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Provo resident Abbi-Anne Matthews holds a sign in downtown Provo while protesting against proposed private development of Bridal Veil Falls on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020.  

Connor Richards, Daily Herald

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Ice Climbers ascend the "Stairway to Heaven" near Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon on Friday, Dec. 8, 2000.

Robert Johnson, Daily Herald File Photo

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Water cascades down the upper falls of Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020. Isaac Hale, Daily Herald

Isaac Hale, Daily Herald file photo

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Provo resident Sharon Bradford holds a sign in downtown Provo while protesting against proposed private development of Bridal Veil Falls on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020.  

Connor Richards, Daily Herald

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Utah Rep. Keven Stratton, R-Orem, is moving forward with a legislative effort to protect Bridal Veil Falls using state resources by designating the falls as a state monument or park.

On Monday, the Orem lawmaker introduced a concurrent resolution to encourage the Utah Division of Parks and Recreation to “evaluate options for designating the Bridal Veil Falls area as a state monument or state park” and recognizing “the beauty of the Bridal Veil Falls area and its use by thousands of visitors for sightseeing and recreation.”

Additionally, the resolution calls upon the parks and recreation division to “present an analysis of the advantages and challenges of designating the Bridal Veil Falls area as a state monument, and alternatively as a state park, to the Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Interim Committee.”

The proposed resolution comes weeks after the Utah County Commission approved a conservation easement for Bridal Veil Falls that prevents private development on the county-owned property.

Additionally, in November 2019, the county commission approved a $900,000 concept plan for the falls that includes trail enhancements and improved safety measures.

During a Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environmental Quality Appropriations Subcommittee meeting on Monday, Stratton told his colleagues that the designation would cost the state $1.2 million, including $150,000 in ongoing funding and $50,000 for planning, as well as $1 million to match money already set aside by Utah County.

“I hope we all have appreciated and participated and been able to see Bridal Veil Falls. It’s one of the great falls in our state,” the Orem representative said. “But the challenge is we’re loving it to death. And it can be a signature for our state, and it’s an area that we need to have some attention.”

Statton said that the State Monuments Act, which allows lawmakers to designate public land “for preservation of a historic landmark, historic or prehistoric structure, geologic formation, cultural site, or archeological resource,” is “a real effective tool that we’ve found here in the state.”

He added that canyons in Utah County like Provo Canyon and American Fork Canyon “are just a few years behind the challenges we’re facing in Little Cottonwood, Big Cottonwood and the canyons up here (in Salt Lake County).”

“And so we need to get ahead of this and begin working on that,” he said, noting that it would be a “two-year process” to designate Bridal Veil Falls as a state monument or park.

The nonprofit Conserve Utah Valley has spent weeks urging lawmakers to support Statton’s effort. A petition sponsored by the nonprofit to make Bridal Veil Falls a state monument received more than 600 signatures as of Jan. 22, according to a press release.

Kaye Nelson, executive board member of Conserve Utah Valley and a resident of Provo, said Stratton’s legislation “is a great idea that will add extra protection for that iconic area.”

“(Bridal Veil Falls) is a Utah treasure that we need to preserve for generations to come,” Nelson said in the press release.

Stratton’s resolution was sent to the House Rules Committee on Monday but had not been discussed or voted on by the committee as of Tuesday.