Salt Lake Mayor Palmer DePaulis asked a House panel Thursday to approve a land swap between his city and the U.S. Forest Service to better manage four Wasatch canyons. The Senate already approved the swap in January.
DePaulis told the House Interior Subcommittee on National Park and Public Lands that the swap will save both his city and the federal government money by grouping together their spread-out land holdings in the canyons."The current ownership pattern is a checkerboard configuration. Even with cooperation and similar management objectives, the dispersed nature of ownership frustrates management for both the Forest Service and city because their programs cannot be geographically well-focused," he said.
The bill calls for the Forest Service to take over all city lands in Red Butte Canyon and most city lands in Emigration Canyon - leaving a small portion at the canyon mouth where the city could build facilities to deliver utilities and other services if it ever annexes private subdivisions in the canyon.
The deal would also give the city control over all of City Creek Canyon. It would also consolidate city holdings in Parleys Canyon near its Mountain Dell and Little Dell lakes, while the Forest Service would take over lower canyon parcels.
George Leonard, associate chief of the Forest Service, has also said that the exchange would eliminate 65 miles of property boundary and 110 property corners. "This would save about $360,000 over the next five years in managing and maintaining boundaries."