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Conservation plan for Cottonwood Canyons moves forward — but does not address Alta ski resort

Cottonwood Heights • A conservation plan that would expand wilderness by thousands of acres and limit ski resort growth in Salt Lake County may finally make its way to Congress, with draft legislation passed unanimously Monday by the Central Wasatch Commission.

But Alta Ski Area is still free to develop commercial skiing in Grizzly Gulch — and seek permission to expand to Patsy Marley Ridge — after the Little Cottonwood Canyon resort’s managers rebuffed conservationists’ final offers and stayed out of the proposed 80,000-acre national conservation and recreation area.

“We have worked hard … to try to find consensus,” said commissioner Chris Robinson, Summit County Council member.