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Show FEBRUARY Environmentalists Win 1997 at Little Dell Continued from page 9 ters Some critics have called the selection of Little Dell a “bait and switch” by host large numbers of spectators. ther away and that will impact our abil- According to an SLOC document known as a “request for proposal” for an environmental assessment, the Olympic site would need a temporary grandstand for 10,000 people and on- ity to organize the sport, says Aalberg. “If the site is one hour away, it will be used on the weekend but not much during the week. It limits our potential,” he said. nother member of TUNA, Dave Hanscom noted that summer the SLOC. Among them is Tom Berggren from the Salt Lake City-based Save Our Canyons group. “If you click on the SLOC web site, wonderful _ site you see what a (Mountain Dell Golf Course) is,” Berggren notes. “But now they're saying it isn’t good enough . . . It looks like there has been a bait and switch.” hat theme is echoed by other environmentalists. Ann Wechsler, chair of the Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club, was a member of an advisory group to the Olympic Bid Committee and is a member of the Little Dell Working Group. “We selected the golf course because it was the least controversial of all the venues,” she said, recalling Salt Lake City’s efforts to capture the Winter Games. “We had no idea there was going to be a controversy at the Mountain Dell site. But the athletes said it won't do,” she added. The crux of the Little Dell issue is this: As a carrot to gain support, Olympic boosters promised Utahns permanent facilities for winter sports. Those included ski jumps, bobsled tracks, ice rinks and a place for crosscountry and biathlon competitions. Crosscountry enthusiasts were slated to receive $17 million in permanent facilities. “They looked beyond the golf course and coveted that Little Dell site,” Wechsler explains of the SLOC plans. “It is not developed and they could develop it as a permanent facili- ty.” But environmentalists warned against permanent facilities at the Little Dell site. They fear buildings, parking lots, noise and a constant crush of humanity would disturb wildlife and damage the watershed. What has been missed in news reports as the drama unfolded is that Salt Lake City has already laid plans for substantial and permanent summer-use facilities in the area, including a large parking lot, visitors center, boat launches, toilets and other permanent buildings. “This is a de-facto park next to an exploding population,” Wechsler said. “We need to keep as much open space as possible.” It was the FIS, the International Federation of Skiing, which pressured SLOC to abandon the golf course, said Ivan Weber, another member working group. But Weber maintains that stantial track facility, at Little parking Dell would lot be of a and the sub- ski “horren- dous” impacts on the fragile environment there. “Humans penetrating in an area like this will displace wildlife,” he said, noting the track would be 20 kilome- long, 35-feet wide and set up to course areas for an additional 10,000 spectators. But crosscountry and biathlon enthusiasts want a permanent facility, as promised. That could include a shooting range, buildings for ski preparation and housing of trailgrooming equipment, a warming hut or lodge, and a parking lot. “To put in permanent facilities in that area seems impossible environmental perspective,” Odell, an environmentalist and member of the working group. He described the Little Dell area as prime riparian habitat, home to deer, moose, beaver, bobcats, badgers, ducks and cutthroat trout. “They identified a very fragile site. I don’t think they understood that,” he said. Although skiers and environmentalists had different notions about Little Dell, they were more than concilia- tory to each from said an Wes appointed. “It looks like it will be far- facilities, including a large parking lot are planned just east of the Little president Utah at Mountain would be Dell like holding Golf skating But unlike Aalberg and other mem- According to a draft of the “Little Dell Lake Project,” summer use includes a parking lot for 200 cars, 56 skiers these they world Guetschow plays of potential sites City. “I think that the crosscountry down distant whervenue, will come. In Italy and Germany, venues are in little villages and crank out world champion after champion,” she explained. Noting that $17 million is slated for a crosscountry and biathlon venue, Guetschow says it provides a golden opportunity for enthusiasts. “If you look at the growth of the sport, we have to have a world-class facility. You can build the best site in the world for $17 million.” Juggling all the balls that make up organizing an Olympics is no easy task. But that is what Dave Johnson, senior vice president for SLOC, has in front of him. He seemed to take the controver- sy over Nordic Alliance (TUNA), a crosscountry skiing organization. “We had been supporting Little Dell because that’s how we believe we could grow the sport. Because it’s close to Salt Lake City, we were hoping it would all work out,” Aalberg explained. With Olympic organizers now looking biathlon events on a frozen lake. It would be disrespectful to the athletes.” bers of TUNA, the negatives from Salt Lake ever you put other, of The and Course Dell Reservoir. It’s hard to believe that the skiing track would add much impact to the summer use, Hanscom said. The environmentalists said they wanted the skiers to have permanent facilities. “We would like to find a site that is suitable for the long-term skiers legacy,” said Odell. For their part, the skiers said they understood where the environmentalDavid Alexander, left, and Bjorn Flora skate ski at ists were coming Solitude’s Nordic track in Big Cottonwood Canyon. from. And despite their desire for a permanent crosscounpicnic tables, 2.13 miles of trails, ty site near Salt Lake City, they didn’t two boat ramps, a visitor's center of want to fight the environmentalists for 2,000 to 4,000 square feet, a small Little Dell. education center and other toilet facili“It's disappointing but we underties. stand the issues,” said John Aalberg, “The environmentalists may have vice Little Dell. Therefore, I didn’t think we should be there,” she said. A two-time Olympian now residing in Park City, Guetschow noted that the Mountain Dell Golf Course was simply unacceptable. “To host crosscountry farther afield, including sites near Snow Basin, east of Ogden, and Squaw Peak near Provo, some crosscountry enthusiasts are somewhat dis- PAGE burned the SLOC. But they really burned the crosscountry — skiers,” Hanscom said. Still, crosscountry skiers would rather have a permanent facility near Ogden or Provo than none at all. Former Olympic biathlete, Joan Guetschow was among the first of the skiers to voice opposition to Little Dell once environmental concerns were raised. “My feeling from the working group was that the environmentalists are concerned about the impacts at 10 < Little Dell like just another mogul on the long run to 2002. “The most important thing we are doing right now is finding the best place for a biathlon and crosscountry venue. It has been our goal to use the capital and advantage of the Olympic Games to facilitate a permanent legacy,” he said. ohnson insists that environmental concerns are foremost in the criteria for a crosscountry site. Other considerations include proximity to the athletes Olympic village and property ownership, among others. Although earlier reports noted July 1 as the deadline for site selection, Johnson says there is still plenty of time. “Our time frame is very simple. We want to test it the year before (2002),” he said noting that the organization wanted to allow 2 1/2 years for construction. “We need to be underway in 1999. We have time Johnson said. It still remains to do unclear it right,” why the Mountain Dell Golf Course was selected in the first place. But Johnson explained that immediately after the 2002 Winter Games had been awarded to Salt Lake City, experts began review- ing Mountain new Dell and looking for a site. “What we started doing after we won the bid, was bring in technical experts from FIS and biathlon to inspect the venue more clearly,” he recalled. After scouring the area for potential sites, the skiers proposed Little Dell, Johnson said, noting that the 1989 World Cup at the golf course was a near-disaster. @ |