[Federal Register: June 20, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 119)]
[Notices]
[Page 37018-37019]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr20jn03-113]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[CO-820-02-5440-DS-C028]
Notice of Availability of Draft Environmental Impact Statement
and Draft Amendment to the San Juan/San Miguel Resource Management Plan
for a Proposed Ski Area Near Silverton, CO
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management.
ACTION: Notice of availability of Draft Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) and draft amendment to the San Juan/San Miguel Resource
Management Plan (RMP) for a proposed ski area near Silverton, Colorado.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 202 of the Federal Land Policy and
Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA) and section 102(2)(C) of the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), the Bureau of Land Management
(BLM) directed the preparation of a Draft EIS, prepared by a third
party contractor, to provide agency decision makers with comprehensive
environmental impact information related to the proposed ski area. The
proponent, Core Mountain Enterprises, LLC, proposes to use
approximately 1,300 acres of BLM managed public land, combined with
about 400 acres of their private lands, for a downhill ski area located
about 5 miles north of Silverton, Colorado. The proposed action will
require a plan amendment if it results in a change in the scope of
resources uses, or decisions in the San Juan/San Miguel RMP.
DATES: Written comments will be accepted for 90 days following the date
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publishes this notice in the
Federal Register. For future meetings or any other public involvement
activities, all parties on the project's mailing list will be notified
through written correspondence; in addition, public notices will be
placed in the local newspapers 15 days prior to the meetings.
[[Page 37019]]
ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to the Bureau of Land
Management, San Juan Public Lands Center, Columbine Field Office, 15
Burnett Court, Durango, Colorado 81301. Responses to written comments
will be published as part of the Final Environmental Impact Statement.
If you wish to withhold your name or street address from public review
or from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, you must state
this prominently at the beginning of your written comment. Such
requests will be honored to the extent allowed by law. All submissions
from organizations and businesses, and from individuals identifying
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or
businesses, will be available for public inspection in their entirety.
You may obtain copies of the Draft EIS will from the San Juan
Public Lands Center, 15 Burnett Ct. Durango, Colorado. Copies will also
be available at the following locations:
Silverton Public Library, 1111 Reese Street, Silverton, Colorado.
Durango Public Library, 1188 2nd Ave., Durango, Colorado.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Speegle, Team Leader,
Columbine Field Office, at 970-375-3310, or e-mail at richard_
speegle@blm.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Draft EIS/Draft Amendment analyzes four
alternatives to address the issues of public safety, Canada lynx
impacts, impacts on the local winter economy, impacts to neighboring
private lands, public access and other related issues. The four
alternatives can be summarized as: Proposed action (unguided skiing
only), (A) no action, or continuation of current practices, (B) guided
skiing only, and (C) the preferred alternative, an integrated guided
and unguided operation. The proposed action alternative is the proposal
by Core Mountain Enterprises, LLC (Silverton Outdoor Learning and
Recreation Center) for a ski area and recreation/learning facility,
titled the ``Silverton Outdoor Learning and Recreation Center (SOLRC)''
on public lands north of Silverton, Colorado. The proposal includes
lift-accessed skiing, snow boarding, and summer and winter related
educational courses; and hiking, mountain biking and lift-accessed
scenic chairlift rides during the summer months. Seasonal foot bridges
would be installed across Cement Creek for skier access. In addition,
two summer use trails (one would be a mountaineering trail, the other a
hiking trail) are proposed on public lands. The alternative (B) guided
operation only, includes the same proposed area and all of the elements
of the proposed action, but would allow for a limited ``guided only''
operation.
It would also allow the optional use of a guided helicopter access,
allowing a wider skier distribution and more extensive skier compaction
of the area, creating potential skier safety benefits as well as
increasing recreational opportunities. The preferred alternative (C)
integrated guided and unguided operation, would blend the unguided
skiing under the proposed action with the guided only operation of
alternative (B), incorporating the skier safety approaches appropriate
to both. The preferred alternative (C) would include all elements of
both the proposed action and the guided only operation of alternative
(B), with the following exceptions:
1. Skier access to the permit area terrain would be staged
according to skier safety hazards. Areas where risks were adequately
reduced, due to avalanche control efforts and/or naturally evolving
snow conditions, would be open to unguided skiing. Areas where hazards
existed but could be avoided would be open to guide skiing only, and
areas where the hazard was too high to reliably avoid, would be closed.
2. Limited tree thinning, limbing, and cleanup on forested, north-
facing slopes within the permit area. The objective would be to
increase safe tree-skiing opportunities, primarily for unguided skiers,
during periods of high avalanche hazard above timberline. This
alternative would incorporate both approaches to skier safety, from
resort-style risk reduction as described above under the proposed
action to the risk-avoidance approach typical of guided operations
(alternative B). Determination of which areas were open for unguided
skiing and for guided skiing--and which areas were closed to skiing of
any type--would be made on the basis of snow-stability criteria
detailed in the skier-safety operation plan.
Public participation has occurred throughout the EIS process. A
notice of intent was filed in the Federal Register in September of
2002. Since that time, an open house was conducted in Silverton,
Colorado to solicit comments and ideas. Any comments presented
throughout the process have been considered.
Dated: April 11, 2003.
Mike Znerold,
Acting Center Manager, San Juan Public Lands Center.
[FR Doc. 03-15792 Filed 6-19-03; 8:45 am]