Introduction of Albion Basin Negotiation Reflection Group

                The Albion Basin is a natural recreation and tourism destination, located near the town of Alta, Utah. The basin features a ski resort that is open in the winter, and various other summer activities, such as hiking and camping. Recreation areas are public lands maintained by the United States Forest Service (USFS) and are accessible by a single road. The road is maintained by the Town of Alta using Utah Department of Transportation funds. In addition to the use of passenger vehicles the town provides a shuttle as means of transportation up to the basin. Many recreation groups have expressed their concerns with accessibility and preservation of the area. Residents have also expressed concerns about public safety and health.

        After negotiations, the various stakeholders have come to the following conclusions. With regards to road access, the road shall be restricted during daylight hours to residents, maintenance, forest service, and emergency vehicles. Additionally, the forest service will award up to 20 permits (or a number equal to the number of camp sites), for use by those camping overnight. The permits will be drawn either by a first-come-first-serve basis, or by a lottery system to ensure fairness. The current dirt road surface will be regraded with a gravel surface. This will reduce the need for magnesium chloride; some of the stakeholders in the negotiation identified the use of the deicer as detrimental to the environment. Day visitors will be required to park in the town of Alta and ride the ski lift to the trailhead. From the drop off point, visitors can elect to take a shuttle to access other popular features within the area. We believe that this will greatly reduce the impact on the road while still maintaining fair and open access to the recreation areas that are enjoyed by so many.

        To meet the additional demand for parking that will be required at the base of the ski lift, additional parking capacity will be constructed. Those using this lot will be charged a day use fee that will contribute to the maintenance of recreation areas and in-part fund conservation efforts in the area. At the parking lot area, a permanent restroom facility will be constructed and will tap into existing Salt Lake City utility lines. At the trail heads, portable toilets will be operated during the summer season to facilitate the needs of day-use guests, while minimizing the cost and environmental impact. At the parking lot the information booth will operate with an expanded budget to provide more information about conservation efforts, including fire safety and impacts of breaking rules—such as swimming in the basin.

        We hope that by forcing day visitors to stop at the town, they will be more inclined to peruse local shops and eateries. This will greatly stimulate the economy of the town, bringing in new small businesses, therefore increasing tax revenues. This increased tax revenue will help to pay for some of the projects we have outlined in earlier sections, as well as any future needs the town may experience.

Town of Alta of Albion Basin Negotiation Reflection Group

        The town of Alta is the governing body of the town closest to the Albion Basin and associated recreation areas. The town is home to a population of 383 residents. Within the town small businesses are generally reliant on skiing in the winter and close during the summer months as tourist spending drops off dramatically. The town also provides supporting services to the Albion areas such as an information booth, shuttles, and a town marshal who patrols the town and surrounding recreational areas. The objective of the town is to “remain a retreat for the residents of Salt Lake City”. To do this the town must continue “protections that have helped sustain Albion Basin”.

        These goals were the drivers in developing our scorecard. We approached the scorecard by splitting it into three major categories—with individual issues falling into one of the categories. This strategy greatly simplified the assignment of our total of 100 points. These three categories were tourism, sustainability, and economic development.

        In the tourism category we identified issues regarding the accessibility of recreation areas and supporting infrastructure in the basin. These included the visitor facilities such as the information booth and restrooms, as well as road usage. My partner representing the Town of Alta agreed that the visitor information booth was critical in welcoming visitors, but also spreading awareness of sustainability issues. By placing a higher focus on supporting the information booth we could accomplish two of our main goals, while only having to divert resources to one project. Additionally, we were able to negotiate a permanent structure for restrooms at the base of the town. This will make the ski lift base a more welcoming area for tourists, while avoiding the toll to the environment associated with a permanent structure at the top of the lift. Instead, we will strategically place up to four portable toilets at various trail heads to supplement the permanent structure at the base. This aligned with our ideal outcome, so we scored highly on both two subcategories.

    the road we were also able to reach an outcome which achieved our overall goal. However, according to our score card we didn’t replicate our ideal outcome exactly. While we were able to restrict the road usage as we had desired. We also lobbied for increased shuttles. We did not expect the ski resort to offer use of the ski lifts during the summer season. For this reason, we expected the need for more shuttles would be present to meet increased demand. With the collaboration of the Alta Ski Lifts company, shuttles can be diverted to a smaller loop connecting the various trailheads at the top of the lift. This arrangement allows the city to maintain current shuttle levels (due to the reduced distance of the loop), so the resources can be diverted to other projects. This collaboration between aided in achieving the desired outcome for the ski lift company. By opening another method for tourists to access the recreation areas, we were able to restrict the road access. This was a desired outcome for the town of Alta to reduce dust and patrolling needed along the road. This was helpful for the ski lift company because they were able improve access by maintenance equipment. This was an unexpected win-win we discovered by being transparent about our intentions in restricting the road access.

