guest commentary
The Case for Protecting Lolo Peak
By Bob Clark, Guest Writer, 8-19-08
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| The view of Lolo Peak from Carlton Lake. BELOW: Part of the 920-acre Carlton Ridge Research Natural Area. | |
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What is it about Lolo Peak that stirs the emotions of so many people? Maybe it’s the beauty and comfort we find gazing from the vehicle or kitchen window, reminding us why we live and work here. Perhaps it is the memories of family hikes or winter excursions, or the fabulous close-to-home white-tail and elk hunting.
One thing’s for sure: thousands of western Montana citizens are concerned that this great place on our public lands might be sliced and diced so that a handful of people can make millions on real estate. Lolo Peak is already serving a useful economic, ecological and social purpose—in its current condition.
In July, the Bitterroot Resort submitted a fourth proposal for permitted commercial operations on public land. This “scaled back” proposal that includes glade skiing, mountain biking, and backcountry motor vehicle tours, is a get-a-foot-in-the-door approach by the developers. This permit request needs to be considered in the context of the resort’s master plan—developing 12,000 acres on and around Lolo Peak and Carlton Ridge. Therefore this can only be viewed as “phase I.”
Many residents will recall the Forest Service lawsuit against Mr. Maclay for cutting 400 trees, building seven roads and clearing seven roads on public land. Most of those same sections of road that Mr. Maclay either cleared or built are the same roads that the resort is now asking for commercial use of through this special-use permit. Ironically, in December of 2007, a lawsuit settlement between the Forest Service and Mr. Maclay agreed that those roads would be restored.
In addition to the foot-in-the-door nature of the application and requesting legal use of roads illegally cut, there are serious issues regarding forest cover retension, winter elk range, motorized use, public safety, feasibility, public desire and need.
Global warming indicators are predicting longer, hotter summers and warmer, shorter winters with less snow, making the long-term feasibility and financial stability of ski resorts unsure, at best. The Vail Daily News reported on a newly released report, “Economic Impacts of Climate Change on Colorado,” and stated that the report “does not paint a pretty picture for skiing—and the attendant industry of real estate—over the next century.” It goes on to say, “Given all of these factors, skiing in Colorado will become less reliable and the industry as a whole will take a loss as the effects of climate change become more tangible.” Those that require large of amounts of snow-making and are at low elevation like the proposed Bitterroot Resort would seem to be the most vulnerable.
In addressing public desire, it is widely recognized that public perspective today is much different than it was in 1960 or 1988. A February 2007 analysis of 1,300 public comments received on the Draft Forest Plan shows that 80% wish to keep the area just the way it is. Despite spending tens of thousands of dollars on a public outreach media campaign during the Forest Plan comment period, the resort developers could muster only 1 in 5 comments favoring their plan to development the public lands around Lolo Peak. 
An Off the Grind magazine poll in April asked, “Do you support Bitterroot Resort’s proposal to glade slopes above the Maclay Ranch near Lolo Peak in Missoula for a snowcat and Nordic skiing operation?” Results: 58% No, 42% Yes.
Missoula and Bitterroot Valley residents clearly expressed their desire for more open space by passing open space initiatives last fall, aimed at stemming the loss of open space, particularly on private land.
All of this confirms that the public wants more open space—not less. The public wants to retain access to our public lands—not lose access and traditional recreation opportunities.
Is there a need for a new skiing area in western Montana? The forest service released a ski area “needs assessment” that reviewed the six existing ski areas within 100 miles of Lolo and found them to be operating at 25% of their capacity.
Of the many values and attributes associated with the area, the 920-acre Carlton Ridge Research Natural Area and adjacent 500-acre addition being proposed by the Forest Service is of great importance. The area has many unique features including the most extensive alpine larch forest in the United States and a 350-acre old-growth white-bark pine forest. Some of these specimens are more than 700 years old. These high-elevation forests are unique in occurring on a well-developed soil and supporting luxuriant undergrowth. This alpine larch forest is so rare that Carlton Ridge is the only place in the United States where it is found. Additionally, western larch and alpine larch grow together here and have produced natural hybrids. The research values associated with this area are irreplaceable.
