Fw: Jordan River State Park Public meeting

["gary grubb" <gbg at Aros dot Net>]

Happy Easter on this beautiful Sunday morning.  I'm forwarding the below
message to all of you to inform you about the current status of the Jordan
River State Park.  It has been in the planning and recommendation stage for
the past several months, trying to decide whether it should be preserved or
used as an "off-highway vehicle" area.  Progress was being made until the
state ran short of funds during this years budget cuts.  Now the park may be
closed and turned over to another entity to manage.  Please read the
following, and if you can make a call, write a letter, or come to the public
meeting it would be appreciated.  Let's do our best to protect what little
habitat still remains in the Salt Lake valley.

Not only is it a beautiful day for Easter, it's also a beautiful day for
birding.  Of course all most every day is a beautiful day for birding.

Gary Grubb


----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeff Salt" <saltoftheearth@qwest.net>
To: "Mary Gracia" <gracia@burgoyne.com>; "Deedee and/or Dick OBrien"
<ddobrien@worldnet.att.net>; "Gary Grubb" <gbg@aros.net>; "Wayne Martinson"
<wmartinson@audubon.org>; "Lynn de Freitas" <ldefreitas@earthlink.net>;
"Marilyn Bawden" <kananio24@hotmail.com>; "Romney, Lisa"
<lisa.romney@ci.slc.ut.us>; "Rob Campellone" <Rob_Campellone@nps.gov>; "Kort
Utley" <kutley@gov.state.ut.us>; "Mark Bedel" <MBEDEL@gov.state.ut.us>;
"Vaughn Lovejoy" <madtreeplanter@yahoo.com>; "TreeUtah"
<treeutah@treelink.org>; "Norm Evenstad"
<norm.evenstad@utmurray.fsc.usda.gov>; "Ella Sorenson"
<esorenson@audubon.org>; "Doug Sakaguchi" <nrdwr.dsakaguchi@state.ut.us>;
"Jared Gunnerson" <nrslf.jgunners@state.ut.us>; "Dick Buehler"
<DBUEHLER.NRSLF.NRDOMAIN@state.ut.us>; "Joan Degiorgio"
<JDEGIORGIO@uc.usbr.gov>; "Elise Boeke" <Elise_Boeke@fws.gov>; "Marc
Heileson" <marc.heileson@sierraclub.org>; "Neville, Ann (KUCC)"
<kanevill@kennecott.com>
Sent: Sunday, March 31, 2002 8:04 AM
Subject: Jordan River State Park Public meeting


> I have just been informed that the State Parks division will hold a public
meeting to
> take comments on the future use of Jordan River State Park. This is quite
a surprise
> since the planning team effort was postponed until further notice, and
because the
> park is up for closure consideration. The meeting is scheduled for
Thursday April 4,
> 2002 at 7:00pm at the DNR offices located at 1594 W. North Temple. The
meeting will
> be held in room 1040 and 1050.
>
> Some background is in order. Since last fall, I have been part of a
resource
> management planning team. The process has involved a variety of citizen
> representatives from different user groups. The OHV folks have had twice
as much
> representation as any other group. We had been working towards making
recommendations
> for the future use of the park facility. So far, the participants have
been leaning
> towards preservation of open space and alternatives to the ohv and
airplane uses, and
> consideration of moving those recreational uses to other sites.
>
> The resource management process has not been completed, and the
recommendations we
> were supposed to come up with as a groups were to be part of the public
meeting! So I
> am very concerned that State Parks is pulling a fast one by not including
our final
> recommendations for the public to comment on, and also because the short
notice of
> the meeting.
>
> For anyone concerned about the park, and the hope that a nature center
could provide
> a better use, should get involved. The first thing is to plan to attend
the public
> meeting, and bring others to the meeting as well. This will be the one
chance to show
> State Parks that there is more public support for alternative uses of the
park than
> the current uses. Secondly, I will be drafting a letter expressing concern
that the
> planning process is flawed by not allowing the planning team to finish its
work
> before the public meeting. (I have an instinctive feeling that State Parks
is not
> comfortable with the early findings of the teams recommendations and may
be blocking
> them from influencing the public meeting).
>
> We have also not been given access to the findings of DWR who was supposed
to
> evaluate the natural values of the park, and incorporate their findings
into the
> planning process and ultimately into the public meeting.
>
> We still don't know what the State Parks Board will decide about the fate
of the
> park. If the park is closed, then the park will be turned over to another
entity to
> manage. The public meeting seems very premature given the pending
decision.
>
> If necessary, I may need folks to email and call in to lodge complaints
with the
> process, and get this public meeting postponed.
>
> Anyone interested in this issue, please call me at 485-2550, or email me
by reply.
>
> Thanks,
> Jeff Salt
>
>