The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Sitting in the super hot seats…
A new letter from the town of Crested Butte will be sent to the Forest Service concerning the debate over Snodgrass. The council on Tuesday directed the staff to come up with a “neutral” letter that doesn’t editorialize the position of the town on the issue. The council seemed to agree that the current tenor is one of a divided community, but also agreed that the overall community opinion had changed since the town sent the last letter to the Forest Service in 2008.
The council at its next meeting on February 1 will review a draft of the letter. It will include the voluminous amount of comments from local citizens who spoke on the issue at public hearings before the council on December 21 and January 19, sent emails to the council or submitted petitions. The letter will ask the Forest Service to diligently follow the federal regulations in judging the Snodgrass proposal, and reinforce that if the Snodgrass plan proceeds in any form, the town wants a seat at the planning table.
Forest Supervisor Charlie Richmond issued a decision last fall that essentially stopped any lift expansion onto Snodgrass Mountain by Crested Butte Mountain Resort. He cited opposition by the town of Crested Butte as one of several reasons the plan was not “in the public interest.”
It wasn’t easy getting to the point where the majority of the council agreed to move forward with a new letter to the Forest Service. Six of the seven council members voted to move ahead while councilperson Reed Betz voted against the idea of drafting a new letter to the agency.
“The big question at this point is ‘did the Forest Service follow their regulations?’” said Betz. “I don’t know the answer and it is an answer probably to be decided by the courts. Until then, I’m not comfortable writing a new letter. I don’t know what a new letter would say that we haven’t already said.”
Fellow councilperson Jim Schmidt disagreed. “I’d like to write a letter saying we think the Snodgrass plan should go into NEPA,” he said. “But I don’t think this whole council would go for that. It just seems to me that the Forest Service has played loose with their rules. At the very least, I think we should write a letter saying we’ve received more than 200 emails and 70 percent support moving the process into NEPA.”
Schmidt continued, “They should know we have held several public hearings and we can write a letter without editorializing but saying ‘Here is what we got…’”
Councilperson Dan Escalante indicated that perhaps sending the letter in 2008 was a mistake. “But I think it would be a mistake to send a new letter. A flaw I see with Jim’s reasoning is that a lot of the comments we’ve received have come after Richmond’s decision letter, and a lot of people have told me they are either afraid to speak out in favor of that decision or feel that it’s going their way so there is no need to speak up. The statistics would be skewed.
“We are sitting in a super hot seat right now,” Escalante continued. “I, like a lot of people, are sort of indifferent really. If there are lifts on Snodgrass, I’m still going to be living here. If there aren’t, I’m staying here. For me, I would rather focus on the things we agree on. This thing is now in a place of lawyers and the court. It’s way beyond the council. It’s not our business to jump in at this point.”
New council member Roland Mason said he would agree with Schmidt and send a letter to the agency communicating that the climate in the community had changed since the last letter. “Things have changed a lot in a year and a half,” Mason said. “I think that if Snodgrass moves forward, it presents more benefits than harm. I agree that town is divided over the issue. It’s not just an 80-20 split like these polls say, but I don’t know what the real number is. But the Forest Service should know the climate has changed.”
Councilperson Phoebe Wilson agreed with that tone. “I’d say we should write a letter supporting that the plan go to NEPA,” she said. “The issue has evolved and this is largely a new council from the one that sent the last letter. I think sensible development will benefit the valley. I have some concerns with the resort’s master plan but NEPA is a place to address those issues.”
Councilperson John Wirsing was reluctant to write a strong letter but agreed that some things could be clarified with a letter to the Forest Service. “The town will always be divided on the issue,” he said. “We should clarify that we represent the people living in Crested Butte and not the entire Upper East River valley. And we could clarify that we want 250,000 additional tourists to come here. Now, I am concerned that I’ve heard from CBMR employees that they are afraid to speak against lifts on Snodgrass for fear they will lose their jobs. But overall, there were also a lot of issues with the plan that were addressed by Charlie. Maybe we call Charlie and ask him what he’d like from us.”
Mayor Leah Williams agreed that a letter based in neutrality could be in order. “It’s still a very divisive issue,” she said. “I am comfortable with a letter to the Forest Service asking them to follow their process. I’m not comfortable with the letter saying we support or not support having Snodgrass go to NEPA.”
Before the council discussed the issue, several of the 50 people in the audience again reiterated support and opposition to the idea of lift expansion onto Snodgrass. At the request of Williams, they all tried to weave their comments to the council into the basket of the pre-NEPA process.
An hour-long work session led by town attorney John Belkin tried to shed some light on that process. “It was an exercise to try and explain the process Charlie went through in making his decision,” Belkin said.
The public chimed in with arguments for and against lifts on Snodgrass.
“If you think the Forest Service has a misperception of where the town stands, shouldn’t you want to clarify that position?” asked Nancy Osmundson.
CBMR attorney Steve Imig of Denver attempted to clarify some of the confusion over the NEPA and pre-NEPA process. He said that some of the hoops the resort went through were like putting a square peg in a round hole given its permits. “And if it goes to NEPA, don’t assume it’s a foregone conclusion to get approved,” he said. “The Forest Service is not allowed to prejudge projects.”
Snodgrass expansion opponent Gary Dotzler used a backcountry ski analogy to make his point. He said the questions over public interest vs. public opinion were like four guys taking a backcountry ski trip with a professional guide. “They are standing at the top of the bowl and the ski guide evaluates the situation and says they aren’t skiing the run because it isn’t safe. The four guys protest and want to vote to ski it anyway but the guide still says no. The ski guide is public interest and the four guys are public opinion,” he told the council.
Crested Butte resident Sue Navy said the council should look at every document related to the issue before writing any letter. But she said she would be emailing comments to be included in the town’s correspondence to the Forest Service.
Restaurant owner Peter Maxwell said the town should consider an official vote to get a true indication for the feelings of the community. “We would contribute to help cover the cost,” he said.
“I think there’s been a big change in public opinion in a year-and-a-half,” stated Al Smith of Camp 4 Coffee. “I don’t think the council needs to remain neutral.”
Resident Glo Cunningham said she hoped her “town council wouldn’t write a letter without more knowledge.”
The council voted to draft a letter anyway.
CBMR’s Tim Mueller indicated the council took a tepid step in the right direction. “We’re pleased they took a step forward,” he said Wednesday morning. “That’s an improvement. But we are disappointed they didn’t write a stronger letter of support. The letter the previous board wrote indicated there wasn’t enough public support to move into NEPA. That’s clearly changed. There is certainly enough public support to get into NEPA and the council should have acknowledged that. And I want to address the comment by councilman Wirsing. It’s not our policy or practice to put pressure on our employees to speak or not speak on these kinds of issues, contrary to what John Wirsing said at the meeting.”
Friends of Snodgrass Mountain expressed support for the council action. “We applaud the efforts of the Crested Butte Town Council to attempt to enhance public understanding of the Snodgrass situation,” Chuck Shaw of FOSM commented Wednesday. “We agree with the Town’s desire that the Forest Service continue to follow the legal NEPA process. The proposed expansion failed to pass “pre-NEPA” Screening Level 2 based on a list of 12 factors that included the geological, geographical, hydrological, environmental and management problems that the USFS cited as being “inherent limitations and challenges” of Snodgrass Mountain as a lift-served alpine ski site.”
In the end, the council will consider a draft letter from the town staff at the next meeting on February 1.
