House-approved trail-extension bill led by Curtis, Utah colleagues heads to Senate

The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday unanimously approved legislation sponsored by U.S. Rep. John Curtis (R-UT) to extend the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, a mixed-use recreation trail in Utah that roughly follows the shoreline of the ancient Lake Bonneville. The bill now moves to the U.S. Senate for consideration.

“With the rapid growth in and around Salt Lake City, it is more important than ever to support new recreation opportunities such as the Bonneville Shoreline Trail,” said Rep. Curtis. “As someone who loves walking and biking this trail, I am excited to bring greater access to more Utahns.”

The Bonneville Shoreline Trail Advancement Act, H.R. 2551, would modify the wilderness designations of certain lands in the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest in Utah and designate approximately 326.27 acres in the forest as part of the Mount Olympus Wilderness, according to the congressional record bill summary.

Rep. Curtis introduced H.R. 2551 in April 2021 with three original GOP cosponsors from Utah, including U.S. Rep. Blake Moore, to extend the unique and popular trail that eventually will stretch 280 miles once completed. U.S. Sens. Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced the same-named S. 1222 in their chamber last year.

If enacted, the measure also would release 326 acres of wilderness divided over more than 20 small locations to accommodate the advancement of the trail in Salt Lake County and Utah County, according to a bill summary provided by the lawmakers.

Additionally, the bill would resolve a wilderness boundary issue in Birch Canyon to ensure the trail that runs parallel to the road can be fully utilized as a multi-use trail, and would designate 326 acres of wilderness to preserve land formerly owned by the Boy Scouts of America in Mill Creek Canyon to fully offset any wilderness release to accommodate the Bonneville trail, the summary says.

The bill has received support from numerous NGOs, government entities, and private businesses, including Trails Utah, American Trails, the Mountain Trails Foundation, the Trust for Public Lands, the Outdoor Alliance, Western Spirit Cycling Adventures, Outerbike, Jenson USA, Vista Outdoors, Bicycle Technology International, and YT Industries USA.