PROPOSED ACTION South 3000 East Salt Lake City, UT United States Department of Agriculture

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1 United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest Salt Lake Ranger District 6944 South 3000 East Salt Lake City, UT File Code: 1950/2300 Date: May 14, 2013 Dear Interested Parties: The Salt Lake Ranger District (SLRD), Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest (UWCNF), is requesting your comments on the proposed Grit Mill and Climbing Master Plan Project. The proposed project is located on the north side of State Highway 210 in Little Cottonwood Canyon. It extends from the Little Cottonwood Canyon (LCC) Park and Ride lot to the Grit Mill site, and is bordered on the north by the Twin Peaks Wilderness. As the proposed projects would involve National Forest System resources, we will analyze and disclose these effects in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) prior to deciding whether to approve them. We invite your comments regarding what environmental issues and concerns should be included in our NEPA analysis. PROPOSED ACTION The SLRD is proposing to implement a comprehensive plan to provide managed and sustainable access to climbing areas in Lower Cottonwood Canyon. The proposal includes three primary development components that are identified on the attached map. 1. Grit Mill removal & parking area development a. Demolish and remove the Grit Mill, all related out-structures, and industrial equipment, utilizing heavy equipment (track hoe/excavator). Remove debris to an appropriate offsite location. b. Construct a climbing access trailhead parking lot, including a restroom and interpretive site. The lot would be designed to accommodate approximately 35 vehicles and would be closed during the winter months. 2. Climbing Access Trail development a. Construct new trail segments Construct approximately 1.4 miles of new trail in areas without existing routes to provide sustainable access to climbing features and other existing access routes (see D below). The new trail segments, combined with the existing segments (see B below), would provide the core loop trail system and provide multi-use access to and from the Grit Mill and LCC Park and Ride trailheads. All core trail segments would become Forest Service system trails. b. Maintain existing core routes Upgrade approximately 0.7 miles of existing core routes to be consistent with Forest Service (FS) trail standards. These segments, combined with the new trail segments, discussed above, would complete the core system loop for access to and from climbing features and trailheads. Trail upgrades would include brushing and retreading to meet width and drainage standards. c. Close non-sustainable routes Close and rehabilitate approximately 0.9 miles of existing access routes that are not sustainable. These routes generally are very steep, run up and down the fall-line, are often redundant, and are highly erodible. Caring for the Land and Serving People Printed on Recycled Paper

2 d. Stabilize existing climbing access routes and belay platforms/landing pads Stabilize and maintain approximately 1.2 miles of short segments of existing routes to specific climbing features and landing pads to reduce resource impacts (erosion) to the core trail system and surrounding environment and provide sustainable access and climbing. Construct erosion control structures (water bars and check dams) and retaining walls in these areas. These routes provide access from the core trail system to specific climbing features and would not be included as FS system trails. 3. Roadside Parking Management - BACKGROUND a. Close all roadside parking between the Grit Mill and the LCC Park and Ride. The SLRD will coordinate with the Utah Dept. of Transportation (UDOT) and Unified Police Dept. (UPD) to develop a roadside parking signing and enforcement plan. The area surrounding the Grit Mill in lower LCC is an invaluable recreational resource on the Wasatch Front and has been actively used by climbers and other recreationists for over fifty years. Rock climbing has experienced a dramatic rise in popularity over the last twenty years; consequently, the user impacts on the rock climbing areas within LCC have also increased. Because no formal trail system has been established, climbers have created numerous random access routes/social trails. Many of these routes are steep, located in highly erodible areas, are unsustainable, and are often redundant. The access points to the numerous climbing and bouldering areas similarly have evolved and parking and access occur at areas on the highway that were not designed for that use and present safety issues. Numerous climbing areas are located in the Twin Peaks wilderness area and on private land owned by the Church of Jesus Crist of Latter Day Saints (LDS Church). The LDS Church has allowed climbers to park and climb on their property, though conflicts have occurred. The LDS Church has concerns regarding liability, security, and safety for its personnel and property at their storage vaults. The Grit Mill site, including the structures and abandoned equipment, have not been used for years and have recently become an unattractive nuisance as a site for graffiti and other negligent behavior. The site is currently closed to public use through a Forest Service Supervisor s Order. The disrepair and age of the facilities and equipment also pose a safety hazard for those who venture onto the site. The Grit Mill site is a predominant feature at the mouth of LCC and serves informally as the gateway to the canyon. The community has for years discussed numerous options for the site and establishment of the Wasatch Legacy Project has served as a catalyst to bring community members together to form a public/private partnership that has helped in the development of the Proposed Action discussed above. Community members include the Salt Lake Climbers Alliance, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, UDOT, UPD, Cottonwood Canyons Foundation (CCF), the LDS Church, Snowbird and Alta ski resorts, and local residents. The SLRD, and it partners are seizing the opportunity to mitigate the wide array of impacts to this valuable environment. The Proposed Action has been designed to improve sustainable recreation opportunities; provide for recreation, transportation and public safety; and to protect important resources including cultural, watershed, wildlife and vegetation. PURPOSE AND NEED The 2003 Revised Forest Plan for the Wasatch-Cache National Forest (Forest Plan) provides overarching direction, goals, standards and guidelines, and desired future conditions for all management activities on National Forest System lands. Watershed protection is a central theme for LCC and the Forest Plan recognizes the critical role in allowing a diverse range of high quality and sustainable recreation opportunities within the constraints of maintaining high quality watershed values. The Forest Plan also recognizes the challenges and the balancing of uses to protect the watershed in light of growing 2

