Modest turnout at CBMR expansion open houses hosted by USFS, resort

No surprises so far

By Alissa Johnson

Last week, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR) hosted open houses in Gunnison and Crested Butte regarding the resort’s proposal to expand skiing into the Teocalli drainage and add summer trails. There was a moderate turnout at each meeting, and so far, little opposition to the proposal has been raised.

The meetings were held as part of the environmental review process outlined by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). “We are doing the highest level of NEPA, which is the Environmental Impact Statement,” said district ranger John Murphy. “We are in the earliest stages of public scoping, which ends December 7.”

Murphy explained that there will be two parts to the USFS decision: reviewing the proposed activities and amending the Forest Plan to allow for the expansion of CBMR’s permit boundary. In addition, the Fish and Wildlife Service will review the proposal under the Endangered Species Act assessing impacts to Canada lynx habitat.

At the November 19 meeting at the Lodge at Mountaineer Square, CBMR president Ethan Mueller said the expansion grew out of the community’s response to earlier proposals to expand onto Snodgrass.

“[This proposal] is something we’re excited about. We started looking at it a number of years ago after the Snodgrass initiative didn’t go through. We heard loud and clear from those who were against it to look at the main mountain and see what you can do there, so that’s exactly what we did,” Mueller said.

He spoke to a room of about 20 members of the public, plus Forest Service and resort employees who asked limited questions and were generally receptive to the idea, some calling it well thought-out.

The proposal itself includes the addition of two new lifts, five new intermediate ski trails, four new advanced ski trails and 10 new gladed trails in the Teocalli drainage. The North Face lift will also be realigned.

The goal, according to the resort, is to have enough terrain to provide visitors with four to five days’ worth of skiing for intermediate to advanced skiers. In addition, the proposal adds snowmaking capabilities to existing terrain and 15 new miles of mountain bike trails—a 50 percent increase.

Aaron Drendel, a recreation officer with the Forest Service, said the tenor of the Mt. Crested Butte meeting was similar to that of the Gunnison open house. He credited that to the work that CBMR has done to inform the community about its proposal.

“There are no surprises,” he said.

Erica Mueller, the resort’s director of innovations and relations, said few major concerns have been raised to resort officials. Some hunters who use the area during fall have brought up their concern, but overall reception has been positive.

“The meetings last week in Gunnison and Mt. Crested Butte went really well. We were able to answer some great questions and have conversations with those in the community who came out to understand more. We really appreciate having the opportunity to do that,” Erica Mueller said.

Like Drendel, she believes that efforts to inform the community have played a big role in that reception.

“We have led a lot of tours back there in both the summer and winter months, presented to all three town councils, the Board of County Commissioners, as well as other stakeholders in town. This has gone a long way for us garnering support, as the project has been carefully thought-out to align with our purpose and need for the expansion,” she said.

The public comment period remains open through December 7, after which date the Forest Service will respond to information collected during the scoping period. The agency will develop alternatives to the proposed action, consider identified issues and develop mitigations as appropriate, and issue an Environmental Impact Statement for public comment.

According to Murphy, there will be also be a 45-day pre-decision objection period before the agency signs off on a final decision (this replaces the appeals process the Forest Service used to follow).

“Generally with an EIS it takes a year and a half, so it’s not going to happen overnight,” Murphy said. The SE Group, a third-party contractor that specializes in the NEPA process, is being funded by CBMR and will help move the project forward.

“The SE Group has done a lot of work on similar projects all across the nation. They’re a very credible and professional company, and the Forest Service is looking forward to working with them,” Murphy said.

A project overview, a full library of project documents, and the opportunity to submit comments are available at www.crestedbutte-eis.com