Snow Blog Column
Where Are the Montana Snowbowl Expansion Dissidents?
The draft environmental impact statement for the proposed expansion of Missoula's ski area shows irreparable damage to Lolo National Forest, including clear-cutting and loss of habitat for threatened species. Yet few are speaking out. Is it because recreating comes at the cost of conservation?By Hayden Janssen, Guest Writer, 3-18-11
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| Point Six ridgeline at Montana Snowbowl. Photo by Donald Gisselbeck. | |
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The Lolo National Forest Management Plan draft expresses the guiding statutes for the Lolo National Forest for the subsequent 15 years. This draft was completed in 2006 and replaces the original 1987 document. The 2006 document states unequivocally that the Missoula region does not need to increase ski-area capacity to keep up with demand.
This iteration, used by many to oppose the proposed Bitterroot Resort in Lolo, has failed to receive one utterance with respect to the proposed Montana Snowbowl expansion.
While there are many differences between the proposed Snowbowl expansion and the Bitterroot Resort, there are certainly many similarities. This begs the question: Where are the local conservation groups now? Do personal recreation interests supersede conservation efforts?
I am an intermediate skier, the demographic to which Snowbowl claims to be appealing. I do not support the proposed expansion. My reasons emanate from the facts contained within the recently released Environmental Impact Statement [EIS] draft. Below are some of its details [numerals following each fact represent the supporting page number within the EIS].
Snowbowl officials claim that they wish to increase skiing and snowboarding opportunities for beginner and intermediate level skiers; however, as I’ve noted above, the Lolo National Forest Management Plan explicitly states there is no need to increase local ski-area capacity to meet demand. Regardless of which party is correct, the expansion would occur on our national forest lands.
The proposed 40-year Special Use Permit would allow Montana Snowbowl to construct permanent structures on our national forest lands, for their own economic benefit. At present, the ski resort pays an annual average of only $24,000 to the Lolo National Forest for the present use and administration of 1,138 acres of public lands [4-60].
It is claimed by Snowbowl representatives that the expansion will lead to increased economic incentives for the entire Missoula community. This is a fallacy. By Snowbowl’s own admission, the majority of visitors arrive from local communities. The EIS states that the resort’s expansion would result in a “transfer of income, not a creation of income” [4-60].
The proposed expansion would cause direct and irreparable environmental harm to our national forest. Now is the time for true conservationists to speak out. Local conservation groups’ silence regarding this proposed expansion expresses a pervading and subjective conservation ethos. Do our local conservation organizations have the humility to speak out against environmental destruction even when it goes against their personal recreation preferences?
Please attend the public comment meeting on Wednesday, March 30, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Grant Creek Inn to express that our forests are not for sale.
Hayden Janssen is an environmental and economic researcher in Missoula.
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Comments
Your concerns are vastly overblown given the greater good and enjoyment that the expansion will create. The animals will adapt and survive as they do around other ski resorts.
dunno who's actually been out to the expansion area for a look-see, but know that the vast bulk of the proposed expansion area is knapweedy re-gen and webbed with old skid trails. other than being too low elevation for most of our white room needs, the area is about as good as any area could be in the msla area to (as the author states) remove from the timber base and instead use for ski area expansion.
Ski resorts obviously have no impact on forests.......
If this is the case, they should spend some time cleaning up the messes (stumps, big rocks, fallen trees etc) that litter the slopes until they finally get covered up (sometimes as late as mid-February).
I know they like to think they get 300" of snowfall each season, but they do measure snowfall in a wind drift, so the 300" is padded by 24-48" by actual snowfall that accumulates in a non wind affected.
Getting people outdoors recreating is a good thing. Having positive outdoor experiences like hiking and skiing when young - instead of just sitting around playing video games and texting - can grow a new crop of environmentalists who will work to preserve real wilderness.
I am far more worried about what the Montana legislature is up to than what Snowbowl is trying to do!
Snowbowl does need more beginner/intermediate terrain than it currently has.
Everyone has an opinion; this piece's author disguises his as facts. Maybe he should change his 'conservation' language to preservation, because preservation is what he's shooting for.
And to preserve what? Just behind the photographer in the photo above sits the doppler radar facility that abuts the Wilderness area. This 39 acres of old growth that the author is concerned about, if it exists as true old growth at all, is surrounded by radio transmitter towers, roads, clearcuts, and power lines.
Maybe those of us conservation-minded skiers aren't hypocrites, but choose our issues judiciously. Like working at conserving our true wild places against fragmentation and conversion, and maintaining habitat connectivity. TV mountain has already undergone much development: if we can impart an environmental ethic with our increasingly disconnected electronic youth through skiing, wouldn't TV be a great place for it?
I heard somewhere that Mr. Koehler, the activist and frequent commenter is an exceptional golfer. While I'm not crazy about golf course development, it sure is better than strip mall development. If playing golf as a kid is what engaged Koehler with the landscape, who am I to begrudge that? Ski, play golf, walk your dog around the block, whatever. Just get outside and interact with Montana, so you can make an informed decision as to which aspects of our landscape is precious to you. I'm going skiing.