OCR Text |
Show Little Cottcptood land swap completeliiTown of Alta I The first phase of a major land exchange ex-change involving watershed properties proper-ties in Little Cottonwood Canyon has been completed. The Wasatch-Cache National Forest, the Trust for Public Lands I and private landowners this past week have been completing the paperwork to place more than 400 acres of land at the mouth of Little Coi'onwood Canyon into public ownership. ' ' " ' k- u The i Wasatch-Cache National ' For&l Tias receiTerf(Tpreelsr land. The biggest is the property commonly called the Whitmore land at the mouth of the canyon. A second parcel is in Albion Basin, also in Little Lit-tle Cottonwood Canyon. The total acreage is 433.99 acres. The agency has given up 24 parcels totaling 3,959.36 acres. Federal law requires the exchanges ex-changes be on an appraised-value 1 ffsJnot-oncres involved. The most visible parcels given up by the Wasatch-Cache are six parcels in the Town of Alta. All contain con-tain commercial properties that have operated under permit from the Forest Service for many years. Now they are private lands and fall only under applicable codes and regulations of the Town of Alta, Salt Lake County or the State of Utah, r They are' afso'fof, the First time, J-iubject' t&lociil Arotaertt taxes . In-frcTnae"teTa In-frcTnae"teTa i Alta Lodge, Rustlers' Lodge, Gold Miner's Daughter lodge, Shallow Shaft, Deep Powder House and Canyon Ca-nyon Gallery. The other parcels are isolated tracts that have been difficult for the Forest Service to administer. Problems Pro-blems have included poor access. They were acquired primarily by ranchers who already owned sur rounding lands. The role of the Trust for Public Lands was that of bringing together the public agency and the potential buyers for the lands the Forest Service Ser-vice would dispose of, TPL is a California-based non-profit organization whose stated purpose is to "conserve land as a Jiving . resource for present and future generations." ;,; : ; ' . The project, was f a result of ajf cooperative effort with Salt Lake Ci-' ty, which, under former Mayor Ted Wilson, initiated the project to protect pro-tect Little Cottonwood Canyon from development. The city put up the in-. in-. itial money through a water bond to purchase the property. The bond would be repaid as land was exchanged ex-changed with the Forest Service and the lands were sold to private individuals. |