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- Sen. Kathleen Riebe proposes creating state parks in Big and Little Cottonwood canyons.
- The bill seeks federal cooperation for land trades and facility acquisitions, with early support.
- Concerns exist about its impact on a planned gondola to ease canyon traffic.
SALT LAKE CITY — A state senator wants to work with the federal government on land trades and facility acquisitions to create two new state parks — one for Big Cottonwood Canyon and another for Little Cottonwood Canyon.
SB236 by Sen. Kathleen Riebe, D-Salt Lake City, authorizes the state Division of State Parks to receive donations of land and facilities; engage in transfers, exchanges or purchases of land in Big Cottonwood Canyon and Little Cottonwood Canyon; and enter into agreements with the U.S. Forest Service to manage and use land within those areas as state parks as part of the Utah State Park system.
The bill is in the Senate and has not had a hearing, having barely been introduced, but there is early support.
"That's a bill I hadn't heard of, but that would be exciting to do. I think we may see that eye to eye. We're actually asking the federal government to actually give us the unappropriated land so we can do exactly that in the state. We've got a lawsuit that the Supreme Court didn't take up," said Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton.
"So we think we can control our lands better than the federal government. A lot of that area would be probably federally owned. So this is something we may be really aligned on. This is the first I've heard of the bill, but I think I'm pretty excited about it," he added.
Senate Majority Leader Kirk Cullimore, R-Sandy, whose district includes part of the canyons, was also enthusiastic.
"I wasn't aware of the bill up to this point. But if we want to put it under state control and designate it as a state park so that we can better address some of the solutions and some of the issues that we're dealing with in those canyons, that could be an interesting discussion," he said.
The canyons are highly popular due to their close proximity to Wasatch Front residents.
The cottonwoods, along with Millcreek Canyon, received roughly 3.2 million visitors per year in an area spanning about 80,000 acres.
By comparison, Arches National Park — one of Utah's beloved national parks — receives about 1.8 million visitors per year, according to a visitor use study from last year.
Sen. Jerry Stevenson, R-Layton, was a bit more cautious.
"In any of these negotiations, the devil is always in the details. The overall concept looks really good, but we'll see how it negotiates out," he said.
One lawmaker questioned if the state parks proposal is a way to circumvent a 2023 decision by the Utah Department of Transportation to pursue building a gondola to ease the canyon's notorious traffic congestion.
The gondola is expected to reduce motorized use of the canyon by 30%.
The plan calls for tolling and increased bus service in its first phase, as well as a mobility hub with 1,500 parking stalls by Big Cottonwood Canyon. New snow sheds are included in a second phase to address avalanche safety before a possible gondola is built. The 8-mile gondola line would offer service to Snowbird and Alta from a base with 2,500 parking spaces at the mouth of the canyon.
Cox has said the state should not be the only entity bearing the costs of the gondola.
It is unclear what impact, if any, Riebe's bill would have on that process.
Contributing: Brigham Tomco