The public should be aware that if the resort were to be built on public lands we would not only lose crucial elk habitat, but it is very likely that we could see a prohibition on firearms and hunting in order to protect facilities and for public safety. I suppose, like the elk, hunters will also have to go somewhere else.
Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks identifies a large carnivore wildlife corridor which funnels from the Lolo peak area across the northern end of the Bitterroot Valley which the resort development would cut-off. It is the private land development that most threatens the integrity of the wildlife corridor at its most narrow point. In a climate change world, where changes to wildlife and their habitat are already beginning to be documented, wildlife will need to move in order to find suitable habitat, making corridors more important than ever.
To learn more about the Bitterroot Resort’s potential impacts on elk, watch the following presentation given by John Vore of Montana Deptartment of Fish, Wildlife and Parks in April.
The resort developers have gone to great lengths to sell their proposal to skiers and snowboarders. But make no mistake, these are real estate developers who see development and skiing on our public land as an amenity that attracts high-end clients. The addition of our public lands to their portfolio dramatically increases the price of real estate on the private land. Development of those lands on the Bitterroot and Lolo National Forests allows a real estate developer to essentially become the “manager” of the public land and that is not a wise use of our resources.
Theodore Roosevelt clearly expressed his vision for the public estate when he stated the following: “We do not intend that our natural resources shall be exploited by the few against the interests of the many … Our aim is to preserve our natural resources for the public as a whole, for the average man and the average woman who make up the body of the American people.”
I hope that as a community, we can heed these wise words and prevent the de-facto privatization of Lolo Peak and surrounding public lands.
Bob Clark is an Associate Representative with the Sierra Club in Missoula, MT.
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Comments
-Please list the 6 ski areas that are running at 25% their capacity and the distances they are from a city. Exiting on Hwy I90 exit 0 at Lookout Pass, is not a concern to me. It is an hour and a half from both Missoula and Spokane. Have you skied there on a powder day? You have to use poles to push yourself down the hill...and if you're a snowboarder, you may as well get pulled behind a car. Many of the small ma and pop ski hills within 100 miles of us are only open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
-Do you ski? Do you hunt? How many times have you hiked up to Lolo Peak in the last two years? How many hours did it take you? Have you skied the peak? How many days did it take you to get up there and ski?
-I would like to know at what capacity Snowbowl runs from December through March. Since there's always a line, I'm assuming it's well above 25%.
-Off the Grind magazine is a Bozeman publication. Their credit does not validify our concerns in Missoula. They have 4 great ski areas to their disposal, why would they come to Missoula to ski Snowbowl?...maybe for a PSIA Ski Instructor clinic/training, but surely not for a vacation to spend money in our shops, hotels or restaurants.
Sun Valley, ID = Snowmaking (they are successful without snow, I see there is a link for Sun Valley Online here on this website, they must be doing okay without much natural snow)
How do you pay for chairlifts and snowmaking without selling real estate? Have you researched the cost of one new high-speed, environmentally friendly chair lift? What ski area has not sold real estate? And of those ski areas...do their used chair lifts break down often?
As a reader of New West and a follower of New West conferences (I have never been to one, but heard of them), I see this publication as positive, smart, environmentally friendly growth of the great "Old West". As we grow, both as a region and state, it is nice to have resources at our disposal for some of the best environmental consultants, engineers and architects in the business. Communicating our concerns and bettering our communities as we grow as a whole. It is impossible to stop growth in Montana, that is unless all the Sierra Clubbers move out of state.
I will not sit here and fling my opinions of the Sierra Club. I admire their strength and passion for the environment, but disagree with the extremes they take sides on. Opening eyes, ears and minds towards working together with people of opposition may solve problems more than dwelling on them for years and getting nowhere. People make mistakes and learn the hard way. If mistakes go unattended and unfixed, I can guarantee that is something to complain about. I'm just tired of hearing about mistakes made years ago over and over again. It's just boring to read about and predictable.
There could be a lot of positive things to accompany the great city of Missoula...ski programs for children with good grades, university ski team, skiing programs set up for children coming from poor families - ski, tickets and instruction all volunteered (a friend runs the program in Bozeman, super successful), flexible job schedules for students, upper management jobs or business opportunities for university graduates, access to learning more about our National Forests for schools, summer camps, community activities, business growth...the list could go on. One or two people cannot manage a large project such as this. I'm guessing many well educated, experienced managers, such as Jim Gill, directing and advising the landowner. Please, enough fingerpointing. Negativity goes nowhere and is not enjoyable to read. Yesterday has been spoken of, scolded for and probably on the mend. I worry about tomorrow.
