After long negotiations and compromise agreements hammered out between stakeholders, the Wasatch Accord plan for the Wasatch Mountains is under attack by the Republican challenger of incumbent Salt Lake County mayor Ben McAdams. GOP candidate Dave Robinson, who has a history of advocating canyon development as a representative of the Cardiff Canyon Owners Association, has made opposition to Mountain Accord a central issue of his campaign and filed a lawsuit claiming that Mountain Accord violated the Utah Open Meetings Act. On his campaign website, Robinson gripes that McAdams “proposed more federal control of our surrounding canyons and mountains.”
Well, yes, the Wasatch Mountains include public lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
Mountain Accord: mountainaccord.com
Amy Brunvand is an academic librarian who currently works in the University of Utah Sustainability Office, coordinating sustainability education, research and initiatives at the University.