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--> --> Unified boycott called for against ski area expansion By Eric Navickas Ashland Those who ski Mt. Ashland are those who are paying to expand this development further into our municipal watershed. The proposal will double the footprint size of the current development into a more sensitive canyon surrounding the middle fork of Ashland Creek. The area includes a complex network of springs, streams, underground water channels, and delicate wetlands. The soils are extremely sensitive and numerous active landslides exist within the area. It also includes various rare plants, legacy stands, and threatened and endangered wildlife habitat. Most important, however - this is a relatively small municipal watershed with a long history of catastrophic impacts from sediment delivery during flood events. It is time for the citizens of this community to make a responsible choice by refusing to pay for this expansion. This will only be possible with solidarity among the environmental community against skiing Mt. Ashland, and a solid boycott. Back-country skiing and snowshoeing are very low-impact forms of recreation that promote an appreciation for nature. This winter, let's take some time to explore some of our last remaining wild places. The early snows this season must remind everyone of the potential for this watershed to flood. The possibility for a warm rain on (top of) snow event should never be underestimated. The 1964, 1974, and the 1997 floods all had catastrophic impacts on our drinking water supply due to soil delivery, not to mention the impacts on our downtown area. Five (separate) one and a half mile-long clear-cuts surrounding Ashland Creek will definitely increase the speed and potential for rapid runoff and soil delivery. Public officials have made irresponsible decisions in the past that have intensified the impacts of flooding through logging and road building in the watershed. These decisions have been costly and extremely destructive. We do not need more irresponsible decisions. Amazingly, the Forest Service has yet to stabilize a majority of the road landslides that resulted from the 1997 flood. Most have seen zero work. The Ski Ashland development would probably be moving forward had the EPA and U.S. Fish and Wildlife not exposed gross omissions in the Environmental Impact Statement and flagrant violations of the National Environmental Policy Act. The catastrophic impacts from flooding and soil delivery in the Ashland Creek Watershed are well documented; municipal watersheds are not appropriate places for recreational development. Although it appears that this year will have adequate snowfall, let's not forget the number of times this development has failed economically because of inadequate snowfall. A county bond bailed out this business in the sixties, it went bankrupt in the seventies, and a community fund-raising event had to bail it out in the early nineties. This is a marginal location for a ski resort. Does this community need a larger liability? It is time for our community to look seriously at where we stand. Do we stand for unconscious development of pristine places and the unnecessary degradation of our own municipal watershed, or do we stand for the preservation of endangered habitat and at least maintaining our municipal watershed as intact? It is time for the community to make an ethical choice by refusing to ski Mt. Ashland until they withdraw their expansion proposal. The Sierra Club, Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center, Headwaters, The World Wildlife Fund, and ECOS are needed to join in solidarity with Ashland Creek First! in support of a unified boycott. Let's stop this development. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing