Transmittal - 4/8/2022ERIN MENDENHALL DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC LANDS
MAYOR KRISTIN RIKER
DIRECTOR
CITY COUNCIL TRANSMITTAL
Date Received: _
Lisa Shaffer, Chief Administrative Officer Date sent to Council: _
TO: Salt Lake City Council DATE: April 6, 2022
Dan Dungan, Chair
FROM: Kristin Riker, Director, Department of Public Lands _
SUBJECT: Naming the Bonneville Shoreline Trail segment between Emigration Canyon
Trailhead and Dry Creek Canyon the “Rick Reese Inaugural Section.”
STAFF CONTACTS: Tyler Fonarow, Recreational Trails Manager, tyler.fonarow@slcgov.com
DOCUMENT TYPE: Information Item
RECOMMENDATION: Notify Council of the proposed bridge naming, per City Code Chapter
3.65
BUDGET IMPACT: N/A
BACKGROUND:
The 3.5-mile section of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail between Emigration Trailhead and the mouth of
Dry Creek Canyon does not have a formal section name. This section was built in 1991 by the newly
created Bonneville Shoreline Trail Commission, a local trail advocacy group led by Rick Reese.
Some of the highlights of Rick Reese’s advocacy work and reasons for the request of this designation
include:
•Rick Reese was born in 1942 and raised in Salt Lake City graduating from East High and the
University of Utah. Rick began his work as an environmental steward and activist as a Ranger at
Grand Teton National Park with his best friend and East High classmate, future SLC Mayor Ted
Wilson.
SALT LAKE CITY CORPORATION WWW.SLCGOV.COM
1965 WEST 500 SOUTH TEL: 801-972-7800
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 84104 PAGE 1 OF 2
4/6/2022
4/8/2022
Page 2 of 2
• In the 1970s, Rick taught political science at Carroll College in Helena, Montana and became
committed to the protection of the environment. He arranged for his students to be interns at the
Constitutional Convention where he realized the importance of advocacy and involvement to
preserve areas of land, clean air and water, wildlife habitat, and wild spaces for future
generations. His teaching at Carroll College inspired young people to get involved in community,
government, or whatever endeavor that would make a difference.
• In 1980, Rick was hired to run Yellowstone Forever, the Park’s environmental education partner,
and served as the founding president for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, one of the Park’s key
conservation partners.
• Rick returned home to Salt Lake City in 1989 to become Director of Community Relations at the
University of Utah. Soon after, he helped form a vision and committee of like-minded individuals
to initiate the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, running 280 miles from the Idaho border to Nephi, UT.
With his friends and allies, as well as with representatives from Cache, Weber, Davis, and Utah
Counties, the Bonneville Shoreline Trail was born. Rick was the founding chair of the Bonneville
Shoreline Trail Commission, a position he held for twenty years.
• In the early 1990s, Rick was instrumental in leading the planning and construction of the first
section of the BST, 3.5 miles from Emigration Canyon to Dry Creek Canyon. In 1994, Reese and
the BST Commission brokered an agreement with the Steiner Foundation, Salt Lake City, and the
State of Utah to fund and build the “Steiner Centennial Section”, 13.5 miles of Bonneville
Shoreline Trail between Dry Creek Canyon and the Davis County line, still the longest
continuous segment of BST.
• Rick Reese died on January 9, 2022 at his home in Bozeman, MT.
Naming city assets is addressed in City Code Chapter 3.65 and Section 3.65.020 says that the naming of
major assets requires City Council approval, and the naming of minor assets requires the Mayor’s
approval. This section states that a major asset includes a structure or any acreage of land. The trail
segment in this case is a major asset. The Council may choose to approve the name change through
legislative process or defer the approval to the Mayor’s office. Chapter 3.65 allows the Council 15
business days after receipt of this notice to determine whether it wishes to use a legislative process for the
naming of the bridge. If, at the conclusion of those 15 business days, the Council has not responded to
this notice, the naming decision and process reverts to the Mayor’s office to use the minor asset approval
process. To initiate the process, Public Lands is forwarding the attached letter from the Mayor to the
Council notifying them of the proposed naming
PUBLIC PROCESS: N/A
ATTACHMENTS:
A. Letter from the Mayor
Letter from the Mayor
ATTACHMENT A
SALT LAKE CITY, UT 84114-5474 TEL 801-535-7704
ERIN MENDENHALL
Mayor
April 6, 2022
Dear Council Members,
OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
I am requesting that the Bonneville Shoreline Trail segment between Emigration Canyon
Trailhead and Dry Creek Canyon be named the “Rick Reese Inaugural Section.”
City Code Chapter 3.65.020 says that the naming of major assets requires City Council approval
and the naming of minor assets requires Mayor approval. That section says that a major asset
includes any acreage of land. The trail in this case is a major asset. The Council may choose to
approve the name through legislative process or defer the approval to my office. Chapter 3.65
allows the Council 15 business days after receipt of this notice to determine whether it wishes to
use a legislative process for the naming of the trail. If, at the conclusion of those 15 business
days, the Council has not responded to this notice, the naming decision and process reverts to
the Mayor’s office to use the minor asset approval process.
Sincerely,
Mayor Erin Mendenhall
P.O. BOX 145474
451 SOUTH STATE STREET, ROOM 306
WWW.SLCMAYOR.COM