        I believe that our initial strategy of identifying the three key elements of our desired outcome greatly aided in the efficiency of our negotiations. In identifying our key goals in a broad spectrum, we afforded our party flexibility to negotiate when we were presented options which we had not predicted. However, I believe without the creation of the scorecard our key goals would have been to broad to have actionable discussions. The score card helped us identify specific contributors to our overall goals and provided structure and specificity to the negotiation. I believe this greatly aided the negotiation because it removed a great deal of ambiguity from the negotiation.

Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities

Alta Ski Lifts Company of Albion Basin Negotiation Reflection Group

        The Alta Ski Lifts company is responsible for running the Alta ski resort during the winter months, and for providing maintenance on equipment during the summer. The company had a large role in the negotiation because of the popularity and importance of the ski area during the winter months, and the summer maintenance that also benefits the Town of Alta. A SWOT analysis was performed for the Alta Ski Lifts company to fully comprehend their significant role in the negotiation. Alta Ski Lifts strengths include their close relationship with the USFS and their partnership with the Salt Lake Public Utilities organization. They also coordinate activities within the Alta Environmental Center, which works to improve sustainability efforts for the area. The fact that Alta Ski Lifts is an excellent steward of the area is another one of their strengths, because a major concern among all parties involved was preserving the natural area. Additionally, they own the lifts that could take people to the basin, which was a huge factor in the negotiation. In addition to owning the ski lifts, they own the Albion Grill and a parking lot as well as restrooms, which were all factors in the negotiation as well.

        Weaknesses for Alta Ski Lifts company include the fact that visitors damage the ski lift equipment during the summer months. This resulted in over $100,000 of repairs for the equipment during last summer. Since they have a limited budget for repairs, this is costly and frustrating for them. On the other hand, there are also a lot of opportunities for Alta Ski Lifts company that encompass a lot of different factors. The first is that they could build relationships with the other players in the negotiation, such as the Friends of Alta and the Wasatch Mountain Club. They could also change the routes of their lifts or build more lifts that take summer visitors to their desired destinations, so that they wouldn’t have had to include shuttles around the different trailheads once visitors have taken the lift up to the Basin. Threats to the Alta Ski Lifts company include the summer visitors to the area because they cause damage to the lifts and the surrounding area, which could cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars.

            While designing the scoring sheet, we took into account all of these factors, primarily focusing on the sustainability of the Basin. We knew that opening the ski lifts would probably be the only way that we could convince the other parties to agree to close the road, so we made this one worth the highest amount of points. Along with focusing on sustainability, another area that was on our scoring sheet was the capacity of the area. Lowering the capacity would have been ideal in order to preserve the Basin, but the other parties didn’t agree with this. The third category that was worth points was the option of us opening our parking lot, restrooms, and Albion Grill. We chose not to mention the Albion Grill because it would have costed us a lot of money, and we wouldn’t have seen a large profit from it. This worked out well because we got most of our wants granted without even having to mention the grill. The final category on our scoring sheet was Environmental Center funding. We were hoping to gain more funding from other parties, but this unfortunately did not happen. However, the operation of an information booth was included in the negotiation, which will help visitors understand conservation efforts and hopefully get more people to comply with them.

Wasatch Mountain Club- Lauren Staten of Albion Basin Negotiation Reflection Group

        The Wasatch Mountain Club has very strong viewpoints of what should be done with the Albion Basin and we wanted to do what was best for our current and future members of our club. In order to fully understand the areas that the Wasatch Mountain Club is interested in we created a SWOT Analysis. The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats are unique to each group that was involved. The Wasatch Mountain Club is made up of people who use the Albion Basin for hiking, biking, walking, photography, and picnics as individual families and groups of families within the Wasatch Mountain Club.

        The most important strength of the Wasatch Mountain Clubs is currently the dedication of its members, and their families, to spend time in the Albion Basin and other recreational areas within Utah. There appear to be many members in group, all of which are outdoor enthusiasts and support the availability of the Albion Basin and other areas within Utah for recreation. With the large number of individuals in the Wasatch Mountain Club, and the other clubs and groups that use the Albion Basin, there is a possibility to have some influence over the decisions to be made relating to the use of the Albion Basin and other recreation areas within Utah. This influence may not be as strong as it could be since there was only one club or group brought into the negotiation, if there had be more club/group representation present there would be a greater influence.

        The greatest weakness of the Wasatch Mountain Club is the limited influence that the club has over the Albion Basin. They may have a very small ability to influence the decisions to be made about the Albion, specifically by appealing to the emotion involved with having their families up in the Albion Basin. With only one club represented in the negotiation process, there was a chance for the Wasatch Mountain Club to be pushes aside by other members of the negotiation that had more invested in the Albion Basin. It would have been beneficial for the Wasatch Mountain Club to get ahold of other clubs and groups in Utah and possibly surrounding states to strengthen their influence and possibly bring more parties to the negotiation.