It is not just skiers and snowboarders who want a resort. It is business owners and people who have a payroll to meet every other week. It is banks who look forward to lending money to new homeowners and new businesses. It is young families with children and retirees who want an outlet to the outdoors yet close to two of the best hospital and medical facility in the state.
So what if they get Lolo Peak or not. Additional recreational opportunities in both Missoula and Ravalli Counties would be fantastic. We have plenty of people to enjoy the resources, and Missoula is full of outdoorsy people. Twenty-five percent of Missoula residents are between the ages of 20 and 34 years old. Only 13% of residents are 35 to 44 years old (according to Missoula Chamber of Commerce). I guess the university graduates finally decide, enough play time, I had better find a town to move to where I can make a living and pay off my student loans.
Any hard worker, who saves money can buy property wherever they want. Please don't sell yourself short. Get another job. I've worked three jobs at a time and saved money to buy a humble condo in Big Sky years ago. I am not a weathy person, nor do I come from a wealthy family. I just worked my butt off. Missoula is the same way. I work hard here, because someday, I too would like a little piece of the homeowner pie. Locals are never priced out. You choose to be priced out. If I can't afford a large acreage in the Bitterroot Valley or up the Rattlesnake, obviously I can't afford a large house at a proposed resort. However, I'll bet a hard working person with a solid credit history and longevity in one job could buy a condo at Bitterroot, Big Sky or Whitefish Mountain. Nothing gets handed to us, we work for it.
I'm not going to argue with mistakes made with land management. I've awknowledged them and personally thought them out. We have so many things stirred up and wrong in our world. We are at war, have been for years about oil, our economy is slipping, we're coming into a new presidential election where no one is an excellent choice, drug addiction and violence is killing people in the U.S., global warming is freightening the world as a whole, and a Chinese Philosopher, Greek Gods, Merlin, the Mayan Calender, the Welsh and a Native American from the Souix Tribe all predicted from the different periods of history that our world as we know it will come to an end in 2012.
Should I dwell on all the negativity or look positively to the future and plan as carefully as I can so tomorrow can be a better day? Missoula as a city has a lot of great future plans and a lot to currently offer to a resident. That is why we all live here, isn't it? More bike trails in the works, an idea for light-rail transportation from the Bitterroot Valley to Reserve Street and airport, remodeling and cleaning up the entire downtown utilizing the Missoula Building Industry Association planning board, a new government elective to clean up the streets of our cute downtown and cut down on crime related incidents, plenty of social help for those who need it, a minor league baseball team, a huge college football stadium and team, 3 recreational areas for bikers, hikers and dogs and an international airport.
Let's plan so we all benefit, if you're worried about only a single "developer" benefitting don't just stand aside and complain, it won't get a person anywhere. This is an opportunity for you too. Open a business, create a business to oversee managing the land, get a foot in the door early to help build a golf course or put in a chairlift. Speak and write with proof and open-minded concerns, not hurt feelings and half-explained, half-covered logic. Missoula and the Bitterroot Vally are great places the way they are, but we are growing whether we want growth or not. Missoula's high school's (all districts) have 4,304 students and our elementary schools (all districts) have 9,383 students. I wonder if our new kindergarten class has exceeded last year's numbers? Missoula is growing, we may as well plan for it.
For those of you who think I am an arrogant, condescending yuppie...that is quite alright. I wish I were, life would be easier and I wouldn't be lobbying for more fun outdoor recreational opportunities in a place full of recreational potential...I would just buy them. I have my roots set here in the Missoula Valley where I have friends who share my outdoor adventures, goals and dreams. I don't want Missoula to be Vail or Big Sky. I just want it to be Missoula, but maybe a place I can work on opening a business someday or take my kids skiing at two great hills just outside of town, after running my errands at Walmart, Target, Albertsons or the Good Food Store. I want to enjoy the use of a new ski hill as well as utilize what Snowbowl has to offer. It would be sad to me, if we had such a great resource, but we were left with no options but to have a gated ski and golf community because the Sierra Club and Friends of Lolo Peak created it that way. There must be a way to work together to make everyone happy, one would think. We're all concerned about our pristine Montana environment, but we should be able to protect it and share it together at the same time.
