Alternatives for Irwin ski proposal being developed

“Putting some meat on the bones…”

The proposal to operate a snowcat ski operation in the Irwin area continues to move forward. An environmental assessment (EA) is being written by the Forest Service and will include several alternatives for the public to comment on. Representatives of Irwin Backcountry Guides (IBG) met with Forest Service officials last week to discuss the different issues that have been highlighted from the public comment period that ended last month.

IBG hopes to start marketing the ski opportunity this coming winter. However, the Forest Service says that might be a winter too soon. When the EA will be written and released is still unknown.
“We had a good meeting with IBG and we talked about the various issues, the EA process and a timeline,” said U.S. Forest Service snow ranger for the Gunnison Ranger District Kai Allen. “We have nothing conclusive to share at this time, however. We are still not sure of any timeline based on the complexity of the issues. At this point we are evaluating the comments that will lead to different alternatives and then we will write the EA. We don’t know what those alternatives will be.”
IBG mountain manager Alan Bernholtz would like to see the EA process wrap up fast enough to have a decision—and he hopes approval—for a snowcat ski business this coming winter. “I think the meeting we had with the Forest Service went well,” he said. “We heard the public’s concerns and think we understand the issues. Timing is important to us at the moment.”
Bernholtz said IBG plans to have another public forum to present and discuss the skiing plans for the Irwin basin. He hopes that forum can be held sometime in mid-July but it is dependent on when the various alternatives are finalized. “We want the public to be able to comment on something they can look at. So it’s up to the Forest Service. When they give the public alternatives, we’ll hold a meeting so people can ask us questions.”
If the Forest Service comes up with alternatives to the plan soon, IBG will hold a forum on Thursday, July 16 at the Crested Butte Town Hall.
Forest Service special projects planner Gary Shellhorn will be writing the EA. Based in the supervisor’s office in Delta, Shellhorn has been dealing with the Travel Management Plan trail for the area.
“My job now is to evaluate the public comments we received and based on those comments, define the substantive issues,” he explained. “We will then look at the effects those issues will have. There are both land-based environmental impacts and societal impacts. We have landowners and business interests as well as concerns with the environmental impact. We will then start laying out feasible alternatives to what has been proposed.”
Shellhorn said he didn’t anticipate the project having to go through an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). “The EA should be sufficient for this proposal,” he said. “While in some EAs, there only has to be a choice between the proposed action and no action, this EA will have a variety of alternatives. We are moving ahead with the process of putting some meat on the bones of those possible alternatives.”
Shellhorn said last week’s meeting was productive and IBG was focused on the timeline. “We are moving forward with the process,” he said. “We want to provide alternatives that address the issues but still meet what is requested in the permit. I don’t have any date for when we will have an EA for the public to look at, but we are moving forward.”
Bernholtz said of the 56 letters received by the Forest Service, 35 had concerns with some aspect of the proposal, 21 supported the proposal and “only one was against the idea. We are listening to the feedback from the public.”
Allen made it clear the Forest Service isn’t trying to stall the process. “We are trying to be timely but a lot of issues have surfaced and it is a complicated process. Plus it is a very busy time for us with a lot going on,” he said of the Forest Service office in the summer. “They need to understand that even if a permit is signed, there is a lot of work to do in order to make sure the operation can be run safely. There are a lot of things that need to be in place.”
Under the Forest Service process, an appeal of any decision can also be made.