new EIS required

Wolf Creek Development Plans Halted

By Carson Bennett, 2-11-08

	View from summit to valley, Wolf Creek

Developer Red McComb’s plans for a 287-acre “Village at Wolf Creek” at the base of one of Colorado’s last small family-owned ski areas have, for now, been squashed.

On Saturday, February 9th, the Durango Herald reported that Leavell-McCombs Joint Venture has agreed to start a new Environmental Impact Statement for the access road they want to build across public land, “a task that could set them back several years.”

If you recall my snowblog post from November 19, 2007, you will remember that B.J. “Red” McCombs’ development proposal was accepted by the Mineral County Commissioners in 2004, despite the fact that he never submitted an independent fiscal impact analysis. In addition, Colorado Wild, an environmental organization based in Durango, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service, claiming their EIS was flawed “and relied on improper influence from the developers,” the Durango Herald reports.

They can’t build the village without an access road. They can’t build an access road without approval from the courts. They can’t get approval from the courts without a sound Environmental Impact Statement. They have agreed to start the EIS process over. The last EIS took them two years to manufacture, and was over an inch thick when it was finished. “A new EIS would start the entire process again and reopen the opportunity for public comment,” reports the Herald. I’m sure, this time around, with this much publicity and local opposition, the public will certainly comment.

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