The ambitious plan to connect seven ski resorts in Utah鈥檚 Central Wasatch Mountains, dubbed One Wasatch, could be postponed under a new proposal from . The plan seeks to preserve the watershed, address transportation needs, and maintain all recreational uses of the mountains.
Under Mountain Accord鈥檚 plan, an environmentally sustainable system of buses or trains would connect ski resorts, and development would be limited to urban areas and within the ski resorts鈥 existing boundaries, . Mountain Accord鈥檚 executive committee is made up of elected officials and members of government agencies, businesses, and nonprofits.
鈥淲e are basically preserving most of the backcountry terrain as it is today,鈥 Laynee Jones, Mountain Accord鈥檚 planning manager, told Fox 13. 鈥淭here are some minor areas that may change.鈥
that the proposal could throw a wrench into One Wasatch鈥檚 plans to connect the resorts via gondola, render off-limits some areas the resorts had hoped to develop, and require land swaps that would result in some resorts giving up about 2,000 acres of private land for public protection. Nathan Rafferty, president of Ski Utah, told KUER that he doesn鈥檛 think Mountain Accord completely ruins the One Wasatch plan. 鈥淚 think everything is still on the table,鈥 he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 excited that we鈥檙e talking about some of these big issues. I think Mountain Accord is doing a super job of negotiating some pretty tricky waters.鈥
鈥淲hen you look at the whole picture of the blueprint, there鈥檚 wins for the resorts, there鈥檚 wins for backcountry skiers, there鈥檚 wins for the residents of Salt Lake, but everybody鈥檚 had to make compromises,鈥 Jones told KUER.
Three public meetings are planned this month to allow feedback on the Mountain Accord proposal. The executive board will meet in April to sign a formal agreement to implement the plan.