This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Big Cottonwood Canyon • A developer has illegally cut down more than 100 trees in the Silver Fork area of Big Cottonwood Canyon — some of them more than 100 years old, Salt Lake County officials said Thursday.

The developer, identified by the county as Silver Hill Development, says most of the trees were destroyed because of a miscommunication involving the contractor hired to cut them.

Silver Hill's project engineer Scott Carlson said Silver Hill had marked 30 to 40 trees for removal to facilitate sewer construction to its four proposed cabins, as well as some neighboring properties. Meanwhile, another developer had marked trees on a nearby lot, apparently as part of a tree inventory, county officials said.

Crews last week felled many of the trees marked by the other developer, in addition to the ones Silver Hill intended for removal, Carlson said.

But county officials said Silver Hill had not obtained permits to cut any trees at all.

"The project was in its infancy," said Salt Lake County Township Services executive Patrick Leary. "It was premature for any work to begin."

Carlson said he believes Silver Hill conveyed those plans to the county, having submitted its tree inventory and utility corridor plans. The pending permit is for grading, not tree removal, he said.

County officials argue that tree removal, like other steps of construction, is strictly regulated in Big Cottonwood Canyon due to the watershed.

"We would have known when trees were expected to come out," Leary said. "We work with these developers on a regular basis. This is a sensitive area."

"I'm sure they felt they wanted to get moving on the process," Leary added.

Old-growth conifer stands were destroyed not only on land owned by the two developers, but also on U.S. Forest Service land, county officials said. Some of the trees destroyed on that land were marked with orange paint; county officials said they did not know which developer marked them or why either would mark trees on public land.

Carlson said Silver Hill staff had walked through the area with the tree cutters, distinguishing the trees marked for removal from the ones marked by the neighboring developer.

"They cut ... far more than we had ever hoped," Carlson said. "We're all disappointed in the trees being lost, especially those that were lost unnecessarily. ... We've always worked extremely hard to make sure we don't cut trees that are unnecessary. We design around the trees; that's part of what makes this even harder to deal with. We had worked so hard to reduce the number of trees that needed to be cut."

Silver Hill's four-lot development has now stopped. Carlson would not identify the contractor that cut down the trees, saying only that the supervisor had 38 years of experience, and the business claimed extensive experience working in the Wasatch Canyons.

"We had expected much better service than this," Carlson said. "We don't know how the miscommunication occurred there. whether between the supervisor and his crew, or if they all misunderstood together. They're not saying."

Silver Hill has fired that contractor and hired another for cleanup, Carlson said. Crews have placed straw structures around the removed trees to prevent runoff into Big Cottonwood Creek — the most immediate hazard of forest destruction, said Rolen Yoshinaga, planning and development services director for Salt Lake County Township Services.

"This is a huge problem," Yoshinga said. "It happens at a local level, but it cascades into a public problem."

Had the tree removal been permitted properly, Silver Hill would have been required to place the straw structures and build diversions before any cutting began, Yoshinga said.

Carlson disagreed, saying erosion is a danger created by excavation for construction and stump removal, steps that Silver Hill had not yet begun. Carlson said he has engineered dozens of projects in the Wasatch Canyons over two decades without a permitting issue involving tree removal.

"I understand [the county's] position now, and we can accommodate them in the future," Carlson said.

Neighbors, meanwhile, were dismayed by the blight left by the felled trees.

"You don't know whether to cry or scream or fall on the ground," said Barbara Cameron, chairwoman of the Big Cottonwood Community Council. "We couldn't believe something like this could happen."

Silver Hill is "working with the county, the Forest Service, and the neighbors to replant and restore, so it'll be back to what we always have enjoyed up there," Carlson said.

But Yoshinaga noted that no nursery can supply century-old trees.

"There's no replacement," he said.