Hi folks, Following is a recap of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail Open House. This was a working meeting designed to get input on completing an almost 25-mile section of the BST from the mouth of Parley's Canyon to Hidden Valley Park in Sandy. You can view a map of the proposed alignments at http://soboko.com/bst/bstmap.jpg. The Forest Service said they should have the whole BST plan available on their website for viewing by next week. There were about 60 people at the meeting. The meeting was facilitated by Baer West, a consulting firm that is performing the same function as Landmark Design has done on the Emigration project. The format of the Open House was similar although more organized. We were split into three groups with moderators who elicited and then wrote down comments. The comments were almost identical to those we have heard on our project. In fact, I could have stood up there and written them down myself. The NIMBY mindset generates a very specific set of self-serving concerns, some of which are valid, many were not. Some of these concerns included "undesirable people coming into our neighborhood", "our streets weren't built to handle the parking", "it will bring our property values down", etc. The same group also voiced environmental concerns - "what about the wildlife", "we live in a flood plain, what about the erosion, there will be too much scarring of the hillside." Of those attending, I'd say that a majority were opposed to building the trail, period. Most of those opposed were property owners near Olympus Cove and the mouth of Millcreek Canyon. I expected a far better showing from bikers, hikers, and outdoor enthusiasts in general to be there, but there were just a few of us. Given that the proposal to complete this section of trail would allow trails enthusiasts to ride, run, hike or bike from North Salt Lake all the way to Sandy, I would have thought there would have been more people there in support. In talking with some of the Forest Service personnel and other land managers from the area, it is becoming quite clear that if trail users do not start speaking up, access to public land and open space is going to be decided by those who are lucky enough to live adjacent to it. Please take a second, right NOW to send an email to the addresses listed below stating your support for: 1) The completion of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail as a needed county-wide recreational amenity. 2) The need for more trails and more trail funding in Salt Lake County and the state. 3) The preservation of access to public lands and open space at the fringes of our communities. We simply cannot afford to be complacent and let these decisions be made for us. If we do the access to the outdoors we have always enjoyed and has made this place a great place to live will go away. Soon we will be nothing more than a city of concrete and fences next to the mountains. Comments regarding the development of this 25-mile section of the BST are being taken until April 17th. Please send your comments to: comments-intermts-wasatch-cache-saltlake@fs.fed.us. They can also be sent to Steve Scheid, Environmental Coordinator for the Salt Lake Ranger District, at sscheid@fs.fed.us. We all owe the people who have helped to create the Bonneville Shoreline Trail we now enjoy and they deserve our support. They have helped me a great deal in getting the Emigration trails proposal to where we are now. Please send in your comments TODAY! Sarah Bennett Alley Friends of Emigration Canyon Trails & Open Space 64 N. Silver Oak Rd. SLC, UT 84108 H 801.583.8144 C 801.550.0676 _______________________________________________ mbac-list mailing list mbac-list@aros.net http://www.aros.net/mailman/listinfo/mbac-list SLC Bike Page: http://www.slcgov.com/bike Salt Lake County Bike Page: http://www.slcbac.org/