Lolo Peak

Group says Thousands Oppose Resort

By Kirk Siegler, 12-01-05

Members of a group fighting Tom Maclay’s proposal for a destination ski resort on Lolo Peak say they’ve now collected signatures from some 2,500 Missoula and Bitterroot valley residents opposed to the plan.

Daphne Herling of Friends of Lolo Peak handed the latest results of her group’s ongoing petition drive to a Missoula staffer of U.S. Senator Conrad Burns Wednesday afternoon.

“I hope you’ll tell the Senator that these petitions are strictly volunteer, people are doing this in their spare time,� Herling told Larry Anderson, the Senator’s Missoula field representative.

The move comes in advance of Burns’ meeting here Friday on the forest management revision process. Officials on the Lolo National Forest are currently in the midst of revising the forest’s management plan – the document that ultimately guides how the land is used. Anderson said he and his boss appreciate the input and plan to listen to both sides as the debate over the proposed ski resort heats up in the coming months.

“We look forward to getting comments from everyone that’s involved,� Anderson said.

Citizen groups like Friends of Lolo have been very much involved throughout the Lolo Forest’s scoping process this year, attending en masse various public hearings in Missoula and the north Bitterroot. Forest managers have already indicated a commercial ski development on portions of the Carlton Ridge Research Natural Area doesn’t fit in with the current management plan on the Lolo. And every indication is their final decision won’t bring drastic changes to the current plan.

But opponents of the resort worry someone higher up in the agency, or a member of Congress, might intervene and allow the proposal to move forward. Bitterroot Resort officials maintain that is not part of their plan at this time.

But Sharon Dill, who lives in the Carlton Creek drainage and attended the meeting at Senator Burns’ office, isn’t so convinced. She’s not about to forget the fight.

“We don’t want that area to become another Aspen or Vail,� Dill said.

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