"Wolf Creek Village" EIS is in progress. Speak Out

[kelly]

Yes, i know that this is off topic, but i know many boaters whom are also backcountry skiiers etc.. The EIS is in progress with public meetings next week in South Fork and Pagosa Springs. If you enjoy the backcountry around wolf creek pass, live in the area, please try to attend a public meeting and let your voice be heard. The proposed development...well you can read it for yourself

http://www.friendsofwolfcreek.org

Hoping for the best,
Kelly ps. i am not affiliated with Friends of Wolf Creek, just dont want to see another enviromental, eyesore debacle, so someone will have a place to park their Hummer

[double-a-ron]

i agree with you on environmental concerns but if you are ever going to sell your arguments don't use a web site full of lies (4200 parking spaces or 162 lots for wolf creek, come on you can't be serious), not to mention you must appeal to their pocketbooks not just your ideals. show them why its bad for them.

i hate to rain on such a positive parade but use strategies that will work,

aaron

[El Flaco]

That website might be inflammatory in language, but it seems fairly accurate as to the size and scope of the project. Here's an excerpt from the Vail Trail newspaper:

Wolf Creek development planned


As one of Colorado’s most remote ski areas, Wolf Creek has not seen the same development pressures that have occurred at other resorts. But that may change as a pair of developers rev up plans for the 300-acre Village at Wolf Creek, including up to 2,172 housing units, with 164 lots containing 125 single-family units, 1,700 multi-family units and about 400 hotel units – all ski-in, ski-out, according to the Durango Herald.

Environmentalists have claimed the cost of providing municipal services will outweigh any fiscal benefits and charge that the developers want to bypass environmental laws, according to the Herald.

The Pitcher family, owners of the Wolf Creek Ski Area, have said the proposed level of development is too big for the mountain and doesn’t mesh with their "low-intensity land-use ethic," according to the Herald.

The Forest Service also has concerns. The developers acquired the land as part of a 1986 land swap. Possible development of 200 units was explored in an environmental study for that deal, but there has been no study of impact that could result from the development of more than 2,000 units.

Davey Pitcher, president of Wolf Creek Ski Area, said his family wants the developers to "get rid of the property," either by trading it for other Forest Service land or selling it to his family, according to the Herald.

I saw a drawing of this proposal in the Durango Herald a few years ago- it looked pretty obtrusive. Wolf Creek ski area is one of the last family owned areas without all the resort garbage attached- moreover, the Pitcher family doesn't want it.

As boaters, I think we have an obligation to protect the watershed- this is the headwaters of the Rio Grande; and other than Fun Valley, the Pass is absolutely gorgeous. Plus, there's a great backcountry run right across the valley from the "Village" I'll submit a letter.....