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Show MAY OLYMPIcs Olypnepyres Will Be - YES! Environmentally By Mickey Gallivan prised to learn of Salt Lake City’s six comprehensive environmental studies for the Winter Olympics conducted during the past 10 years. During this period, all of the venues and lands affected in hosting the Games have undergone detailed environmental investigation and appropriate precautions have been taken to pro- i! and when Salt Lake City, Park City and the Ogden Valley host the Winter Olympic Games, three constants will remain once the Olympic flame is doused global festival concluded of and of winter in February 16-day the sports has of 2002 Utah will be left with a mountain gold-medal memories. And _ its tect particularly most prized natural resources — the environment and the quality of life — will remain intact Hosting the 2002 Winter Olympics would be a unique opportunity to showcase Utah, a golden Opportunity of to prominence training and enhance as its environmental safeguards already are in place to ensure that conducting the Games leaves no lasting scars on our homeland. One of the primary unfounded fears as Salt Lake City finalized its bid for the 1998 Winter Olympics, and subsequently the 2002 Games, was that fragile forests and mountain landscapes would be irreparably altered by such an ambitious underYet, environmental areas. Salt Lake Feasibility the Olympic City and Study of Winter Games” was the first major environmental study undertaken by the bid committee in preparation for bidding to host the 1998 Winter Games, which were awarded to Nagano, Japan. The Mickey Gallivan taking. sensitive The “1994 of Utah Hosting sports center. For 16 days in 2002, the world here, will be welcome and be assured State position a winter recreation Sound sensitivi- ty has been the watchword since Salt Lake City Bid Committee began exploring potential sites Winter Olympic events. Many Utahns have been the first for sur- Environmental Quality Impact Analysis Committee was coordinated by the USDA Forest Service and included representatives f from the Utah Society Our Sierra and Club, Audubon Save Canyons (pri- vate ecology interest groups). he study included a \ neers the MINING MEMORABILIA such as tools, equipment, clothing, photographs, or old film footage you might like to donate, loan or sell? For display at United Park City Mines new museum. Call Marianne at 649-9613 The 1989 Management es that Bid the biathlon, and Nordic States to establish if — —_< Canyons combined ski- 12 clearly express- strict environmen- tal and cultural requirements on all development, including Tr any remodeling. The F Sialom, giant slalom and freestyle venue at the Deer Valley and Park City Ski Areas fall under the environmen- Sf ing venue at Mountain Dell Park fall under this plan. The proposal pioPAGE Code” the environmental philosophy is endorsed by the Salt Lake City Committee. Park City was one of first communities in the United —s “Wasatch that 1992 “Snyderville Basin Plan and Development Code” was a milestone in the legacy of environmentally based land use in the Winter Sports Park area. Planning and construction of the bobsled, luge and ski jumps venue followed the environmental provisions of the plan and code. The 1994 “Park City Land \ Master Plan” adopted and expanded on the policies in the Watershed Management Plan. The crosscountry, land consider- The General \) examination of the environment, ranging from wilderness areas and endangered species to transportation and energy resources. Eighteen public hearings and workshops were held to address the concerns and issues of the public. The final recommendation concluded that Big and Little Cottonwood Canyon watershed areas were too fragile to be used as Olympic alpine skiing venues. Other locations possessing equal qualifications were suggested. Another study in 1988, the “Salt Lake City Watershed Management Plan,” was initiated at the request of the bid committee. It represented the first comprehensive statement of environmental values and land use by a governing body in the area. The plan confirmed that Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons housed fragile watershed and that alternative Olympic alpine skiing venues should be implemented. of requirements are built on environmental ations. tal protections of this code. Lastly, the 1 9 2 “Environmental Assessment for Mt. comprehensive Do you have establishment use/development ey yt SLC 1995 Ogden’s Chairlift and Downhill Race Corridor” established environmental guidelines for the downhill and super-G venue at Snowbasin Ski Area on lands. the After hearings conducted by National Environmental Protection National Agency, Forest it was Service deter- mined that thesdownhill and superG runs are not on undeveloped land and that alterations would add safety features for the recreational skier while preparing the sites as Olympic venues. “From day one, preserving the integrity of the land on which we all live has been our primary concern,” emphasizes Thomas K. Welch, Salt Lake City Bid Committee president. “The environment and ecology, especially in the mountains, is special to all of us. It is our legacy to our children.” Ws also points out that one of the strengths of Salt Lake City’s bid is that virtually all of the infrastructure exists. Hockey and figure skating will be contested at the Delta Center. The Ogden/Weber ice Continued on page 18 |
