We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that is "dedicated to protecting the beauty and wildness of the Wasatch canyons, mountains, and foothills."
OUR ORGANIZATION
We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that is "dedicated to protecting the beauty and wildness of the Wasatch canyons, mountains, and foothills." There is a ten member board of trustees which oversees the coordination of all activities,including the enlistment and training of volunteers, writing and producing our publications, and attending meetings with resort managers, the Forest Service, etc. Save Our Canyons has a three person staff to help meet the growing need and demand for protection, but is still primarily reliant upon our wide spectrum of talented volunteers. Some people help out for a few hours here and there and others contribute almost every day of the year. Anyone can become a volunteer by signing up and attending a volunteer training session. We also have a rapidly growing membership that contributes the majority of our funding. You can become a member by signing up and paying annual dues, which are used to finance our publications and contribute toward our many other efforts. Our members receive our quarterly newsletter, appeals, invites to special events, and more!WHY WE EXIST
Salt Lake City is fantastically fortunate to have the Wasatch Range at its doorstep, with its jagged peaks, mountain lakes and beautiful forests located within a few miles of the city center. The mountains are primarily public land administered by the Forest Service, but have patented private mining claims scattered throughout. One can hike into a beautiful cirque filled with snow, trees, and blue sky, in an hour and a half from the city's edge. It is the contrast between city and nature that Save Our Canyons strives to retain. The Wasatch Range is the inland equivalent of a seacoast which deserves protection for the wildlife habitat harbored within, as well as for the millions of people who will visit but do not remain. The idea of protecting our "mountain-coast" makes sense for the long-term good of Salt Lake City whose residents and visitors depend on these mountains as an escape from the hectic city life. Five-hundred-thousand residents also utilize the water flowing out of Big and Little Cottonwood Creeks, which is praised as much for its high quality taste as the snow is for its quality skiing. The aim of our organization has, from its beginning, been the protection of this magnificent de-facto public park and all of the natural wonders contained within against excessive commercial and residential development. The threat never goes away, and the pace at which new developments and schemes on public and private land arise intensifies every year especially at present when the population of Salt Lake Valley is growing rapidly.
WHAT WE DO
Save Our Canyons strives to educate the public and further the goals of protecting the natural environments around Salt Lake City. We achieve this through active involvement in planning processes at city, county, state, and federal levels. We raise awareness on issues of concern through various outlets. We publish a quarterly newsletter edited by Alexis Kelner. The Save Our Canyons radio show airs on KRCL (90.9 FM) Sunday at 2:00pm. Additionally, we inform the media of events affecting the Wasatch Mountains as they arise. In past years, a large part of our effort went into the federal NEPA process. All four major ski resorts submitted Master Development Plans which were required to go through Environmental Analysis, including a "scoping" document, a "Draft Environmental Impact Statement" and "Final Environmental Impact Statement". This process can take one or more years to complete. We also spend substantial time and energy working with local government entities, and their staff and elected officials, as approximately 20% of the land mass in the Wasatch Mountains is privately owned and, therefore, under the jurisdiction of these local government bodies. Another of our major activities is the effort to get citizens actively involved in public land issues. We accomplish this through our extensive volunteering program.Presently, in cooperation with Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities, Salt Lake County and many other stake holders, we are pursuing significant expansions of existing congressionally mandated Wilderness Areas in the central Wasatch. Save Our Canyons played crucial roles in the enactment of the existing Lone Peak, Twin Peaks and Mount Olympus Wilderness Areas and believes that the proposed expansions are essential to the continued protection of Salt Lake City's watershed.
