Build My Own FeedGROUPS WE SUPPORT: Save Our Canyons
In this new series of monthly posts in the Journal, we'll be highlighting the support we provide to grassroots conservation and access-focused nonprofit groups—the people that help make a difference in the mountain, canyon and crag environments that we climbers, skiers and mountain enthusiasts thrive in.
We take a large amount of pride in our history of outspoken advocacy for conservation and access causes (locally, regionally and globally), as well as in our efforts to support conservation, education and recreation groups that are on the front-lines of protecting and preserving the wild lands we love and depend on, and this ongoing series will serve to highlight and promote these all-important groups.
For a full list of the groups we support, click here.
When Black Diamond Equipment moved to Utah's Wasatch Front from California in 1991, it wasn't a knee-jerk decision. The collection of jagged peaks in Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons that abut the Salt Lake City valley hold the deepest, fluffiest snow around, miles upon miles of scenic trails, and endless rock routes of all types—in a nutshell, the perfect backyard for a company that lives and breathes climb, ski and mountain.
But the same ease of access to Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons that allow us to ski powder before work and go cragging after comes with its own set of issues. Save Our Canyons has strived from day one to preserve this delicate contrast between city and nature, and to help preserve the public land and water resources that we all rely on.
Save Our Canyons began in 1971 as The Citizens' Committee to Save Our Canyons in response to the threat of urbanization in and around the Wasatch Mountains. The founding of Snowbird Ski Resort and its plans for Euro-style trams connecting villages throughout the Wasatch catalyzed a movement to protect the range's natural state, and Save Our Canyons acted as a voice for concerned citizens looking to preserve the Wasatch for future generations.
Today, Save Our Canyons boasts around 1200 members and works to raise awareness and educate on issues related to protecting the Wasatch, and the group strives for active involvement in planning processes at the city, state, county and federal levels.
Past accomplishments in Save Our Canyons' 40-year history include the designation of multiple wilderness areas throughout the Wasatch (including Utah's first in 1978), the adoption of a Canyons Master Plan to guide the granting of building permits on both public and private lands in the canyons, as well as working with the Olympic committee to keep Olympic venues out of sensitive areas like Big and Little Cottonwood canyons.
To make a donation or to volunteer your time with Save Our Canyons, visit saveourcanyons.org or call (801)363-SAVE.
United States / English 
