Records Reveal Collusion Between Forest Service and Wolf Creek Developer

Wolf Creek Village controversy

By Ken Wright, 2-07-06

The billionaire developer who wants to build a city of 10,000 people atop remote Wolf Creek Pass in southwestern Colorado worked closely with a Forest Service official he lobbied to appoint to help approve the project, the Denver Post has reported.

Forest Service records acquired by the Denver Post show that representatives for B.J. “Red�? McCombs, a San Antonio auto dealer and co-founder of Clear Channel Communications, held several key meetings with Mark Rey, a former timber-industry lobbyist who is now undersecretary of agriculture managing the Forest Service.

Rey was appointed to the post in 2001 after McCombs enlisted the help of Republican Party officials to lobby for Rey. McCombs is also a large donor to the Republican Party, having donated more the $400,000 to various election campaigns since 1989. McCombs representatives first met with Rey two months after Rey was sworn in. The Post also reports that McCombs donated another $25,000 to the Republican Party in 2003, just two weeks before a meeting between a McCombs employee and Rey to discuss disputed Forest Service access to the site. Documents the Post cites include Mark Rey's calendars, and letters between McCombs and his spokesman and development partner, Bob Honts.

At issue is a massive project on 288 acres of land that McCombs, former owner of both the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Vikings, acquired in 1986 following a controversial land swap with the Forest Service. The land sits at more than 10,300, near the top of Wolf Creek Pass and adjacent to the family-owned Wolf Creek Ski Area. The Forest Service originally denied the exchange, but in a highly controversial move reversed the decision two weeks later. The approval included a stipulation that the property include a “Scenic Easement�? that banned hazardous products storage, industrial facilities, airports, and other developments – many of which would be required for the presently proposed development.

The key hitch holding up the project now, though, is that to gain access to the site, McCombs must win approval of a year-round road across Forest Service land, which the Forest Service has indicated it will approve. Also, last year, Mineral County approved the project, although a State District Court Judge overturned the approval in October, saying the decision was “arbitrary and capricious�? and “misconstrued the state statute and the Mineral County Subdivision Regulations.�? McCombs has since appealed that decision.

The Post also reported that records show that at least four times McCombs tried unsuccessfully to get lawmakers, including Tom DeLay, to pass amendments to bills that would have bypassed public processes and given the project an easement across the federal land.

On the site, McCombs has proposed building a $1 billion “village�? that would include more than 2,100 housing units, several hotels, and more than 222,000 feet of commercial space. The Pitcher family, owners of the nearby low-key Wolf Creek Ski Area since 1976, originally partnered with McCombs – who also was a one time a partner in the failed Cuchara Ski Area, near La Veta, Colo. – on a smaller development for the parcel. The family now, though, has sued to halt the much larger proposal.

Friends of Wolf Creek cites a number of threats from the project, including damage to critical wildlife habitat, wetlands, and watershed – the pass sits between the South San Juan and Weminuche wilderness areas, and is a vital migration corridor for the area’s wildlife, including the region’s recently reintroduced lynx population; major traffic increases along US 160, including problems associated with traffic on a high-altitude and avalanche-prone mountain road (even once paid tribute in a song by country music star C.W. McCall); and the economic damage to nearby towns like Pagosa Springs and South Fork. Other concerns also include water rights conflicts with agricultural users and power supply.

The Forest Service’s official decision on the access road and a related EIS is due at the end of this month.

A longer version of the Denver Post story is available on the Post's DC Bureau blog.

Author's note: A previous version of this posting suggested the Denver Post acquired its documents from a FOIA request filed by the enviromental group Colorado Wild. Documents cited in the Post article were acquired independently by the Post.