I’ve been connected to the land we now call the 910 for over 40 years. In 1985, I purchased 300 acres just west of the current barn and ranch house before the 910 even existed as we know it. A few years later, David Bernolfo acquired the surrounding land and became its long-time steward. I eve ntually sold my parcel to David in the early 2000s, but my connection to this place never left. I have shared photographs with Jess Kirby and her department — images that tell the story of what this land once was and could become again: East Canyon Creek streamlined wall to wall with willows, active beaver colonies and their dams. Also, beaver dams running up Wood Hollow and Big Bear Canyon, and tributaries that flowed year-round. German browns, cutthroat, and rainbows — 20 inches and larger. I built the red roof stone cabin on the meadow’s edge just west up on the hill from the barn. I lived there among elk herds — sometimes 50 to 100 strong — bedding in the meadow just outside my door. This land is fragile. The wildlife is fragile. And it is subtle. You have to move quietly to share space with it. You are never truly alone in those woods. The animals are always there, watching, hoping only to coexist in peace. That is exactly what I am asking this council to protect. My ask is simple: Go slow. Before Summit County opens the 910 to broad public access, study it. Learn it. Restore what needs restoring. Only then — carefully and deliberately — identify where human presence can be welcomed without disrupting the ecosystem that makes this land extraordinary. Specifically, I urge the County Council to: Pause plans for 250 parking spaces — that scale of infrastructure signals a recreational destination, not a nature preserve. Prohibit dog access to the streams — East Canyon Creek and its tributaries are living habitat, not a dog beach. Resist the impulse to build trails first and ask questions later — trail networks, once built, permanently alter wildlife corridors and behavior. The stakeholder meetings reinforced this view: Study, restore, go slow, and only add human infrastructure where it can coexist — not compete — with nature. Before I close, this moment calls for acknowledgment: David Bernolfo deserves our deepest thanks. Forty-plus years of quiet, responsible stewardship kept the 910 what it is today. Nobody truly owns land — we are only its caretakers for a season. David honored that responsibility. Now it passes to Summit County. Honor it the same way. Keep the 910 first and foremost a nature preserve and wildlife sanctuary. We cannot undo what we get wrong here. But if we get it right — if we let nature lead — this land will reward every generation that follows. Go slow. Be subtle. Let nature set the pace. David Atherley South Jordan The post Go slow with 910 appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less