BACKSTORY
A controversial plan to build a massive resort near a remote ski area in Colorado’s San Juan Mountains got a boost in 2005, when the U.S. Forest Service approved two access roads into the developer’s 288-acre Rio Grande National Forest inholding. Opponents said the agency failed to address the impacts of the “Village at Wolf Creek” on the surrounding communities and high-alpine ecosystem. County commissioners later approved the plans, but the Forest Service agreed to further study the issue (“Developers push ahead with mammoth ski resort,” HCN, 2/7/05).
FOLLOWUP
In May, a land swap needed by the still-controversial resort — which would include 821 condos, 522 townhouses, 138 home lots and several hotels — received final Forest Service approval. The agency gets sensitive streams and wetlands, while the developer acquires land they can use to build a road to the highway. The agency says its hands were tied: The 1980 Alaska National Interest Land Conservation Act requires the feds to give landowners access to private inholdings within national forests.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Latest: A controversial ski resort proposal gets approval.
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