3 populations and use. Consistent with growing use, the Forest Plan addresses the role of parking in managing capacity and supports the expansion of mass transit to address growth related transportation and parking issues. The purpose for this project is consistent with that direction and is to establish a managed system of trails, with appropriate parking, access, and restroom facilities, that facilitates sustainable climbing and other recreation opportunities for users, while minimizing impacts to the biological, physical, and social environments. The Proposed Action, consistent with this purpose, was designed to meet a number of needs, including; to provide improved access for climbers, maintain or improve scenic quality, preserve and interpret historical and cultural contexts, minimize impacts to adjacent private land owners, and address transportation issues and safety. Similarly, these needs must be met within the context of sustainable recreation and natural resource functions. PRELIMINARY ALTERNATIVES NEPA regulations require consideration of a "range of reasonable alternatives that would meet the proposal's purpose and need. As a minimum, this reasonable range must include the Proposed Action and a No Action Alternative. The No Action Alternative serves to establish baseline environmental conditions and provides a means to compare alternatives. Other alternatives may be identified as a result of the issues raised during the public comment period. Alternative 1: No Action - Under the No Action Alternative, none of the activities described under the Proposed Action would occur in the project area. The unmanaged uses in the Grit Mill and adjacent climbing areas would continue as they currently exist. No changes would occur to roadside parking or access points and routes. Alternative 2: The Proposed Action -Under the Proposed Action Alternative, the Grit Mill and climbing access routes and parking would be developed as described above. PRELIMINARY ISSUES The Forest Service Interdisciplinary Team identified the following preliminary issues to be addressed in the environmental analysis. These issues guide the formulation of alternatives and provide a framework for the effects analysis to be documented in the environmental analysis. Additional issues may be addressed in the analysis based on comments provided by the public and other entities. Preliminaries issues include effects on: Watershed and soil resources Recreation resources including unmanaged recreation use in the area and potential conflicts among users Cultural resources Transportation issues including access, parking, and traffic Wildlife, including winter range, and threatened, endangered, and sensitive species and their habitat Threatened, endangered, and sensitive plant species and noxious weeds Scenic quality Private land issues including public access, trespass, and property values DECISION TO BE MADE Cathy Kahlow, Salt Lake District Ranger of the UWCNF, is the Responsible Official for this project. Upon completion of the environmental analysis, she will decide whether and under what conditions to approve the Proposed Action or any alternative addressed in the EA. 3

4 PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT There will be several opportunities for public involvement in this NEPA process, starting with this scoping period. Scoping comments will be accepted for 30 days. Comments on this proposal must be received by the Salt Lake Ranger District by June 14, It is important that those interested in this Proposed Action participate at this time. To be most helpful, your comments should be as specific as possible and describe issues of concern. Written comments provide us a record of your concerns and will be used to identify significant issues and potentially to develop alternatives to be addressed in the environmental analysis. Electronic comments must be submitted in a format such as an message, rich text format (.rtf) or Word (.doc) to comments-intermtn-wasatch-cache-saltlake@fs.fed.us, or submit comments to: Cathy Kahlow District Ranger Salt Lake Ranger District 6944 South 3000 East Salt Lake City, UT At this point, on the basis of internal and interdisciplinary review, we anticipate that implementation of this proposal is not likely to result in significant environmental impacts, indicating that an Environmental Assessment (EA) is the appropriate level of analysis. If through scoping or our subsequent analysis we determine that significant impacts could occur, an Environmental Impact Statement may be prepared. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION This scoping notice and subsequent documentation of this NEPA process will be available on the Forest s website: For more information, please contact Cathy Kahlow, District Ranger, at or ckahlow@fs.fed.us, or Steve Scheid, Environmental Coordinator, at , or scheid@fs.fed.us. Thank you for your interest in the management of the UWCNF. Sincerely, /S/ Catherine H. Kahlow CATHERINE H. KAHLOW District Ranger Enclosures 4

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