Trails Utah

“Expenses promotion 1,994 office expenses 92 business tax & license 95 dues & memberships 157 account fees 172 insurance 1,038 staff meetings 108 total 3,656”

“Trails utah is an organization dedicated trails advocacy, planning, funding and building in needed areas throughout utah.”

“Grit mill climbing trail project - in 2017 trails utah conducted the second phase of the grit mill climbing trail project in coordination with our partners the salt lake climbers alliance and the salt lake ranger district of the uinta-wasatch-cache national forest. In this phase we contracted with a professional trail building company, singletrack trails, based in colorado to help us construct approximately .6 miles of a trail through exceedingly steep, rough, rocky terrain. While about a third of the work was able to be accomplished using a specialized mini-excavator, the remainder had to be done by hand. The work done by hand involved moving many large granite rocks into place to create stairs and hardened trail surfaces. The result is a stunningly well-crafted trail that connects the previous year's alpenboch loop trail with an area up canyon that will eventually become a parking area and upper access for the grit mill climbing area.”

“Desolation trail rehabilitation project - completion of the desolation trail rehabilitation project was also achieved in 2017. This project involved the rehabilitation, and in some places re-establishment, a hiking trail within the mt. Olympus wilderness area of the uinta-wasatch-cache national forest. The length of the entire project was almost nine miles. The section completed in 2017 was approximately 2.7 miles and extended from porter pass, accessed through millcreek canyon, and extended southwest to thayne's canyon. Trails utah applied for a grant through utah state park's recreational trail program and was able to match funds from salt lake county to get this important backcountry trail project completed. Crews from the utah conservation corps were hired to do the work which involved packing in tools, camping gear and supplies to remote locations along the route. Water was generously packed in with the help of utah's backcountry horsemen.”

“Mineral fork trail project - trails utah partnered with the salt lake ranger district (slrd) and utah state parks in 2017 to reopen the mineral fork trail in big cottonwood canyon (sl county), which had been closed due to rock fall. This trail is important to the slrd and utah state parks as it is the only trail in the central wasatch that is open to motorized travel. Trails utah provided funding to the fs to help drill and blast hanging boulders and rock debris and hired skyline contractors to come up with earth moving equipment to remove the debris pile, re- establish the trail tread and stabilize the slope above and below the improved trail.”

“Foothill trail system - trails utah also saw success in 2017 in the area of planning. Grant money raised through a local foundation enabled tu to conduct a year of stakeholder meetings that brought together the university of utah, utah state parks, salt lake city municipal, the state's primary land conservation organization, utah open lands, and numerous other interested parties to create a shared vision for a foothill trail system running north to south through the north eastern foothills of the salt lake valley. Because of the consensus that was developed through the process salt lake city stepped forward and committed to funding a comprehensive trail master planning effort with hired professional planners. That plan, which involved significant community input, has since been completed and was recently approved and funded by the salt lake city council. This new trail system will add 73 miles of trail to the existing trail system, create several new trailheads, put a needed management program in place and become a significant recreational resource for both residents and visitors of salt lake city. Bonneville shoreline trail - another significant and ongoing advocacy effort conducted by trails utah involved the central wasatch national conservation and recreation area legislation. In this bill, sponsored and introduced by jason chaffetz, utah's congressman from the 2nd district in 2016, new wilderness in the wasatch mountains is to be created and existing wilderness boundaries are to be amended to allow for a shared-use bonneville shoreline trail (bst). The bst, planned and embraced by communities around the salt lake valley and beyond, was envisioned as a non-motorized urban-interface trail available to foot traffic and mountain bikers linking neighborhoods together throughout northern utah. Trails utah, through study and field work, identified retractions described in the bill could not, in fact, support a shared use trail because of geographic and private property constraints. We submitted our findings in testimony on the bill to the house resources committee and had to oppose the bill in its current form. We have since joined a coalition with other trail organizations, conservation organizations, the forest service, and other stakeholders to make sure that when the bill is re-introduced it contains wilderness boundary retractions that can adequately accommodate both hikers and bikers along the bst.”