Some groups fear plan to locate Games venue in canyon will hurt wildlife. Elk,'' he said with a satisfied smile. Odell tells the reporter accompanying him on a recent hike that he's spotted the massive animals themselves lumbering through the canyons above the Little Dell reservoir near I-80, just 40 miles from downtown Salt Lake City. The area, part of Salt Lake City's major watershed, has already been approved for limited recreational use.
Plans call for picnic tables, boat launches, trails and other amenities.
But it's a proposal by Olympic organizers to move the cross-country and biathlon venue from the golf course to the canyons that Odell and other environmentalists fear will destroy their peaceful oasis. Odell's group, Save Our Canyons, has come out against using the canyons for the Olympics. So have representatives from the Sierra Club, Audubon Society and Trout Unlimited. Olympic organizers had bid for the 1998 and 2002 Winter Games with a plan to use the nearby Mountain Dell Golf Course for the extensive courses and facilities needed to host the cross-country and biathlon events. Now the Salt Lake Organizing Committee has decided the Little Dell Recreation Area above the golf course would be better because it gets more snow and wouldn't have to be restored after the Games end.