May 9 2015

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May 9, 2015 - Vol. 15 No. 9

American Fork Canyon Invaded by Snowbird? By Matthew Gary Milam

The Crossroads Journal Getting Better and Better By Wendy Visser Lojik This issue we are happy to introduce our new logo and completely redesigned website. The talent behind these new improvements is Saratoga resident Clint Decker. Decker has contributed to the community by hosting free photography classes for over 5 years with his wife, Shanda. The new logo boasts a beautiful mountain scape that very much mirrors the gorgeous views that we in Northern Utah County enjoy every day. It also includes the towns and cities we are now able to help connect with news and information. As a small town news source we can help the longtime Utah residents along with the new arrivals. We can learn more about the history and traditions of Northern Utah County, the up-and-coming new businesses and those making contributions to our ever-growing area. We depend on local residents to email and contact us with news and stories about things going on in their schools and communities. Our new website now allows users to submit stories and photos directly to us. We have tried to make the website as easy as possibly to use by adding the ability to login with your facebook account if you wish to create classifieds, business listings, or submit articles. We want to help celebrate and share information. We are expanding our sports section hoping to include many leagues and schools. After printing and distributing to the Eagle Mountain and Saratoga Springs area twice a month for 15 years, the Journal is pleased to expand to the Lehi, American Fork, Highland, Cedar Hills and Alpine Areas. We have added a new Northern Utah County business directory where business owners can list their company profile and links to their social media pages for free. This will make finding local businesses and services easier than ever. If you have a local business we welcome to you add your listing to our site.

Some consider American Fork Canyon to be “one of the last unspoiled gems of the Utah Wasatch range.” Also known as the Alpine Scenic Loop (Backway), it is extremely popular and receives about a million visitors a year. Recently, we received word that, very quietly, Snowbird might be buying up American Fork Canyon for development. Depending upon your perspective of things, this might be a good thing or a bad thing. Talk of trams and trains being built and “privately owned villages” being developed up American Fork Canyon is of concern to those wishing to preserve this cherished natural area of Northern Utah. One of those groups, Save Our Canyons, has been at the forefront of the opposition to this Canyon development. Since 2011, Snowbird’s had a long-time dream of opening a tram extending from the terminus of the tram on Hidden Peak to transport skiers to American Fork’s Twin Peak. This would enable them to access the slopes in Mineral Basin. Soon this might become a reality. Opponents of the Snowbird expansion claim that “the official Forest Service plan specifically rules out expanding ski-resort operations onto public land.” When the Forest Service agreed to do an environmental impact study for the Snowbird expansion, these opponents (namely, Save Our Canyons) were quite shocked. But would a Snowbird expansion be bad? Probably skiers and boarders wouldn’t think so. Snowbird is one of the most popular ski areas in Utah. They have wanted to expand and use parts of American Fork Canyon for several years. They claim to be very environmentally conscious, but haven’t all corporations, these

days, embraced the marketing/public relations aspect of showing concern for the environment? It’s almost obligatory in this day and age, and most companies have found a way to cash in on it. But Snowbird can claim that they actually do care, it would seem, by virtue of some of the awards they have received. In 2007, they received both the National Ski Areas Association Golden Eagle Award for Overall Environmental Excellence as well as the Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Achievement Award. Also in 2007, they received the State of Utah’s Earth Day Award, and were nominated and received finalist status for other awards dealing with the environment. This summer, Snowbird wants to install a mount for a “Howitzer” (built by SkiLogik) to be used in avalanche control on the resort’s backside. One more section of the Path to Paradise traverse would be graded to extend across Mineral Basin. The Howitzer would be built on US Forest Service land below the Mineral Basin chairlift. The Forest Service feels the project does not require a detailed study, but wants to hear what the public thinks first. Buck Swaney, AFC Vision Project Manager says, “I…cannot emphasize enough that nothing is being done without the public’s input. That is the very point of this Vision process, to gain (the public’s) input and insight before a Vision is developed.” But Karen McCoy is not buying this. McCoy and her family have been involved with the canyons of Northern Utah and have enjoyed the recreation these canyons have afforded for many years. Continued pg. 2

The Crossroads Journal will now be a more valuable asset to the community with the simplified and multi-functional website. The new website will now include Free Online Classifieds for selling items in Northern Utah County. Similar to the popular Facebook yardsale sites, our new online classifieds section will include the ability to upload multiple photos, set your price, category, description, and best method of contact. Any classifieds that run in the paper will also be featured in the new online version.

Photo by Andrea Stone Crandall

Apache Helicopters—Is Utah’s Guard in Danger of Losing Them? By Matthew Gary Milam

There was some talk of the Utah National Guard losing its Apache Helicopters a while back. This talk stemmed from what is called the Army’s “Aviation Restructuring Initiative (ARI).” The ARI is a five-year plan that involves switching from the current fleet of Bell OH-58 Kiowa Warrior helicopters to the Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopters for use in active duty, taking on a reconnaissance and scout role. The plan would require taking Apaches from the National Guard and leaving in their place, Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. The initiative called for a total of 192 Apaches to be moved from the National Guard to the active force, states Col. John Lindsay, Director of Aviation at the Army operations headquarters. Also according to Col. Lindsay, the Army told Congress that the plan is to “increase readiness in light of the budget crunch that has forced the service to find cost savings, and part of those savings involve moving Apaches from Reserve units to the active force.” The plan is designed to finish by 2019. The National Guard leaders and certain lawmakers are not all that happy about the ramifications of the initiative. They have criticized the Army over the plan to retire 798 aircraft and transfer AH-64 Apaches from the Guard to active duty units. The Apache has become a proud tradition here in Utah, especially after twelve Apaches and their pilots attended a record-setting training

event at Fort Hunter in Liggett, California as part of a complex air-assault operation called “Thunder Hammer.” Regarding the mission, Maj. Ricky Smith, commander of the 1-211th ARB, said, “It was a very demanding mission and we were able to integrate quickly. Our guys performed fabulously.” The Pentagon’s $473 million 2016 budget request, according to Sydney J. Freedberg, Jr. of Breaking Defense, “would boost spending over 2015 to modernize the Army’s aging helicopter fleet. That’s a nine percent increase in a time of shrinking budgets, swelling aviation to more than the next two modernization accounts (ground vehicles and networks) combined. But the Army’s aircraft request may be dead on arrival. That’s not because of what it adds but because of what it takes away: AH-64 Apache helicopters from the Army National Guard.” But what is the actual future of Utah’s National Guard Apache helicopters? According to Valerie Insinna of NDIA’s National Defense magazine, experts on the matter feel that “the debate over the Army’s aviation restructure initiative in only the opening bell for what will likely be a long, painful struggle to define the roles of the service’s active and National Guard components.” Insinna adds, experts also say, “Despite opposition from Army leadership, the result will likely be a congressionally mandated commission to study the proposal to reshuffle aircraft.”


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May 9 2015 by The Crossroads Journal - Issuu