The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
CBMR pleased with letter; FOSM, not so much
The continuing reaction to the recent Forest Service decision to not allow ski lift expansion onto Snodgrass Mountain has entered a new realm of the political. United States Senator Mark Udall has sent a strong letter to Regional Forester Rick Cables asking that the plan be allowed to enter the NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) review process.
In a letter dated November 30, Udall makes it clear he is expressing “concern with the Forest Service’s recent decision to decline to initiate an environmental review under the NEPA process.”
Udall goes on to ask that the agency “reconsider that decision in light of the extensive preliminary work that has been done by the project proponents and other factors…” (See the complete letter on page 4.)
Udall writes Cables that he has no position on the proposal itself. Determining whether lift-served skiing should be allowed on Snodgrass should be done “after all of the regulatory and public involvement process has been completed.” He continues on to say that by not putting the proposal into the NEPA process, the public doesn’t have a chance for “an official or robust review” of the specific proposal nor a full airing of issues and input regarding it.
Crested Butte Mountain Resort Vice President of Resort Planning and Development Michael Kraatz was pleased with Udall’s letter to Cables. “We are very appreciative of Senator Udall’s letter,” he said. “He understands the issue and more important, the value of the ski industry to Colorado. We hope that with his help and that of the other members of the delegation, we can get the Forest Service to see the error of their ways.”
The Friends of Snodgrass Mountain (FOSM) declined to comment on the Udall letter specifically at this time. However, FOSM spokesperson Chuck Shaw did say that the Richmond decision was a sound one. “We feel that, if the expansion is viewed objectively, based on the facts, the Forest Service decision will hold up,” he said. “The recent Forest Service decision was based on facts about the proposal. CBMR’s May ‘09 Master Development Plan and June ‘09 Expansion Proposal show that the proposed expansion would have provided more Black and Double Black terrain than Intermediate… the large amount of environmental damage required to obtain a limited amount of Intermediate terrain made the project unacceptable.”
The environmental organization, Colorado Wild, has been following the issue and believes Udall’s request to Cables is off base. “It’s an important issue and I’m glad Senator Udall is paying attention to the issue,” said Colorado Wild Executive Director Ryan Bidwell. “But we think the Forest Service appropriately followed its process and made an informed decision.”
Senator Udall ends his letter by asking for the plan to go into a NEPA review. “The Forest Service ought to give the community—and the broader state and national public—a chance to review and comment upon a specific proposal, objective studies, and reasonable alternatives, which can only be achieved under a thorough NEPA analysis,” he concludes.
