see no more development in the Central Wasatch. My main issue with Mountain Accord is that it isn’t listening to the public and is proposing that EVERY SINGLE SKI AREA WILL SEE NEW DEVELOPMENT with lifts or lodging! And the WBA therefore isn’t representing it’s membership by continuing along with the MA.

The counter argument is that the MA compromise will lock up land for no future development. Well, most of this land we are “getting” (Mount Superior/Flagstaff) is already highly questionable if it can even be developed in the first place. And as of now Alta isn’t giving up Grizzly without a huge list of exceptions. Seems like a huge win for the resorts. Enough chairlifts and day lodges already fill the canyons. The mountains have already been compromised enough in my view and I can’t sign off on this blueprint.

A few weeks ago the Wasatch Backcountry Alliance board discussed whether or not as a group we should endorse the final draft of the MA and whether we should continue to work with them in the planning process. I voiced my opposition, my concerns of supporting MA, and voted against endorsement. In the end, I was the sole dissenting vote. I can’t imagine standing proudly at the final signing of this MA mess and being proud of what we have done to these mountains. I have decided to resign from the WBA for the following reasons:

-I believe any changes in the Wasatch mountains should reflect what the local people want. The MA is not representing the desires of the mass majority of the people of the Wasatch Front. By its participation, the WBA is not representing the desires of the backcountry users it represents.

-I believe we should always continue to stand against unwanted development in the mountains. As nice as it sounds that the MA will put an end to future development, resorts will always want more land, more condos, more growth. Business relies on growth and enough is NEVER enough. Unless these lands are put into wilderness status someone will find a way to try and develop them. We’re supposed to believe that another “accord” won’t take place in 10 or 20 years and the ski areas won’t want another piece?

-I don’t believe in or even understand the MA planning “process”?! Having been part of it for the last few years I’m still not certain what this non-legal, non-binding MA is? We’ve all climbed on board this train and we don’t know for sure where it’s heading.

-I don’t accept that the Mountain Accord has not acknowledged climate change or taken it’s effects into account in any way. With climate change and it’s projected effects on our snow, (effects that we may already be experiencing based off the past 4 winters) does it make sense to dump tons of money on tunnels and transportation and increase development in an industry that might not exist in 20 years?

This has been a very long and drawn out decision on my part. Hopefully I’m totally wrong, but my decisions to this point feel right.  I’m OK with not pleasing others in order to stand up for what I believe in, and so this is what I’m doing now. I still believe in the reasons we formed the WBA, but maybe we don’t need an organization with a three letter acronym and  a sweet logo in order to protect the Wasatch. Maybe we just need individuals who care and are willing to speak up and act out.

Long live Wasangeles!