Forest Service scales back Irwin backcountry ski plan

IBG holding outreach meeting Thursday to discuss alternative

The Forest Service has considered the public comments over the proposed Irwin snowcat skiing operation and has come up with “tentative” alternatives to the original proposal. Forest Service special projects planner Gary Shellhorn has shared the proposed alternatives with ski area management and expects an environmental assessment (EA) to be ready for formal public review in the fall.

Irwin Backcountry Guides representatives want to run the potential alternatives past the public this Thursday, July 23 at an informational meeting in Crested Butte.
 “We are trying to continue to inform the public about the proposed operation,” explained IBG mountain manager Alan Bernholtz. “We think the concerns expressed by the public to the Forest Service about the original proposal have been addressed in the alternatives.”
Shellhorn said the Forest Service is looking at including three alternatives in the EA. The first would be a “No Action” alternative. He said there is an alternative that outlines a modified version of the original proposal and is supported by IBG. A third alternative would scale back the “area and operation” even more.
“The specialists are analyzing the impacts of these alternatives right now,” Shellhorn explained. “The target is to get an EA out in September. We typically don’t piecemeal and release parts of an EA to the public. It just doesn’t work well in the process. But we’ve shared the tentative alternatives with the proponents and they want to share them with the public. They want to get more public input about the operation. From our standpoint, we are still working on the EA and looking at the consequences of the alternatives.”
Bernholtz said the changes IBG have accepted include not having an avalauncher in the area to help control snowslides. Thus there will not be a snowcat road to an avalauncher site.
Also, there will not be any removal of trees in the area to accommodate the snowcat ski operation and a snowcat road would not be allowed along the shores of Lake Irwin.
“Those are three big changes made by the Forest Service and we think we can do these things in an effort to work with the community,” said Bernholtz. “We have heard what the public has to say and we are comfortable making some changes to the original plan based on those comments. We have every intention of mitigating those concerns.”
Bernholtz said he still hoped the timeline would allow for the Irwin proposal to start up this winter. “We are not rushing the process and we want to make sure the public has every chance to comment,” he said. “If people want more information on the alternatives, I urge them to come to the informational meeting Thursday or touch base with me.”
The meeting will be held in the Crested Butte Town Council chambers starting at 5 p.m. on Thursday, July 23.