Bitterroot Resort’s latest proposal rejected
by PERRY BACKUS - Ravalli Republic
LOLO - It’s back to the drawing board for the Bitterroot Resort after the Forest Service rejected its latest proposal to bring skiing to National Forest lands above Tom Maclay’s ranch just outside of Lolo.
Late last week, officials from the Bitterroot and Lolo National Forests said the resort’s most recent application to develop both Nordic and alpine skiing on national forest lands, as well as summer mountain bike riding, didn’t meet the necessary criteria for the agency to continue with an initial screening process for a special use permit.
Resort officials said Wednesday they are in the midst of reworking their request and will likely resubmit it within a few weeks.
“The Forest Service has been open to our request and we appreciate the diligence they showed in reviewing our application,” said Jim Gill of the Bitterroot Resort. “They responded with their concerns and we will modify our proposal based on their input.”
The resort applied in March for a special use permit for Nordic skiing operations on the Lolo National Forest and gladed alpine and Nordic skiing on the Bitterroot National Forest.
It was the third time the resort had asked for a special use permit.
The original proposal called for developing about 11,000 acres above the Maclay Ranch on Carlton Ridge and Lolo Peak. The agency turned that proposal down. A scaled back version stalled when work on updating the Bitterroot National Forest plan stopped due to a legal challenge.
Resort officials had hoped the latest request would work within the confines of current forest plans, but that was before many western national forest land-use plans were amended this spring following a federal decision that set a conservation strategy for the Canadian Lynx.
That amendment included no net increase in acreage of groomed snow in habitat considered to be occupied by lynx.
While the Bitterroot National Forest is classified as unoccupied lynx habitat, the Lolo Forest was deemed occupied under the new federal rules.
Bitterroot National Forest Supervisor Dave Bull said the lynx issue was the chief concern considered by the agency in reviewing the Bitterroot Resort’s most recent application.
“There were other issues of concern, but they all are probably more easily addressed,” Bull said.
The lynx issue can be addressed by simply eliminating the part of the proposal that called for grooming cross-country ski trails on the Lolo National Forest, Bull said.
The other issues of concern to the Forest Service included proposed motorized grooming traffic through elk wintering habitat on Lolo Forest side and visual impacts in the Maple Creek area from thinning trees to open up areas for alpine skiing on the Bitterroot Forest.
“We anticipate that we’ll have something new to review pretty soon,” Bull said. “He’s indicated to us that he’ll turn something around pretty quickly.”
The agency has 60 days to evaluate a proposal for a special use permit. It uses a two-tiered screening process to do so.
The first part of the screening process considers whether the proposal is consistent with laws, regulations and land and resource management plans.
The resort’s proposal didn’t pass that part of the screening process.
The second screening considers whether the applicant has the financial and technical wherewithal to complete the project.
Bull said the screenings are an important part of the process to ensure that an application has a good chance of succeeding before the agency and public invest time and effort in reviewing it.
Once the screening process is completed, the agency begins a lengthy environmental review analysis, which includes public comment. Agency officials have said the resort’s proposal would probably require an environmental impact statement, which could take years to complete.
The Bitterroot Resort’s proposal and accompanying maps are available on its Web site at http://www.bitterrootresort.us/.
Editor Perry Backus can be reached at 363-3300 or editor@ravallirepublic.com
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