The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
First step in process to expand into Teocalli drainage
By Alissa Johnson
Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR) has submitted a proposal to the U.S. Forest Service to add trails and lifts within its current boundary of operations and expand that boundary into Teocalli Drainage. This May, Forest Service district ranger John Murphy sent a letter to the towns of Crested Butte and Mt. Crested Butte, the city of Gunnison, and Gunnison County to inform them of the proposal and identify next steps.
According to the letter, the proposal outlines plans to construct new lifts, trails, gladed trails and add snowmaking inside the ski area’s current permit boundary. The resort would also expand that boundary to allow skiing in 500 acres of Teocalli Drainage, including the installation of a lift, new trails and gladed trails for skiing, additional mountain bike trails, and a via ferrata—a type of climbing route protected by a steel cable—for summer use.
“Our first step will be to determine if CBMR’s proposal is consistent with their 2013 Master Development Plan and the Forest’s 1991 Amended Land and Resource Management Plan. We do know that their proposal to expand the ski area permit boundary will, if approved, require an amendment to the Forest Plan to change certain management area designations to allow for downhill skiing,” the letter read.
Erica Mueller, CBMR’s director of innovations and relations, confirmed that the resort submitted the project proposal to the Forest Service, which is still in the initial stages of review.
“The proposal does line up with our master development plan, and we’re letting the Forest Service know that we want to start the process,” Mueller said.
“It has by no means been accepted, so it’s too early to know when construction or expansion would begin,” Mueller continued. “We will need to go through a multi-year environmental review process with the Forest Service. At this time, the Forest Service would just be accepting the proposal, but that does not guarantee that all components of the proposal will be approved in the end. Impacts will be determined by going through the NEPA [National Environmental Protection Act] process.”
According to Murphy, the agency might request more information prior to accepting the proposal. “Typically additional information is necessary from the proponent to obtain a full description of the proposed uses and their effects,” Murphy stated in his letter to the municipalities.
If the Forest Service accepts the proposal, the NEPA process will be initiated, including public scoping. While public comment is not under way, Murphy did request that the municipalities let the agency know how they would like to be involved in the overall process.
According to Aaron Drendel, Forest Service project leader for the proposal, there are different ways the Forest Service can cooperate with local governments. “Involvement can be a formalized relationship which involves local governments becoming a cooperating agency, or it may be that a local government submits comments during the scoping process and has standing in that manner through our NEPA process,” Drendel explained.
