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Officials stick up for ski plan By WENDY SIPOREN A quiet but impassioned group of 25 elected officials and business people met in air-conditioned Medford City Council chambers Monday to reiterate their support for the expansion of the Mount Ashland ski area. "I would have liked to have had 1,000, 2,000 people here who would have really shown what kind of support we have," said County Commissioner Sue Kupillas, who organized the event. "I think we represent 168,000 (people) minus one or two who don't want this facility." All three county commissioners and mayors from Ashland, Medford and Jacksonville took part in the hour-long event focused on the benefits the ski area brings to Southern Oregon in terms of quality of life and economic support. Ski Ashland proposes to build a midmountain lodge, an additional chairlift and seven new ski trails focused on providing longer, easier ski runs to accommodate beginning and intermediate skiers. The expansion is opposed by the Rogue Group Sierra Club, which believes the plan would harm the Ashland watershed. Attorney Steve Jamieson, who led the campaign to save the ski area from closing in 1992, announced Monday that he had applied for membership in the Sierra Club so he could work to convince that organization to drop its opposition to the proposed expansion of the 35 year-old ski area. "To me it sounds like even if the ski area can be built without any impact on the environment, they are still going to oppose it," said Jamieson. The club lost an effort to stop Ski Ashland from updating its sewage treatment plant Aug. 4 when U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones ruled the Forest Service had sufficiently analyzed the plant's impact on the watershed. While the Rogue Group hasn't made a final decision on whether to appeal the decision, chairwoman Charlotte Holtzkamper said logging for the plant already has begun, making any challenge moot. A supplemental environmental impact statement on the proposed expansion is due to be released by the Forest Service this fall. Ashland Mayor Cathy Shaw took a more conciliatory approach in her comments in support of the expansion plans Monday, comparing it to the tourist boats on the Grand Canyon. "I do not want hoards of people going to our wilderness areas," she said. "But it's an opportunity to introduce people to the wilderness who may one day speak out to defend it." She called on expansion opponents to help find common ground. "If there is something we can do to mitigate the effects of that expansion, then let's do it." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA