http://www.newwest.net/topic/main/C64/L36/ New West Network: The Voice of the Rocky Mountains en info@newwest.net Copyright 2008 Wed, 21 May 2008 16:16:00 MDT Wed, 21 May 2008 16:16:00 MDT http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/designing_the_new_west_conference/C64/L36/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/designing_the_new_west_conference/C64/L36/ Sat, 26 Apr 2008 16:13:00 MDT The Designing the New West: Architecture and Landscape in the Mountain West Conference is wrapping up here in Bozeman at the historic Gallatin Gateway Inn. Put on by NewWest.Net and sponsored by the Sonoran Institute, the conference brought together designers from all over the country to explore innovative design ideas, identify best practices, and better understand how to bridge the gap between good architectural theory and sometimes-messy building practices in the fastest growing region in the nation. A mix of presentations and engaging panel discussions tackled pressing Western issues like sustainable development, land design and the special challenges of urban, rural and resort design, historic preservation and affordable housing. Click on the photo or here for a slideshow of the days' events. Click "more" for a recap of the conference. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/another_sign_of_tamaracks_troubles/C64/L36/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/another_sign_of_tamaracks_troubles/C64/L36/ Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:16:00 MDT The Boise office of Tamarack Resort will close this week, according to reports from KBCI, the Idaho Statesman and others. The Valley County resort, led by CEO Jean-Pierre Boespflug, is in financial crisis after Credit Suisse foreclosed on a $250 million loan for which payments had stopped. Boespflug and his partner declared bankruptcy. Independent contractors have filed at least 20 liens against the resort to recover their unpaid bills. There is now no construction active at Tamarack. Boespflug told the Statesman that about 20 employees are affected by the closing. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/tamarack_resort_files_for_bankruptcy/C64/L36/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/tamarack_resort_files_for_bankruptcy/C64/L36/ Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:07:00 MDT The majority owners of tony Tamarack Resort in west-central Idaho, owing more than $300 million to lenders and international banks, filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Boise late last week. According to Tamarack Resort CEO Jean-Pierre Boespflug, the Chapter 11 filing will have no impact on the resort's day-to-day operation. "You can continue to do business with Tamarack Resort in a complete and normal way," he said in an interview. The two companies named in the filings are VPG Investments, Inc. and Cross Atlantic Real Estate, LLC, which own 27 and 48 percent of Tamarack Resort shares respectively. Boespflug owns Cross Atlantic Real Estate, and VPG is owned by Mexican businessman and resort co-founder Alfredo Miguel Afif. Boespflug said the resort was counting on a $118 million dollar loan from the French bank Société Générale to complete the resort village, but the financing fell through. Société Générale is reeling from the loss of some $7 billion in a trading scandal, and banks around the world are pulling back from many types of loans in the wake of the sub-prime mortgage crisis and related problems in the finance world. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/a_new_magazine_the_new_west1/C64/L36/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/a_new_magazine_the_new_west1/C64/L36/ Fri, 01 Feb 2008 15:53:01 MDT Driving past most any Western city these days is a little like watching those time-lapse films back in grade school. Empty fields become bulldozed lots become framed houses become finished homes with trucks in the driveway and new grass in the yard. It’s a time of dramatic change in the Mountain West. And I’m excited to say that we at NewWest.Net are now launching a quarterly print magazine to help us tell the big story of growth and change in the region. The best way to check out our magazine is to subscribe. We want to know who’s interested in The New West, so we have made the magazine available free to qualified subscribers who answer a short questionnaire. Click here for the questionnaire for a free subscription. You can also subscribe for $9.95 a year by clicking here. We’d love to hear your input and feedback on our new venture. Comments? Criticism? Story ideas? I’d love to hear them. You can email me at robert@newwest.net. And click “more” below for the full announcement.  http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/madison_valleys_sun_ranch_to_put_11000_more_acres_into_conservation/C64/L36/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/madison_valleys_sun_ranch_to_put_11000_more_acres_into_conservation/C64/L36/ Thu, 27 Dec 2007 09:00:00 MDT Sun Ranch owner and Sun Ranch Institute Board Chairman Roger Lang is currently working with the Forest Service and the Trust for Public Land to add about 11,000 acres to an existing 6,800 acres of conservation easements on his Madison Valley property. Lang, a former Silicon Valley CEO, purchased the ranch ten years ago. Using an experimental “Sun Ranch Model,” Lang has strived to balance conservation and ranching on his wildlife-rich property, most famously amidst reintroduced gray wolves. The publicly funded $4.5 million easement will include 10 three-acre building envelopes in the Papoose Creek area, but it will also erase over 200 platted subdivision lots from previous property owners over vast stretches of the property. Wild bison advocates are embracing the easement cautiously; initial negotiations include talk of studying genetically pure bison on land within the easement. Bison advocates worry domestic bison would preclude chances for the traditional bison range to again carry wild bison populations, but Lang says the hope is to one day open the property to wild bison should the politically sensitive issue of brucellosis become resolved. “If and when society says ‘let’s let bison roam again,’ then I want to be in a position to help,” Lang says. “I don’t want this easement to preclude Sun Ranch from participating in those kinds of issues.” http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/yellowstone_national_park_opens_for_winter_season/C64/L36/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/yellowstone_national_park_opens_for_winter_season/C64/L36/ Wed, 19 Dec 2007 07:59:01 MDT The interior of Yellowstone National Park opens for the winter season today amid--surprise--much controversy surrounding the limits on snowmobiles allowed in the park per day. The Park Service's Final Rule implements a long-term winter use plan for Yellowstone, which will allow up to 720 commercially guided Best Available Technology (BAT) snowmobiles per day this season and 540 per day next season. The Wyoming attorney general office filed a petition for review of the winter-use plan soon after its release. Wyoming officials say, even though the average number of snowmobiles in Yellowstone per day averaged 250 for the last three years, next season's cap of 540 is still too low. Environmentalists say the cap should be reduced even further. Yellowstone's wildlife denizens are largely silent on the issue. In their petition, Wyoming officials decried requiring commercial guides for all snowmobile trips and also requested a "reasoned analysis" for changes made to management of avalanche-prone Sylvan Pass, which--thanks to helicopters and howitzers--will remain open to motorized oversnow travel this winter, presumably to the delight of Wyoming residents. More on the most peaceful season to explore Yellowstone National Park after the jump. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/snow_gods_appear_at_last/C64/L36/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/snow_gods_appear_at_last/C64/L36/ Wed, 12 Dec 2007 19:35:00 MDT Having waited until after Thanksgiving to start the season, the snow gods have smiled on the ski resorts of the Mountain West, particularly in Colorado. " So much snow fell across the state" in the last several days, according to Colorado Ski Country USA, "that some resorts are reporting record snowfall amounts." The storm surge has dumped two feet of snow on the I-70 corridor resorts, including Breckenridge, Keystone, and Winter Park. Aspen/Snowmass got four feet, causing resort officials to reschedule the World Cup Women's Downhill event. That's the second World Cup race in Colorado to be postponed so far this season because of too much snow. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/moonlight_basin_seeks_equity_partner_to_speed_development/C64/L36/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/moonlight_basin_seeks_equity_partner_to_speed_development/C64/L36/ Wed, 28 Nov 2007 16:30:00 MDT Moonlight Basin, the newest resort in Montana, is increasing its development momentum and seeks the partner funding to do so. Beginning as a vision by Lee Poole and Joe Vudovich on a 25,000-acre tract of land purchased from Plum Creek in 1992, Moonlight Basin has slowly and deliberately molded, planned and solidified itself into a 4-season resort community. “And in the past two to three years, the speed has been intense,” said Russ McElyea, in-house counsel for Moonlight Basin. The Jack Nicklaus golf course is scheduled to open 2009, architectural and design bids are out for the new lodge at the base of Six Shooter Lift, and multiple residential developments, five-star hotels and villages with retail, dining and shopping are planned. “We want to move as quickly as possible and as the market will absorb,” said McElyea. “But also at the speed that builds community, constitutes value to existing owners and validates purchase decisions.” http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/fans_stiff_armed_in_nfl_cable_dispute/C64/L36/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/fans_stiff_armed_in_nfl_cable_dispute/C64/L36/ Mon, 26 Nov 2007 09:06:00 MDT There's a big NFL game this Thursday night pitting the 10-1 Dallas Cowboys against the Green Bay Packers, who sport the same record. But plenty of fans in the Mountain West won't get it to see it, because their cable provider doesn't include the NFL Network, which will broadcast the content, in its basic cable package. The dustup between the NFL, which owns the NFL Network, and the major cable providers including Comcast, has brought to a boil the long-simmering dispute between proponents of bundled cable service – where you pay for a big package of channels, only a few of which you actually watch – and "a la carte" service, in which consumers would choose, and pay only for, the stations they actually want to see. In other business news: Colorado looks at possible abuses of conservation easements, and for streamside development it's two steps forward, one step back. http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/november_nightmare_for_ski_resorts/C64/L36/ http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/november_nightmare_for_ski_resorts/C64/L36/ Mon, 19 Nov 2007 08:56:00 MDT The ski resorts of the Mountain West are looking at millions of dollars in lost revenue as unseasonably warm temperatures and an almost complete lack of snow pushes back opening dates for the region's major resorts. This is especially troubling in a year when resorts across the region have invested hundreds of millions in new developments and upgrades in hopes of luring more visitors. Telluride became the latest ski area to postpone its opening when it said on Friday its planned opening date of Thanksgiving Day is unrealistic given the lack of snow. Many mountain operators were hoping for a big dump early this week to allow for Thanksgiving skiing – but it now appears that the real snow will happen only in the far northern Rockies, bypassing Colorado and Utah. In other business news: DIA beefs up its snow-handling force; big labor creates a "behemoth" union for state employees; and Boulder minds the gap between revenue levels and relatively lavish city services.