II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1883 

To provide for the sale of approximately 30 acres of Federal land in UintaWasatch-Cache National Forest in Salt Lake County, Utah, to permit 

the establishment of a minimally invasive transportation alternative called 

‘‘SkiLink’’ to connect 2 ski resorts in the Wasatch Mountains, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 17, 2011 

Mr. HATCH (for himself and Mr. LEE) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To provide for the sale of approximately 30 acres of Federal 

land in Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest in Salt 

Lake County, Utah, to permit the establishment of a 

minimally invasive transportation alternative called 

‘‘SkiLink’’ to connect 2 ski resorts in the Wasatch Mountains, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wasatch Range Recre5 ation Access Enhancement Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds that— 

3 (1) there is interest in providing direct public 

4 access between the Wasatch Range front and back 

5 in the State of Utah by linking ski resorts in the 

6 area by means of a skier transport, lift, or tramway; 

7 (2) the primary ski resorts in the Wasatch 

8 Range in Utah are situated within a 5 mile radius, 

9 but currently there is no convenient transportation 

10 link between the resorts; 

11 (3) The Canyons Ski Resort and Solitude 

12 Mountain Resort have proposed a public access 

13 transportation connection through construction of a 

14 minimally invasive transportation alternative, called 

15 ‘‘SkiLink’’, which would cross approximately 30 

16 acres of the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest 

17 from private land at The Canyons Ski Resort in 

18 Summit County, Utah, to private land at Solitude 

19 Mountain Resort in Big Cottonwood Canyon, Utah; 

20 (4) the land and resource management plan for 

21 the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest prohibits 

22 new alpine ski lifts on National Forest System land; 

23 (5) despite efforts by the Utah Department of 

24 Transportation, the Wasatch Front Regional Coun25 cil, and the Utah Transit Authority to increase tran26 sit and carpool access in Big Cottonwood Canyon, 


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1 daily traffic on winter weekends ranges between 

2 8,000 and 9,000 vehicles per day; 

3 (6) studies show that the establishment of the 

4 SkiLink would reduce ski season vehicle traffic be5 tween The Canyons Resort and Solitude Mountain 

6 Resort by as many as 18,000 cars per year or 

7 1,000,000 fewer miles driven per year, and the 

8 amount of the reduction is expected to increase over 

9 time; 

10 (7) SkiLink would produce immediate traffic 

11 benefits, including a reduction in PM 2.5 and other 

12 emissions in Parley’s Canyon and Big Cottonwood 

13 Canyons; 

14 (8) a preliminary environmental review of the 

15 proposed SkiLink corridor assessed the potential im16 pact of SkiLink on special status species, water 

17 quality and watershed resources, and visual re18 sources and found that no federally listed species or 

19 critical habitat would be affected and that any 

20 water, plant, and wildlife issues could be addressed 

21 through mitigation; 

22 (9) minimally invasive, environmentally sound 

23 construction techniques would be used to construct 

24 SkiLink, including the use of helicopters for concrete 

25 placement and tower installations; 


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1 (10) the winter sport industry in Utah is a sig2 nificant contributor to the economy of Utah, with 

3 the ski/snowboarding industry bringing 

4 $1,260,000,000 to Utah during the 2009/2010 ski 

5 season and resulting in 20,000 jobs; and 

6 (11) economic analysis of SkiLink shows it 

7 would infuse another $50,000,000 a year into 

8 Utah’s economy and create 500 new jobs in the 

9 tourism and hospitality industries by creating the 

10 largest interconnected ski network in the United 

11 States and providing access to more than 6,000 

12 acres of ski terrain. 

13 SEC. 3. CONVEYANCE OF NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LAND, 

14 UINTA-WASATCH-CACHE NATIONAL FOREST, 

15 SALT LAKE COUNTY, UTAH. 

16 (a) CONVEYANCE REQUIRED; PURPOSE.—Subject to 

17 subsection (e), the Secretary of Agriculture shall convey, 

18 by sale, to Canyons-SkiLink, LLC, all right, title, and in19 terest of the United States in and to a parcel of National 

20 Forest System Land in the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache Na21 tional Forest in Salt Lake County, Utah, consisting of ap22 proximately 30 acres, as identified on the map entitled 

23 ‘‘SkiLink parcels, November 2011’’, for the purpose of 

24 permitting Canyons-SkiLink, LLC, to construct a ski-lift, 

25 gondola, or tramway to serve as a public-access transporVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:56 Nov 19, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1883.IS S1883

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1 tation interconnection of the Wasatch Front and the 

2 Wasatch Back Mountains. 

3 (b) CONSIDERATION.—As consideration for the con4 veyance of the National Forest System land under sub5 section (a), Canyons-SkiLink, LLC, shall pay to the Sec6 retary of Agriculture an amount equal to at least the fair 

7 market value of the Federal land as of the date of enact8 ment of this Act. 

9 (c) DETERMINATION OF FAIR MARKET VALUE.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The fair market value of the 

11 National Forest System land to be conveyed under 

12 subsection (a) shall be based on an appraisal accept13 able to the Secretary of Agriculture. 

14 (2) DEADLINE.—The appraisal shall be com15 pleted not later than 180 days after the date of en16 actment of this Act. 

17 (d) REVERSIONARY INTEREST.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary of Agri19 culture determines at any time that the National 

20 Forest System land conveyed under subsection (a) 

21 has not been used for a period of 10 years or longer 

22 in accordance with the purpose of the conveyance all 

23 right, title, and interest in and to the conveyed land, 

24 including any improvements thereto shall, at the op25 tion of the Secretary of Agriculture, revert to and 


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1 become the property of the United States, the 

2 United States shall have the right of immediate 

3 entry onto the land. 

4 (2) DETERMINATION.—A determination by the 

5 Secretary of Agriculture under this subsection shall 

6 be made on the record after an opportunity for a 

7 hearing. 

8 (e) ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE.—In making the 

9 conveyance under this section, the Secretary of Agri10 culture shall complete all actions that may be required 

11 under— 

12 (1) the National Environmental Policy Act of 

13 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); 

14 (2) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 

15 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); and 

16 (3) any other applicable laws. 

Æ 


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