No Olympic Winter Games events will be held in Big or Little Cottonwood canyons, the Salt Lake County Commission reaffirmed Monday.
The commission passed a resolution reiterating its commitment to prohibit events in the canyons during the 2002 Games. The Salt Lake Olympic Organizing Committee has planned no events for either canyon.Alpine and nordic events are planned at ski areas in Park City and Weber County and in Parleys Canyon.
Still, some residents fear events will creep into the Cottonwood canyons.
"We have had a lot of questions about the county's commitment to controlling venues in the canyons," Commission Chairman Brent Overson said.
The commission passed the resolution in hopes of allaying those concerns.
In 1989, the Commission passed a similar resolution supporting the Olympic bid but also stating the county's canyon master plan limits events to nordic competition at Mountain Dell in Parleys Canyon.
"Even before Salt Lake was awarded the 2002 Games, we began hearing the old rumors about events being scheduled in the Cottonwood Canyons," Overson said. "That just is not true."
The resolution reaffirms the county's support for the Wasatch Canyon Master Plan, which prohibits venues in the canyons, and "pledges its resources" to maintain that commitment.
But the action did little to soothe fears of some environmental groups that eventually the canyons may be drawn into the Winter Games. Both the Sierra Club's Utah chapter and the Wasatch Mountain Club remain skeptical.
"It's commendable they made this resolution, but I don't know how binding it is," said Ann Wechsler, Sierra Club conservation chairwoman. "Circumstances do change and we've got seven years for those circumstances to change."
The Wasatch Mountain Club also gave the commission cautious praise for passing the resolution.
"We are still concerned that as the 2002 Olympics approaches changes in venues may occur as they have occurred in previous Olympics," said Rich Osborne, Wasatch Mountain Club conservation director.
No amount of commitment will ensure that the weather cooperates with the Organizing Committee, Osborne said.
"If the Organizing Committee is faced with a drought year or lack of snow in Park City venues, there may be pressure to move the sites to adequate snow areas such as the Cottonwood canyons," Osborne said. "We still need to take every step possible to ensure that no venues are moved into the Cottonwood canyons."
The Deseret News was unable to reach a spokesman for the Salt Lake Olympic Organizing Committee Monday morning, but in the past the committee has agreed not to place any events in the canyons.