        The major opportunities that the Wasatch Mountain Club currently has is their ability to grow and become a larger club within Utah, and possibly surrounding states. By growing and becoming a larger club their influence would increase. Becoming larger seems like it would be more hectic but with more numbers behind the individual sent in to negotiate on behalf of the club they would be more prepared. The Wasatch Mountain Club could also implement an executive board to ensure that the interests of club members are heard and acknowledged. A board would also allow for the club to send one or two individuals to the negotiation who are well informed and understand the importance of the club and what they would like to see happen with the Albion Basin.

        The main threat of the Wasatch Mountain Club is greater than the strengths and opportunities that are currently available to the Wasatch Mountain Club. The threat is tied very closely to the weakness identified above. The Wasatch Mountain Club’s threat is the knowledge that they do not contribute to the Albion Basin monetarily, volunteer wise or in any other way aside from the taxes collected by the state of Utah. The Wasatch Mountain Club believes that because they pay taxes through the state that they should not have to pay to spend time in the Albion Basin and that if there was a fee that they would not want to pay very much per visit to the Albion Basin.

        In conclusion the Wasatch Mountain Club has a vast number of members who are interested in keeping access to the Albion Basin open and accessible for the members and their families. The agreement that was reached involving all parties was satisfactory to the Wasatch Mountain Club. The necessary requirements that the Wasatch Mountain Club had were that there was to be some form of transportation to the train heads, campsites and picnic areas. This was a necessary requirement because of the older and younger members of our group who need to have mobility assistance. There also was a concern about the reservations of campsites and how hard it is to reserve a campsite for the summer months unless it is done months in advance. The solution was to create a lottery system that allows everyone a fair chance to be randomly selected for the campsite(s) that they put their name into when entry opens. The last major concern was the price that they would have to pay in order to use the Albion Basin, to satisfy this concern there was a daily pass and a season pass created. The only thing that also could be added is to possibly reevaluate the decisions that were made in this negotiation in a year to see how members of each party are feeling about the decisions that were made.

        My scoring matrix was as follows; however, it changed and adjusted a little bit as our discussion progressed and I was able to see what was important to the other parties that were involved in the negotiation process. Some of the very specific additions were removed once negotiation started and I was able to see the less specific terms that we were going with, for the sake of the negotiation. The things that have a strikethrough are what was specifically removed as we negotiated. In the end, after a few minor changes were made to my scoring matrix I ended up with 52 points.

United States Forest Service- Glen Norblom

        As the United States Forest Service, I ultimately had the decision at the end of the negotiation as to whether or not this deal would go through.  My primary concerns going into the negotiation were the pollution of the water caused by swimmers, the basin being able to generate more revenue, the citizen’s complaints being addressed, and the road remaining accessible.  It soon became apparent to me that while some parties had an interest in one or two of my concerns, most of the negotiation was spent on issues that weren’t really that important for my role.

        My strengths in this negotiation stemmed from the power that I had being the authorizer of whatever deal we made.  This strength helped me the most regarding the road access.  The ski lift company wanted to close the road completely for the season and that was something I was not willing to do.  Instead we were able to reach a deal which severely limits how many trips can be made on the road.  If they were not willing to spend so much money to maintain the road, this is something I originally would not have been okay with.  But if you throw enough money at government entities they will ease off some.

        My biggest weakness in this negotiation was that from the beginning I was not the one directing the conversation which I should have been, and I believe that would have helped me exercise my power even more.  This is because I wrongly assumed that all of our issues would be relatively the same.  This is something that I had not prepared for and caught me off guard when the first issue we discussed was further development in the area.  In my information there was nothing about this issue and the party concerned lead the negotiation on that point and continued to do so.  Me not stepping in and taking control of the discussion proved to be a huge weakness.

        The opportunities that I had in this negotiation all came from teaming up with other parties that shared my point of view on certain issues.  For example, the Town of Alta seemed to also be very excited about the basin generating more revenue.  From there we were able to work with the citizen’s representative and the ski lift company to come up with a system where all of us would make more money during the summer and be able to do more things in the future to preserve the basin and to support the town and those who live there.  There were several other times where this same scenario came up and being the USFS it seemed that a lot of the parties wanted me on their team for different issues

Conclusion on Albion Basin Negotiation Reflection Group

        Our negotiation went well overall, we were able to discuss topics that we were concerned about and to find agreements that satisfied the requirements of as many groups as possible. We did not discuss our individual scoring matrices and it probably was the best thing for our group to not have that as another focus of the negotiation. The first day, we tackled the tougher topics and we were able to get them out of the way for the second day of negotiations. This was not done intentionally; we had made a list of things to be discussed and they happened to be the first things on the list after we grouped them by what they were concerning (see Appendix B). The second day, we reviewed what we had discussed and decided on the day before and then jumped into the things that we had not decided on and