Advocating for A Sustainable, Ecologically Friendly Ski Industry
Skiing in Colorado, while an appropriate (and fun!) use of our National Forests, can threaten the forests, rivers, and our mountains’ magnificent beauty − often the very attributes that drew us here in the first place. With skier numbers stagnant nationally for over two decades, some ski companies continue to greatly expand terrain simply to retain “market share” over other ski areas also in our National Forests – destroying wetlands, old-growth, and pristine mountain valleys in the process. Driven by the lure of real estate development profits, many resorts also over-develop exclusive ski-in/ski-out homes, further destroying Colorado’s natural beauty and harming crucial lynx, bear, elk, and deer migration corridors.
As the founder and nationwide leader of the nationwide Ski Area Citizens’ Coalition, Colorado Wild is the only group working state-wide to curb environmentally harmful or real estate driven ski area expansions. With our partner organizations throughout the western U.S., we grade ski resorts each year on their environmental friendliness with the Ski Area Environmental Scorecard – a widely acclaimed, user friendly tool thousands of skiers use to make a real difference.
Sign the Petition to Stop McCombs' Latest Attemptto Circumvent Public Review and Involvement
Developer Red McCombs has spent more than 20 years attempting to circumvent legitimate public review of his proposed "Village." McCombs remains unwilling to trust his project to any traditional process of public analysis, disclosure, and decision-making, and has therefore hired a new team of lobbyists to attempt to circumvent this review process through a legislative land exchange to gain not only access, but also additional developable property.
After more than two decades of debate, the GMUG National Forest made a decision on November 5th to deny Crested Butte Mountain Resort's (CBMR) proposal to expand lift-served skiing onto nearby Snodgrass Mountain. Your help is needed to support the Forest Service decision to deny the ski expansion.
Your Help Needed to Stop McCombs’ Latest Attempt to Circumvent Public Review and Involvement They are at it again! As you may have heard, Red McCombs has hired a new development team and is again working to push through his plans for a “Village” at Wolf Creek. Their new plan involves a new land exchange to facilitate access to their private land, and to acquire additional developable property. McCombs' team is heavily lobbying in Archuleta County and we need your help today to fight off this proposal.
Colorado Wild was invited to testify to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee's Subcommittee on Public Land and Forests regarding Senator Mark Udall's S.607 on October 29, 2009. The bill would authorize the construction of facilities for year round recreational activities at ski areas on National Forest land.
In what we hope will be the final chapter in McCombs’ proposed 10,000-person “Village” at Wolf Creek debacle, the Rio Grande National Forest officially cancelled the new EIS for the project on February 12, 2009. Ten years after Colorado Wild’s original objection to a proposed access route through the ski area’s parking lot, the project has ground to a halt yet again.
