SAVED
BONANZA FLAT
With your help we raised over $55,000 in donations to help purchase of Bonanza Flat! Combine that with our $35,000 conservation fund match and we sent Park City $90,000 towards this effort. Well done everyone!
We helped save 1,350 acres of backcountry access, wildlife, forests & trails along Guardsman Pass. Friends of Alta has reached our $35,000 Conservation Fund match for the purchase and conservation of Bonanza Flat!
BID FOR BONANZA FLAT .
Park City Leadership Class 23 is holding an on online auction with all proceeds going towards saving Bonanza Flat. The auction is open now until May 26th! Some of the items include 2 One-Way JetBlue Travel Certificates – Any City to Any City, a gift certificate to Nau International, Inc., 2018 Sundance Film Festival tickets and MUCH more!! This online auction is open to everyone – please share with friends and family!! Click the link below to check it out:
www.biddingforgood.com/savebonanzaflat
On March 15th Park City put down a second option buying us a little time. We still need to raise $2.8 million to close the $13 million dollar funding gap by JUNE 15th – join us now and protect this land for future generations.
The beauty of Alta and the Central Wasatch is its open spaces. The presence of such a natural, undeveloped space in such close proximity to a large urban area is a rarity we must respect and protect. With Park City’s commitment to obtain Bonanza Flats, Friends of Alta sees an opportunity to conserve and protect the whole watershed of which Alta is an integral part. Present and future generations will benefit and appreciate this sustained conservation effort. It will ensure a healthy water supply, while at the same time, providing a restful landscape to visit in person or in one’s mind’s eye.
Bonanza Flats is approximately 1,350 acres of largely flat land with alpine meadows and lakes. Popular Lackawaxen and Bloods lakes are within the boundaries of the proposed acquisition, as is the face of the 10420 Peak. Though the land is privately held, it is an area that Wasatch Front and Wasatch Back residents have used for recreation for years. This land is the gateway to numerous trails including the Wasatch Crest Trail. There has been no shortage of threats to this land in the past, with plans of golf courses and ski lifts plaguing the refuge and homes of moose, elk, black bear and birds of prey. Today, we have the opportunity to prevent this from ever happening.The potential purchase of this property is now a REALITY. It will be up to Salt Lake, Wasatch and Summit County residents to close the gap between the bond funding and the purchase price, in order to move forward and protect this land in perpetuity.
What's Going On?
Bonanza Flat
We Need Your Help
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High-end private developer was pursuing the acquisition of Bonanza Flat from a subsidiary of Wells Fargo Bank but landowner has agreed to contract offer of $38 million from Park City.
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November 8, 2016 Park City residents overwhelmingly voted to tax themselves up to $25 million in hopes that Bonanza Flats could be purchased and preserved as open space.
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$13 million gap between purchase price and bond amount.
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Support from other government agencies and the public will be needed to acquire this scenic, wildlife and recreational mecca.
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Without your help, the clean water, wildlife habitat, unique scenery and the solace this land provides, will instead be replaced by a sea of rooftops.
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From backcountry skiing to summer hikes to scenic fall drives, Bonanza Flats is an area of undeveloped and backcountry grandeur nestled in the upper elevations of the Wasatch Mountains. Located along Guardsman Pass Road, Bonanza Flats is a landscape familiar to many, but has always been in private hands.
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1,350 acre mountain pass, recreational paradise known for wildlife, scenic and ecological values
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Development of Bonanza Flats likely would include a private gated community, as well as commercial and residential development, but the agreement with Park City puts these plans on hold.
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The potential development of Bonanza Flats means that the conservation values of this area are at stake. If Bonanza Flats were to be developed and highly trafficked, access to the entire area would be altered and privatized.
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The competitive offer to purchase the land was made possible through the $25 million bond that Park City residents voted for to save the open space. With hopes that $10 million in funding will come to the table from governmental entities, the remaining $3 million gap must still be filled.
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Beyond money, calls or emails to your local council members will help push this project into reality.
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Not only can you call your county, but also inform your local outdoor retailer to support this effort. They can help save the backcountry access, wildlife, forests and trails that this land provides.
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As of today, there are 10 nonprofits who are poised to join a campaign to save this land. All donations through the donate buttons on this page will go directly to the protection of Bonanza Flats. If we are unsuccessful, you will receive your donation back.
A COALITION EFFORT .
Local recreational, environmental and conservation nonprofits have formed a coalition for this fundraising campaign. Utah Open Lands, Wasatch Backcountry Alliance, Friends of Alta, Summit Land Conservancy, Save Our Canyons, Mountain Trails Foundation, Sierra Club, Winter Wildlands Alliance, Trails Utah, and Wasatch Mountain Club are ready to help save this space. Are you?!
BONANZA DEVELOPMENT .
