AMERICAN FORK CANYON — Money may not be everything, but it's certainly paving the way for major improvements to American Fork Canyon.
In the fourth year of a five-year fee demonstration project for the popular canyon, Uinta National Forest officials are expecting to collect more than $500,000 in fees, and they're busily putting that money into campground renovation, facility and trail upgrades and parking expansion that are actually insuring the canyon's preservation for years to come.
"We're spending as much as we're taking in," said Loyal Clark, spokeswoman for the Forest Service. "And we try to keep the projects visible so people can see where their money is going.
"We used to have to take the Band-Aid approach, replacing or repairing one table, one restroom at a time. Now we have the money to go in and remove and replace whole facilities that were built clear back in the 1960s."
The fee demonstration project was introduced in 1997 after visitation to the canyon reached record numbers: between 500,000 and 1.5 million tourists annually. To raise revenue and encourage conservation, canyon users are asked to pay $1 per day per car to camp and picnic as they enter the canyon at stations positioned at the mouth of the canyon's west entrance and just past Aspen Grove on the east side.
In 1997, visitors paid $110,900 followed by $418,300 in 1998 and $475,900 in 1999. The revenue is then shared among the National Park Service, the Timpanogos Cave National Monument and the Forest Service/Uinta National Forest unit.
Once money began flowing, the Tibble Fork trailhead was promptly reconstructed along with the North Fork picnic area, the Mount Timpanogos, American Fork Canyon and Aspen Grove trailheads. Snowmobile and ski trails have been groomed and additional tours added to the Timpanogos Cave National Monument schedule.
Restrooms have been upgraded to meet federal Americans with Disabilities Act standards, and road maintenance has been stepped up.
More informational brochures, kiosks and interpretative signs are in place.
"We've been able to increase the frequency of the Utah County Sheriff's patrols, and that's cut down on vandalism. That was a major issue with the public when we started this," Clark said.
"The other exciting thing is we've increased funding to the Search and Rescue teams and the Timpanogos Emergency Response Team. They help us on the back side of Mount Timpanogos, stopping people who start to hike up ill-prepared or unaware that a storm's coming in, etc. Since they've been there, we haven't had a fatality up there."
The fee demonstration money stretches a long way because it helps attract other funding, such as matching grants, said John Brown, a recreation staff member for the Pleasant Grove Ranger District. It also allows the Forest Service to tackle ongoing projects during the season when it's the most advantageous to move ahead.
One of the changes involves paving parking areas and pathways in some of the more heavily used picnic and camp sites. That worries some visitors who think the canyon is in danger of being asphalted over.
"If we can go in and harden the surface, the area lasts longer," Brown said. "It makes it easier to walk and accessible to wheelchairs where it wasn't before. It benefits the vegetation because people tend to stay on the paths. That allows the grass and the shrubs to come back. That makes it more visually pleasant."
Other changes involved replacing all of the restrooms with wheelchair-accessible buildings. Concrete and wooden tables are being replaced with rubberized steel units.
Grill, hibachi and Dutch-oven pads are in place.
Group picnic sites have been designed for family reunions.
"That's also something the public asked for," Clark said. "We had nothing like that."
Brown estimates it will take five years before the Forest Service can finish all the pressing needs previously backlogged for a lack of money.
After that, the "wish list" of needs can be addressed, if Congress approves the demonstration project to be a permanent program after September 2001.
"One idea we're pursuing is a bicycle path along the river," Clark said. "There's a need for one and that's something the public has asked for, but it would be expensive. We'd have to put it across the stream and make cuts through the rock in some places.
"We take great pride in our project," she continued, "just because it allows the public to continue to be involved. We're doing this together."
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