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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels September 13, 2004 71 new acres approved for Mt. Ashland By Paul Fattig For the Tidings The U.S. Forest Service has authorized an expansion for the Mount Ashland ski area - 71 new acres of ski and snowboard runs largely in the middle branch of the east fork of Ashland Creek, allowing two new chairlifts and two new surface lifts. The long-awaited final decision released today calls for cutting nearly 2 million board feet of timber on 68 acres, widening seven existing ski runs and building a four-acre tubing facility in the southern section of the special-use permit area atop Mount Ashland in the Rogue River National Forest. All told, there would be 16 new runs. Of those, two would be for expert skiers while the rest would be for novice to advanced intermediate skiers. The expansion would affect 40 acres in the 9,459-acre McDonald Peak roadless area. Modified Alternative 2 Scott Conroy, supervisor of the Rogue River and Siskiyou national forests, selected a modified version of Alternative 2, and includes portions of Alternatives 6 and 3 contained in the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) released last year. Alternative 6 was the agency's preferred option, which would have expanded the ski area by 65 acres. Alternative 2 was the Mount Ashland Association's proposal while Alternative 3, known as the "citizens' alternative," was proposed by the Ashland-based Headwaters environmental group. "My decision allows the Mount Ashland ski area to expand the number and variety of winter uses it serves while protecting the environmental qualities and recreational attributes that make Mount Ashland a unique, special place," he said in a prepared statement. If the city of Ashland, which holds the special-use permit for the ski area, chooses to move forward with the expansion, it would be the first significant expansion since the ski area was built in 1963. Expansion discussion, which surfaced more than three decades ago but was initiated in 199 by the Mount Ashland Association, has drawn a mixed reaction over the years. While many enthusiastically supported expansion, others adamantly opposed it, citing potential damage to the environment as well as the city's water supply which comes from the upper Ashland Creek drainage. Because the Mail Tribune agreed to embargo news of the decision until it was officially released today by the agency, it did not contact opponents or proponents for their reaction. The decision responds to a specific 1998 expansion plan proposed by the nonprofit Mount Ashland Association which is under contract by the city to operate the ski area. That plan, itself the result of seven years of debate, required the site-specific analysis by the agency contained in the EIS. The agency had planned to release the decision and accompanying final EIS at the end of August but waited until the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had signed off on a biological opinion late last week concerning the potential impact on northern spotted owl habitat. During consultation with that agency, it was determined that expansion will result in changes to owl habitat but will not result in expatriation of the species, explained Linda Duffy, ranger in charge of the Ashland Ranger District. However, the expansion would change 44 acres the owls sometimes use for roosting and foraging, she said. Overall, the decision includes Alternative 2's two new chairlifts and two surface lifts, Duffy said. "But it is the ski runs included in Alternative 6," she said. "The reason we chose the runs of Alternative 6 is because it has less environmental impact to the most sensitive areas that we are concerned about and citizens are concerned about as well. "This plan has the least impact to wetlands, the least impact to species like Engelmann spruce than Alternative 2," she added. In addition to the spruce, a species rarely found in the region, rare Mount Ashland lupine and Henderson's horkelia are also found high on the mountain. The approved expansion plan does not affect the three whitebark pines, also rare trees for the region, that were discovered last summer, Duffy said. "We're are not going to build a run that went through the middle of them," she said. "We would have had to remove them." As a result, proposed Run 11 was removed, she said. The plans call for a tubing facility to be built on the southeast portion of the authorized permit boundary. That will include a chairlift and a yurt. "That's for nonskiers to help diversify the market," Duffy said. In addition, the decision authorizes building the Alternative 2 version of the moraine lodge near the top of the mountain, she said. That facility would include restrooms, a restaurant and ski- patrol facilities. "But we're also authorizing the Alternative 6 version of skier facilities in that area," she said. "The reason why is that if the city chooses to go with this expansion and feel they can't make the full financial outlay of the moraine lodge, they can install Alternative 6 compost toilets and a ski-patrol facility." Today's decision authorizes an additional 220 parking spaces that would bring the total to a little less than 900 spaces. The authorization in 1991 allowed for parking capacity of up to 1,900 vehicles. The document released today says that anything contained in the 1991 authorization document which is not specifically authorized by Conroy's decision can be discussed at a later time with additional site-specific analysis, Duffy said. "We analyzed this development as though it would happen all in one season because we believed it would be the most impactful," Duffy said. "If it is done in one season, you would have the most environmental change, the most exposed soil." However, if the city wanted to do the work in phases, it could, providing it didn't disturb the same soil more than once, she said. The runs they want "For the people interesting in developing more ski terrain, especially for beginner and intermediate skiers, this meets everything they've told us they want," she said. "But for people against expansion, it won't meet their needs for not cutting trees," she added. The agency estimates that some 1.89 million board feet of commercial-grade timber will be removed from the 68 acres earmarked for cutting. That timber would then be sold to the Mount Ashland Association at the appraised value. However, all trees less than 12 inches in diameter as well as 10 percent of the material greater than 12 inches in diameter will be left on site for erosion control and soil building. Duffy believes the decision takes into consideration issues raised by those opposed to expansion, including reducing the impact on trees and the wetlands. For instance, she said the bridge crossing Ashland Creek is less intrusive to the environment than the one originally proposed. Instead of excavated concrete footings, the decision calls for the bridge to be anchored in log footings, she said. Environmental concerns also affected the planned emergency route from the main lodge to the bottom of the ski runs, she said. "In response to the public comment, we've created a different emergency egress route that will be narrower and located a little bit differently," she said. In addition to creating an efficient way to remove injured skiers, it also provided a good run for beginner skiers, she said. For novice skiers, beginning terrain will be re-established in the Poma area just east of the lodge. A short chairlift will be installed at the site. Not the final word Duffy, who inherited the controversial issue when she became the district ranger nine years ago, doesn't expect the decision to be the final word on the expansion debate. Even if it is not appealed or litigated, she expects plenty of local input if the ski area operators decide to move forward with the proposal. "This work would be done during the summer and we tend to get a lot of citizen interest and interaction at that time," she said. "Local citizens will continue to be involved in this as it goes along." The agency will monitor the work during and after the expansion project. However, the city is required to do the bulk of the monitoring since it is doing the work, she said. "We think we've done a good job," she said. "We've had some of the best people involved in this. And our citizens have been thoroughly involved. "But almost from the day this started, citizen input has almost been 50-50 for expansion and against it," she added. "There has really never been a middle ground." Once a legal notice is published in the Mail Tribune, a 45-day appeals period begins. The notice is expected to run this week. If there are administrative appeals, the agency has another 50 days to resolve those appeals. If an appeal is not resolved after the appeal process concludes, the issue could be taken to court, Duffy said. "If it doesn't go to court, we anticipate the Mount Ashland Association would begin some degree of implementation in the summer of 2005," she said. 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