Cyle Buxton has owned land in the Big Cottonwood Canyon area for 50 years, and before that his ancestors had owned land for 130 years.

But what good is land if we can’t access it?

Jamie Kent is part of the Wasatch Backcountry Alliance and has been recreating in the remote, wooded 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 became a popular recreational destination.

“So many people loved it all,” Kent said.

But what’s the point of recreation if you can’t get to the playground?

Normally, outdoor enthusiasts clash with private landowners – dismayed by lack of access, no-property signs, fences and gates that cut off the land they love. There is a long history of conflict, even threats.

A folk song written by Woody Guthrie in 1940 simply said, “This land is your land,” but is that really the case?

The Cardiff Canyon controversy

Buxton said landowners have put up tons of no-trespassing signs — 780 of them — in an effort to comply with U.S. Forest Service Land regulations regarding the area — the use of which has been controversial for over of a decade in terms of motorized access.

About 1,400 acres in the Cardiff Canyon area are privately owned, almost 300 acres more than Brighton Ski Resort.

The backcountry terrain offers runs on Mount Superior, Cardiff Fork and Cardiac Ridge, which some backcountry skiers say are second to none.

At issue is an old mining road that provides access to these lands as well as private cabins — established in the late 1880s, long before the U.S. Forest Service existed as an agency.

The road, however, crosses Forest Service land, which prohibits motorized access. For 12 years, this conflict was calm in which the federal agency granted a special use permit. That permit, however, would later collapse, creating a delicate, even deadly, struggle amid the negotiations – depending on who you talk to.

The Forest Service says there have been use permit violations, but landowners say there was no clear path to mitigate these alleged violations, with the incidents they say being vague and unsubstantiated.

Buxton said he received 38 citations over several years for failing to comply with access laws, all of which were ultimately dismissed. No no-property signs have been torn down and the laws have been ignored by some landowners who view the area as their private playground, with or without rules.

Today, Buxton and some other landowners have put aside their differences with hikers and cross-country skiers and formed an unlikely alliance to negotiate the serpentine series of regulations with the Forest Service that they say maintains access traditional to remote lands.

With the special use permit now expired, one of the most popular recreational areas is handcuffing.

Landowners and recreationists even tried to get advice from Utah’s Private Property Ombudsman to help them negotiate a path forward, but were turned away. After all, this is a federal issue.

Lawyer Robert Tee Spjute, in a mediation paper submitted last year to the Private Property Ombudsman, outlined the problem.

“Unfortunately, over the past several years, it appears that the tone of the U.S. Forest Service has shifted from one of good faith and collaboration to one of negative attitude and finger-pointing. Due to the changing nature of the Forest Service, the CCOA (Cardiff Canyon Owners Association) has decided not to renew its special use permit. The Forest Service changed the locks on the Cardiff Gate, installed security cameras, and blocked 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 a satisfactory agreement that respects the public rights and private property rights of landowners – without having to be hit with what he sees as unfounded violations and ambiguous expectations .

The attorney pointed to a 2001 research memo written by a Forest Service official to the regional forester that said the agency had a legal duty to provide reasonable access to landowners and could not limit the access to private landowners.

Dave Whittikiend, supervisor of the Wasatch-Uinta-Cache National Forest that encompasses Big Cottonwood Canyon, said no citations had been issued to Buxton in seven years and the Forest Service had no jurisdiction to control what took place on private land. Although there may have been notices of non-compliance, the special use permit took care of those issues.

Dea Theodore, a Salt Lake County council member who represents the canyon areas, tried to negotiate an arrangement that satisfied all parties and paved the way for the future.

But it was frustrating for her.

“Navigating the Forest Service has been the hardest part,” she said Monday in splashing rain amid trees desperately trying to hold on to their leaves as wind blew around a group of landowners and others at the Donut Falls trailhead.

Whittikiend said negotiations were ongoing.

“We sent the Cardiff Canyon Owners Association a request for a special use permit, and they responded with questions and negotiations on terms and conditions, and we continue to work with them on this. Ideally, we are able to issue a special use permit that meets everyone’s needs, and that’s where I would like to see it go.

Efforts, frustration and hope

Theodore formed “This is Our County” to bring disparate voices to the table to address a diverse set of challenges that include public access to the canyons for rightful owners, public safety concerns, risks of wildfires, water access and management issues and more. the canyons’ proximity to the rapidly growing Wasatch Front and the recreational access it proudly boasts.

But she is frustrated by the process involved in getting the special use permit renewed and the conditions set by the federal agency. Whittikiend says federal agency ready to address problem

“We have the same frustrations,” said Dani Poirier, director of operations for the Wasatch Back Country Alliance.

Many landowners and outdoor enthusiasts at Monday’s meeting said they have the same goal as the Forest Service: to protect and safeguard the land that is one of the many wonders of the Wasatch Canyons and a vital player of the watershed of the valleys below.

“So many people want access to it,” Spjute said.

Part of the problem is the crosshairs of two different agencies, he said. There are a few 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, but the Forest Service says those issues need to be resolved with the County before negotiations move forward. there is any movement on the ground. permit.

“The Forest Service would very much like to have access to private property (on the road) and landowners want access to their private land,” he said. “I think ultimately we want a special use permit,” with protections against ambiguous citations.

Whittikiend agreed, but said he couldn’t speak to the county’s requirements.

“We want to provide reasonable access under the law, and we would like to see the recreational public have the opportunity to travel legally on some sort of access road, whatever it may be, to access the national forest that is located above the private forest. land.”