March 24, 2008

Crested Butte Town Council
PO Box 39
507 Maroon Ave
Crested Butte, CO 81224

Charlie Richmond
Forest Supervisor
GMUG National Forest
2250 Hwy 50
Delta, CO 81416

Hand Delivered

Re: Potential Application for the Expansion of Lift-Served Skiing onto Snodgrass Mountain


Members of the Crested Butte Town Council and Forest Supervisor Richmond:

Thank you for the opportunity to provide our input on the potential application by Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR) to expand lift-served skiing onto Snodgrass Mountain. As a conservation organization with over 30 years of experience on public lands issues in the Gunnison Valley, we appreciate your willingness to consider public opinion on this important community issue. Along with the vast majority of residents in the Gunnison Valley, we highly value the Grand Mesa Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forest (GMUG) and the public amenities that the forest provides our community and the nation. We continue to work to protect and conserve the GMUG and the communities that are interdependent with the forest’s resources.

Science and Public Process

As with past efforts to expand lift-served skiing onto Snodgrass Mountain, High Country Citizens' Alliance has closely followed the development of the most recent proposal over the past several years. During this time we have consistently requested that CBMR and the US Forest Service (USFS) make efforts to ensure two basic issues were fully addressed. We have asked that CBMR and the USFS employ only the highest quality geologic information during consideration of the expansion, and we have asked that CBMR and the USFS use a transparent and thorough public process before deciding to begin the NEPA process.

We have made significant efforts to learn about the geology of Snodgrass Mountain and the degree of risk associated with a ski area expansion on what have long been known to be potentially unstable areas of the mountain. One of the most significant steps we have taken in this pursuit was the hiring of an independent, third-party geologic and geotechnical engineering firm – Cotton Shires and Associates (CSA). Our work with Dale Marcum and other professionals at CSA has substantially improved our understanding of the geology of Snodgrass Mountain and some of the likely implications that ski area development could have for the mountain. Our contractual arrangement with CSA has also enabled us to more thoroughly analyze the geologic information produced by CBMR and the USFS as well as historical geologic reports on the area.

We last reviewed a draft of the geology report prepared for CBMR by Jim McAlpin in the summer of 2007. During that same time we also attended a tour of Snodgrass Mountain with CBMR and Jim McAlpin. Our geologists and geotechnical engineers have used information gained from this site visit and the draft geologic report, past geologic reports and their own site visit in evaluating the body of geologic information pertaining to Snodgrass. Their review has indicated to High Country Citizens' Alliance that there is no conclusive evidence that the geologic risk of a ski area expansion could be acceptably mitigated on Snodgrass Mountain. We also must conclude that some of the methods employed in the collection of geologic data have been insufficient and contrary to industry best practices. We further conclude that the amount of substantiated baseline geologic data is wholly inadequate to determine that the geologic hazards of a ski area expansion on Snodgrass Mountain could be acceptably mitigated.

Our second request has been that both CBMR and the USFS employ a transparent and thorough public process designed to engage citizens of the Gunnison Valley and to understand their perspective on a potential Snodgrass expansion. During the last two years High Country Citizens' Alliance has not seen a high quality public process emerge on this issue. To date we have seen little to nothing in the way of a widely accepted, open and progressive public dialogue on this important issue. Put simply, the Snodgrass discussion has remained mired in controversy and hyperbole and little has been done to elevate the discussion to a level of productive civil discourse.

We also point to the Gunnison County Comprehensive Plan process which was completed in 2004. During the development of this plan a number of different focus groups made up of local citizens reviewed the idea of expanding lift-served skiing onto Snodgrass Mountain. These groups included Economic Development, Environmental and Recreation among others. To varying degrees the concerns and requirements of these groups have not been addressed. These concerns of county residents remain valid and significant. In fact, both co-chairmen of the Economic Development focus group have written letters to the Crested Butte News in recent weeks stating their opposition to any lifts on Snodgrass because of new concerns over water and global warming.

Economics and Water

One of the other issues of interest to our community is whether or not expanded lift-served skiing on Snodgrass Mountain would have beneficial financial effects for CBMR and beneficial economic effects for the local economy. We have monitored all available information and discussion on the economic and financial aspects of the issue and have found nothing conclusive to indicate that expanded lift-served skiing would have either net positive financial or economic effects.

We have also given a great deal of consideration to water quality and quantity in our consideration of the Snodgrass issue. Here too we find a lack of comprehensive information establishing that the use of water for snowmaking would have a net neutral effect on either water quality or on the availability of water for other uses in our valley, including ranching. In light of climate change concerns and continuing pressure on water supplies in our state, we remain concerned about the advisability of using water for additional snowmaking coverage on a relatively low elevation mountain where expanded lift-served skiing would be proposed for predominantly southern aspects.

Summary

We appreciate the opportunity to provide our input at this time and will continue to consider all available information on this issue and we may have further input, on these and other significant environmental and social impacts, for both the Town of Crested Butte and US Forest Service if an application is submitted to the USFS. However, we find a lack of convincing evidence to support expanding lift-served skiing onto Snodgrass Mountain, a high degree of risk to the natural environment and a great deal of uncertainty with regard to the financial and economic outcome of such an expansion. Therefore, based on all currently available information, High Country Citizens' Alliance does not support the expansion of lift-served skiing onto Snodgrass Mountain.


On Behalf of the Board of Directors of High Country Citizens' Alliance,

/s/Dan Morse
Acting Executive Director