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Guest forum: Oppose the ski area expansion Eric Navickas Ashland The entire community needs to take the time to closely analyze the Ski Ashland expansion proposal. Ski Ashland and the Forest Service are discussing doubling the footprint area of the current development and impacting about a mile of Ashland Creek that only flows five miles to our drinking water reservoir. Take the time to look up at Mt. Ashland while driving on I-5 between the two Ashland exits. The proposed development would sit directly below the Bowl at the top of the mountain. The base of the lift would not be visible, as it would be blocked by Winburn Ridge, the ridgeline in the foreground. This is an extremely aggressive, over-scaled and economically risky expansion proposal. Ski Ashland has economically failed three times since it opened in the sixties because of minimal snowfall. Twice public entities have taken on the liability. In the sixties, dry years and high operational costs forced economic failure and Jackson County voters passed a County Bond to bail-out investors and take on ownership. Dry years in the seventies forced bankruptcy and in the early nineties consecutive dry years and near economic collapse forced the City of Ashland into a position where they took over the lease. The expansion proposal is extremely risky considering that it will increase maintenance and operational costs substantially. It will only be a matter of time until we see consecutive dry years and taxpayers are again asked to cover the costs. Reeder Reservoir, Ashland's drinking water source is listed by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality as Water Quality Limited for sedimentation. There has been a long history of conflict between the City of Ashland and the Forest Service over management of our Municipal Watershed due to the fact that the City has always been responsible for the costs of dredging, sluicing, excavating, and maintaining the reservoir. This has lead to numerous threats of lawsuit and conflicting scientific analysis done by both parties. The fact is, however, that the Ashland Creek Watershed has had and will continue to have costly, serious problems due to exceptionally erosive soils. This development will result in long-term costs for Ashland taxpayers. It will always serve the best interest of taxpaying citizens to protect our drinking water source from the interests of recreational development and resource extraction. The City has stated this numerous times over the years. It is amazing how quickly we forget the extreme costs Ashland incurred following the '64, '74, and '97 floods due to sediment delivery to our reservoir. Despite recent press releases, the Forest Service's preferred alternative continues to cut directly through the Engelmann Spruce grove, continues to cut through wetlands, and even the lift line crosses streams and riparian areas. This is the very source of our drinking water supply where numerous springs and wetland areas form an alluvial fan that eventually comes together at the base of the development proposal. This is an extremely sensitive drainage with virgin forests, high alpine meadows and wetlands, rare plants, and extremely erosive granitic soils. This is not an area that should be exploited for economic interests especially not by our environmentally conscious community. This directly counters the values our community represents. Be very aware that the Forest Service's preferred alternative is not a compromise. This is a slight variation on the original proposal offered by the proponents. The Forest Service refused to even consider the Community Alternative offered by a local community group. This proposal is extremely risky to Ashland taxpayers, will have severe impacts to our drinking water supply, is environmentally unconscious, and is moving forward without any democratic process. Now is the time to speak out strongly against this proposal. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -