{"id":1318098,"date":"2020-02-05T17:43:04","date_gmt":"2020-02-06T00:43:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=993308"},"modified":"2020-02-05T17:43:04","modified_gmt":"2020-02-06T00:43:04","slug":"sunlight-expansion-plan-hinges-on-forest-review-but-streamlined-process-likely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/sunlight-expansion-plan-hinges-on-forest-review-but-streamlined-process-likely\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunlight expansion plan hinges on Forest review, but streamlined process likely"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Don Berger, left, looks over maps of the Sunlight Mountain Resort expansion plan with ski area officials, General Manager Tom Hays, right, and Operations Manager Ross Terry, during a public meeting Tuesday night hosted by White River National Forest staffers.<\/strong>
John Stroud\/Post Independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

A cursory review of Sunlight Mountain\u2019s ski-area expansion plan \u2014 for which the U.S. Forest Service is considering a categorical exclusion<\/a> under federal environmental laws \u2014 does not mean critical elements won\u2019t be studied, according the agency\u2019s new district ranger.<\/p>\n

The small amount of public land that would be disturbed for the ski area expansion and new chair lift \u2014 less than 5 acres \u2014 qualifies Sunlight\u2019s plans for the less-extensive review, according to Kevin Warner, the White River National Forest\u2019s new Aspen-Sopris District ranger.<\/p>\n

And, judging from the light attendance (less than a dozen people) at an open house Tuesday night in Glenwood Springs meant to answer any questions the public may have about the proposal, the project is not likely to generate any controversy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a lot of projects similar to this, where it\u2019s a small amount of ground disturbance within a special-use permit area, we will analyze that through categorical exclusion,\u201d Warner explained.<\/p>\n

Sunlight announced its plans last year for a $4 million expansion<\/a> on the East Ridge portion of the ski area, including about 100 acres of new expert skiing terrain and a new fixed-grip quad chair lift serving expanded expert and intermediate terrain.<\/p>\n

Some of that expanded terrain has already been cleared on privately owned portions of Sunlight Mountain. New runs to the east of the current ski area boundary, along with the new lift and a pit toilet would involve additional forest land within the already permitted area.<\/p>\n

Warner said the plan will necessitate a wildlife and fish analysis, as well as historical and cultural surveys of the project area. Even under categorical exclusion, a formal \u201cdecision memo\u201d from Forest Supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams would be issued, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf any extraordinary circumstances come up in that process, we can still say that we would need to go into a more in-depth analysis,\u201d Warner said.<\/p>\n

The handful of people who did show up at the Tuesday meeting were mostly curious about the new skiing terrain that would be made available, and the timeline for the new lift installation.<\/p>\n

According to Sunlight General Manager Tom Hays, who was on hand for the meeting, once the final clearance is given by the Forest Service, more timber would be cleared this summer and fall, making way for the new lift to be installed after the 2020-21 ski season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we can get that clearing done in the summer, that\u2019s going to drive when we can actually install the lift,\u201d Hays said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt also depends on snowfall next year and visitation,\u201d he said, noting that this year\u2019s numbers so far are up and the ski conditions are prime.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re having a good season, and to be able to move forward with the expansion is going to really add some dimension to the ski area,\u201d Hays said.<\/p>\n

An informal public comment process remains open until Feb. 23, but that\u2019s not to say comments won\u2019t be taken after that time, Warner said.<\/p>\n

This spring, forest officials will meet to go over the comments that are received, followed by field surveys in late spring or early summer, he said. \u201cOnce we do that, then we can move forward with a decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sunlight\u2019s expansion plans do not include the coveted Williams Peak to the west of the existing ski area, though that does remain in the resort\u2019s long-range master plan, Hays said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt some point we would like to expand in that direction,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it\u2019s not anything short term, at least not in the next five years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sunlight has a little more than 2,400 acres of permitted forest land to operate the ski resort.<\/p>\n

jstroud@postindependent.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Don Berger, left, looks over maps of the Sunlight Mountain Resort expansion plan with ski area officials, General Manager Tom Hays, right, and Operations Manager Ross Terry, during a public meeting Tuesday night hosted by White River National Forest staffers.John Stroud\/Post Independent A cursory review of Sunlight Mountain\u2019s ski-area expansion plan \u2014 for which the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1318098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-06 00:38:14","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1318098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318098\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1318098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1318098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1318098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}