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Wolf Creek backcountry. Photo courtesy U.S. Forest Service.
Draft environmental study available for review and comment
By Bob Berwyn
SUMMIT COUNTY — The U.S. Forest Service is looking to forge ahead with a controversial land trade at Wolf Creek Pass. The southwest Colorado swap could enable development of a new 1,500-unit residential village surrounded by national forest lands full of wetlands and critical to lynx and other sensitive species.
The agency this week released a draft environmental study for the land swap, outlining a preferred alternative that would trade about 204 acres of public land for 178 acres of private land. Read the draft EIS here.
“By design, the land exchange would result in a private land connection to Hwy 160 and, by default, a means to accommodate year-round vehicular access to the private land parcel owned by LMJV (Leavell-McCombs Joint Venture),” the Forest Service wrote in the draft Environmental Impact Statement.
The trade could result in development of a “mini-city of hotels, condos, private homes, parking garages, and retailers, with potentially devastating effects on wildlife habitat in the area, according to Rocky Mountain Wild, a Colorado conservation group that has led the Friends of Wolf Creek campaign for the past 10 years. (more…)
Filed under: Colorado, endangered species, Environment, public lands, recreation, US Forest Service | Tagged: Colorado, land trade at Wolf Creek, US Forest Service, Village at Wolf Creek, Wolf Creek Pass, Wolf Creek ski area | 2 Comments »
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