Colorado: Breckenridge Ski Area wants to develop new summer recreation facilities on national forest lands

Posted on March 30, 2013 by Bob Berwyn

Resort submits plan to U.S. Forest Service

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A summer view toward Breckenridge from the flanks of the Tenmile Range near Peak 6.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Breckenridge Ski Area is preparing to create an outdoor-themed summer amusement park on the public lands it leases from the U.S. Forest Service. The resort wants to add  14 miles of beginner, intermediate and family oriented mountain biking trails across peaks 7 and 8, as well as adventure hiking zones, zip lines and ropes courses.

Vail Resorts submitted a formal proposal to the U.S. Forest Service this week. Following acceptance of the proposal, the agency will begin an comprehensive environmental review to analyze and disclose site-specific environmental impacts. If the U.S. Forest Service approves a plan, Vail Resorts would begin construction on Epic Discovery activities in the summer of 2015.

In a press release, the company touted the environmental and educational components of the planned new activities. According to the release, the company will partner with The Nature Conservancy and will donate 1 percent of all summer lift ticket and activity revenue toward forest restoration projects. (more…)

Filed under: business, Colorado, Environment, public lands, Summit County Colorado, Summit County news, US Forest Service | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Biodiversity: Forest Service adopting a regional policy to address bat-killing fungal disease

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Bob Berwyn

Wildlife conservation advocates call for more stringent measures

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The Forest Service hopes that a tiered, adaptive-management approach will help prevent the spread of White-Nose Syndrome in the Rocky Mountain region.

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY — The U.S. Forest Service is adopting a regional policy aimed at managing caves in the face of White-Nose Syndrome, a bat-killing disease that is sweeping across the country.

The fungal infection has wiped out millions of bats in the Northeast, spreading southward, and west as far as Oklahoma, but hasn’t yet reached the Rocky Mountains, but the Forest Service recognizes the threat:

“If (the disease) is introduced to cave or (abondoned mine) habitats anywhere in the five states in Region 2, it will likely spread rapidly via bat-to-bat transmission and could quickly contaminate cave and (abandoned mine) habitats,” the agency concluded in the study. (more…)

Filed under: biodiversity, Colorado, Environment, US Forest Service, White River National Forest | Tagged: , , , , | 2 Comments »

Environment: Roadless rule critics run out of time

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Bob Berwyn
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The 2001 national roadless rule has been upheld by yet another federal court.

Federal court rejects Alaska challenge

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — A national roadless rule that protects watersheds, buffers wilderness areas against invasive plants and provides habitat for wildlife has withstood its final legal challenge from the state of Alaska.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia this week rejected the same worn-out arguments that critics have been repeating for a decade or more, affirming the legality of the rule and protecting tens of millions of acres of roadless forest lands from logging and road building.

The court dismissed the state’s lawsuit for being filed after the six-year statute of limitations. Conservation groups who helped galvanize a citizens’ campaign in the late 1990s to protect America’s last wild national forest lands breathed a sigh of relief after more than a decade of legal challenges. (more…)

Filed under: Environment, forests, US Forest Service | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Forest Service close to awarding new airtanker contracts

Posted on March 23, 2013 by Bob Berwyn

Vilsack says latest contracts could also face protests, despite efforts to minimize potential issues

Feds mobilizing air resources for wildfire season. PHOTO COURTESY KARI GREER/USFS.

Federal contracts for airtankers have still not been finalized for the 2013 wildfire season. Photo courtesy Kari Greer/USFS.

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY — Last week’s Galena Fire near Fort Collins was a stark reminder that firefighters need to be ready for the upcoming season, which could be long and hot in of the country.

Wrangling over air tanker contracts has already delayed Forest Service efforts to bring new planes online, but U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack this week said he’s done everything possible to make sure that up to seven “next-generation” large air tankers will be available for the 2013 fire season. (more…)

Filed under: Colorado, Environment, federal government, US Forest Service, wildfires | Tagged: , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Summit County: Forest Service requests $96,000 state trails grant for OHV management

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Bob Berwyn
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The grant proposal includes examples of how the funding would be used.

Local stakeholders support idea of summer motorized trail crew

By Summit Voice

FRISCO — The Forest Service’s Dillon Ranger District is applying for a $96,000 state trails grant partly to patrol and maintain a trail system on Tenderfoot Mountain that hasn’t been approved or built yet.

An off-highway vehicle subcommittee heard the grant request earlier this month in the first step of a three-stage approval process.

The grant request has support from the Summit County Commissioners, the town of Breckenridge and several nonprofit stewardship groups in the area. (more…)

Filed under: Colorado, Dillon Ranger District, recreation, Summit County Colorado, US Forest Service, White River National Forest | Tagged: , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Study: Colorado forests not doomed

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Bob Berwyn
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New dawn for Colorado’s beetle-killed forests.

Intensive research shows vigorous regrowth in beetle-killed tracts

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY — After years of uncertainty over the future of Colorado’s forest landscapes, a new study by U.S. Forest Service scientists puts the recent pine epidemic into perspective.

The insect outbreak ultimately will result in more diverse and resilient forests in the long run, adding structural complexity and species diversity, researchers with the USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station concluded after carefully monitoring regrowth in beetle-killed stands.

New growth is surging under the dying lodgepole canopy with the vertical growth rate of lodgepole and fir doubling in beetle-killed areas that were left untreated after the epidemic. Harvested stands also showed strong lodgepole regrowth, with aspen gaining ground in some places.

“Forests come and go … It’s not a crisis, but this was an amazing synchronism,” Forest Service biogeochemist Chuck Rhoades said of the massive pine beetle outbreak that will alter the forest landscape of the Southern Rockies for generations to come.

The bugs swarmed across vast swaths of the Canadian Rockies; they’ve invaded the Front Range and moved east to the Dakotas, especially the forests of the Black Hills.

“This event is not over, but the fear part should be over,” said Rhoades, who, with a team of researchers from the Fort Collins-based Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station, has been carefully studying regeneration in beetle-killed areas. “But the idea of forest health and maintaining forest ecosystem processes is something we’ll always be thinking about,” he said. (more…)

Filed under: Colorado, Environment, Forest health, forests, pine beetles, pine beetles and wildfires, public lands, US Forest Service | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Copper Mountain eyes new lifts, trail upgrades, wind turbines

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Bob Berwyn

Forest Service launches review with 30-day public comment period

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The U.S. Forest Service is starting to review a proposal to upgrade lifts and trails at Colorado’s Copper Mountain Resort.

*Corrected to clarify replacement of H Lift with a high-speed quad in 2011 as the most recent major lift upgrade.

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY — Copper Mountain has proposed a slate of on-mountain lift and trail projects to improve the overall skier experience, enhance teaching opportunities and modernize the resort’s lift infrastructure.

Specifically, Copper wants to replace the Kokomo and Storm King lifts, add a new Union Meadows surface lift and a new terrain park surface lift that will also help enhance Woodward at Copper’s camp operations.

To improve skier and snowboarder flow across the mountain, the resort is also proposing improvements to the T-Rex Connector trail and the Spaulding Bowl runout trail, improved access to the Enchanted Forest area and grading around one of the towers of the Sierra Lift.

The proposal also includes adding two 24-foot vertical wind turbines on Union Peak to generate about  2,000 kilowatt hours per year. The proposed wind turbines will add renewable energy capacity generated by existing turbines installed in 2011. Click here to learn more about kilowatt hours.

This proposal only includes a few elements from an earlier on-mountain MDP, said Shelly Grail, winter sports ranger on the Dillon Ranger District. This plan focuses on improving skier and snowboarder flow on the mountain, and especially on improving service in the beginner area. Grail said. (more…)

Filed under: Colorado, Copper Mountain, Dillon Ranger District, Environment, Ski Resorts, Summit County Colorado, Summit County news, US Forest Service, White River National Forest | Tagged: , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Forest Service to address the tangled status of ski area water rights with a public process

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Bob Berwyn

Federal court ruling sends agency back to the drawing board

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The U.S. Forest Service will hold a public process to develop a new agency guideline for adminstering water rights at ski areas operating on public lands. Bob Berwyn photo.

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY — After being rebuffed in federal court, the U.S. Forest Service will start anew at developing new water-rights language for ski area permits. The agency plans to start taking public input this spring on the new directive, which would clarify ownership of water rights on national forest lands.

The Forest Service most recently issued a new water rights directive in Dec. 2012, aiming to establish that certain water rights have to remain linked with the ski areas where the water is used to ensure the long-term sustainability of the resorts.

The ski industry interpreted at least parts of the new directive as a direct grab of water rights that are properly administered under state water law. A year-long lawsuit ended in Dec. 2012 with a court telling the Forest Service it must use a public process to develop a new directive.

“The agency’s announcement and the agency’s recent policy that was struck down in federal court both assume that water should run with the land. This approach reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of water law in the West,” said Geraldine Link,  public policy director for the National Ski Areas Association.

(more…)

Filed under: business, Colorado, economy, Environment, Summit County Colorado, US Forest Service, water, White River National Forest | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Another Forest Service recreation fee bites the dust

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Bob Berwyn

Court-ordered settlement ends hiking and parking fees at Mt. Lemmon Recreation Area in Arizona

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Opponents of Forest Service recreation fees continue to win court cases.

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY — Hikers in Arizona will get a break from pesky Forest Service recreation fees this summer, as a federal judge last week approved a settlement that ensures free access to the trails and backcountry of the Mt. Lemmon Recreation Area, near Tuscon.

The court-ordered deal concludes yet another legal battle over public land fees, but the war is not yet over. In another lawsuit against the Forest Service, fee opponents are challenging the now widespread practice of allowing private, for-profit concession-holders to charge fees for day-use areas and other public land sites across the country.

At Mt. Lemmon, the Forest Service had been charging a general-access fee for what it called a high-impact recreation area. That didn’t sit well with some local hikers, who, with the backing of the Western Slope No-Fee Coalition, challenged the agency in court — and won, leading to the settlement. (more…)

Filed under: public lands, US Forest Service | Tagged: , , , , | 3 Comments »

Colorado: New snowmobile rules on national forest lands

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Bob Berwyn

Winter travel maps detail new closures and designated trails

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New winter travel maps available for national forest lands in Summit County. Click on the image to view, download or print maps for your area.

By Summit Voice

FRISCO — The White River National Forest has started enforcing new winter motorized travel rules on the Dillon Ranger District, including the closure of some areas that were previously open to snowmobiles.

The winter travel maps are available at the Dillon Ranger District visitor center in Silverthorne and also online at this Forest Service web page. Dillon District winter rangers will be educating the public about the new changes, checking snowmobile registrations, and responding to snowmobiles in closed areas.  Anyone observing snowmobiles in closed areas is encouraged to record detailed information and report it to the Dillon Ranger District at 970-468-5400.

Motorized users are responsible for obtaining a map to determine where they can ride.  “NO SNOWMOBLE” signs will not be posted except in key areas. More information is available on the White River National Forest recreation web page. (more…)

Filed under: Colorado, Dillon Ranger District, public lands, recreation, Summit County Colorado, US Forest Service, White River National Forest | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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