Estimated read time: 6-7 minutes
COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS — Cyle Buxton has owned land in the Big Cottonwood Canyon area for 50 years, and before that, his ancestors did for 130 years.
But what good is land if you can't access it?
Jamie Kent is with the Wasatch Backcountry Alliance and has been recreating in the woodsy, remote area south of the Donut Falls Trailhead since he was a teenager.
You could say he grew up on the land, and with him, the land grew into a popular recreation destination.
"It is all been loved by so many people," Kent said.
But what good is recreation if you can't access the playground?
Normally, outdoor enthusiasts clash with private landowners — dismayed by lack of access, the no trespassing signs, the fences and gates that cut off the land they love. There has been a long history of conflict, even threats.
A folk song written by Woody Guthrie in 1940 simply stated "This Land is Your Land," but is it really?
The controversy over Cardiff Canyon
Buxton said landowners have put up tons of no trespassing signs — 780 of them — in an effort to obey U.S. Forest Service Land regulations about the area, the use of which has been in contention for more than a decade when it comes to motorized access.
Approximately 1,400 acres within the Cardiff Canyon area are privately owned — nearly 300 more acres than Brighton Ski Resort.
The backcountry terrain provides descents on Mount Superior, Cardiff Fork and Cardiac Ridge, which some backcountry skiers say are unrivaled.
At issue is an old mining road that provides entry to this land as well as private cabins — established in the late 1880s well before the U.S. Forest Service existed as an agency.
The road, however, does cross Forest Service lands, which forbids motorized access. For 12 years there was a calm achieved in that conflict in which the federal agency gave a nod to a special use permit. That permit, however, would later unravel, creating a delicate, or a bruising, fight amid negotiations — depending on who you talk to.
The Forest Service contends there were violations to the use permit, but the landowners say there was no clear path forward to mitigate those alleged violations, incidents they contend were vague and not substantiated.
Buxton said he has received 38 citations over several years for not obeying access laws, all of which were ultimately dismissed. No trespassing signs have been torn down and laws ignored by some landowners who view the area as their private playground, rules or no rules.
Now, Buxton and some of the other landowners shelved their differences with hikers and backcountry skiers and formed an unlikely alliance to negotiate the serpentine slew of regulations with the Forest Service they assert holds traditional land access at bay.
With the special use permit now lapsed, one of the most popular recreation areas is in handcuffs.
Landowners and recreationists even attempted to get advice from the Utah private property ombudsman to help negotiate a path forward, only to be turned away. It is a federal issue, after all.
Attorney Robert Tee Spjute, in a mediation document submitted last year to the private property ombudsman, outlined the problem.
"Unfortunately, over the past several years, it seems the tone by the U.S. Forest Service has shifted from one of good faith and collaboration to a negative attitude and accusations. Due to the shifting nature of the Forest Service, the CCOA (Cardiff Canyon Owners Association) decided to not renew its special use permit. The Forest Service changed the locks at the Cardiff gate, installed security cameras, and have prevented private landowners in Cardiff Canyon from accessing their property by 'normal means of transportation.'"
Spjute wants a clear understanding of the agency's expectations and an agreement that is satisfactory in meeting public rights and the private property rights of landowners — without having to be hit with what he says are unfounded violations and ambiguous expectations.
The attorney pointed to a research memo by a Forest Service official from 2001 directed to the regional forester stating the agency is under a legal obligation to provide reasonable access to landowners and cannot limit access to private landowners.
Dave Whittekiend, supervisor of the Wasatch-Uinta-Cache National Forest, which encompasses Big Cottonwood Canyon, said there have been no citations issued to Buxton in seven years and the Forest Service is without jurisdiction to control what happens on private land. While there may have been notices of noncompliance, the special use permit undertook those issues.
Dea Theodore, a Salt Lake County council member who represents the canyons areas, has tried to broker an arrangement that keeps all sides happy and provides a path forward.
But it has been frustrating for her.
"Navigating the Forest Service has been the most difficult part," she said on Oct. 28 under a spattering of rainfall amid trees desperately trying to hang on to leaves as the wind whipped around a group of landowners and others at the Donut Falls trailhead area.
Whittekiend said the negotiations have been ongoing.
"We have sent Cardiff Canyon Owners Association the application for a special use permit, and they've responded with questions and some negotiation on the terms and conditions, and we are continuing to work with them on that. Ideally, we're able to issue a special use permit that meets everybody's needs, and that's where I would like to see it land."
Efforts, frustration and hope
Theodore formed "This is Our County" to bring disparate voices to the table to deal with a diverse set of challenges that include public access in the canyons for rightful owners, public safety issues, wildfire risks, access to water and management issues and more given the proximity of the canyons to the rapidly growing Wasatch Front and the recreational access of which it proudly boasts.
But she is frustrated by the process that is involved in getting the special use permit renewed and the conditions set about by the federal agency. Whittekiend contends the federal agency is willing to get the issue resolved.
"We have the same frustrations," said Dani Poirier, director of operations with the Wasatch Back Country Alliance.
Many of the landowners and outdoor enthusiasts at a meeting on Oct. 28 said they have the same goal as the Forest Service: protect and safeguard the land that is one of the many wonders of the Wasatch canyons and a critical player in the watershed for the valleys below.
"So many people want to have access," Spjute said.
Part of the problem is being caught in the crosshairs of two different agencies, he explained. There are a couple of structures that need to be moved, but Salt Lake County says those issues need to be resolved with the Forest Service before negotiations move forward, and the Forest Service says it needs to be resolved with the county before there is any movement on the permit.
"The Forest Service would very much like to have access over the private property (on the road) and the landowners want access to their private land," he said. "I think ultimately we want a special use permit," with protections against the ambiguous citations.
Whittekiend agrees, but said he cannot speak to county requirements.
"We want to provide reasonable access under the law, and we would like to see the recreating public get the opportunity to travel legally on on some sort of access route, whatever that might be, to gain access to national forest that is above the private land."