Actually, OTG is a statewide publication / Web site based out of Whitefish.
-Beth
Aren't you a backcountry skiing publication? If so, your publication is probably not favoring growth of ski resorts. I'm sure you need to advertise ski resorts in order to make money and pay for your publication. Backcountry skiing probably doesn't pay for itself, the money is in resorts??
So, if the majority of your readers were against a resort development, that would make sense, since most of your readers are purists and backcountry powder hounds. Nothing wrong with that, I backcountry ski...but that would make sense why the majority wasn't voting to promote a resort development. Backcountry skiers don't usually want to buy lift tickets.
Public land for private profit is not the definition of growth. Providing he meets regulatory requirements, Maclay is free to develop his own property.
"I...disagree with the extremes they (Sierra Club) take sides on." B.T.
Keeping public lands in public hands is not "extreme." In fact, it's the America way! (Why do you hate America, Beth?) "Extreme" is cutting trees and building roads on citizens' property. Oops, he forgot to ask the other 299 million of us.
"There could be a lot of positive things to accompany the great city of Missoula..." B.T.
Man, I have had it up to here with Missoulians who think it's all about them. Many thousands of us have Lolo and Florence addresses. HINT: We will pay doubly--first as U.S. citizens who lose public land, the free access to it we've always enjoyed, unadulterated habitat for wildlife, etc. and more personally as we deal with fallout from issues surrounding water, property taxes, traffic, etc., issues that will impact our lives daily.
"Missoula is growing, we may as well plan for it." B.T. (there's that Msla-centric attitude again)
I agree. We plan for it by keeping public lands in public hands. Public lands are the release valve for the pressures of civilization and increasing development and mechanization. And how about this: Lolo Peak is sacred geography to the Salish who long preceded the likes of Beth Taylor and Tom Maclay in western Montana. So there's yet another (and perhaps more compelling) answer to the questions posed by Bob at the beginning of his excellent piece. Special, sacred places aren't a dime a dozen, and as public land they belong to American Indians as well as the rest of us.
"We're all concerned about our pristine Montana environment, but we should be able to protect it and share it together at the same time." B.T.
BINGO! NOW you get it, Beth! That's what public land is truly all about.
You say the same thing every time but you have never answered the following question:
How does the forest service granting a special use permit equal losing public land?
A resort would allow more of the public to utilize this public land.
I live in the Lolo and Florence area. It is hard to access "public lands" because the majority of the public lands run through the back fields of peoples private land. This is a large parcel of land we're talking about that would be open to the public to access public lands for biking, hiking and backcountry skiing. If you're not riding a chairlift up, then you're not paying to use the lands. The doors to our beloved National Forests for the "public" to enjoy would be opened up to easier access.
It seems as though it's not the "developers" who are keeping public out of the National Forests, but the Sierra Club and Friends of Lolo Peak who are making it hard for the "public" to access our wonderful "American" lands to be shared by all races, ethnicities and countries.
I'm sure no one is an "America-hater". Writing is free speech, a wonderful benefit to being an American. The Sierra Club is a great organization, but they do slow down and depress the use of our "public lands." I would like to know how many times the Sierra Club has sued our National Forests nation-wide this year alone? I would respect them more if they worked with our National Forests rather than wining and suing our government everytime they don't get "their" way. Sierra Club shouldn't be hoarding our public lands to themselves for their interests only. Like Pronghorn said, their are 299 million of us.
Sure the resort might bring some enviromental/social issues, but i believe they will minimize them as much as possible, especially with the microscope on them. The benefits for outdoor recreation will be tremendous and the resort will bring in inflow of capitol that Missoula and the Bitterroot Valley desperatly need more and more every year. Logging and Mining is done in montana. The tourism and recreation industry can be a clean and benefitial way for montana to go, not to mention the quality of life it would bring.
Look past the rumors and take a step back. The resort would help Montana and be a heck of a lot of fun.