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New EIS favors Mount Ashland expansion By BILL KETTLER U.S. Forest Service officials are leaning toward expanding downhill skiing on Mount Ashland. A new environmental study favors adding more beginner and intermediate ski runs at Ski Ashland. Details of the Forest Service's draft plan will be released today, said Steve Johnson, a recreation specialist for the Rogue River National Forest. Copies of the draft environmental impact statement were scheduled to be mailed to interested parties. The 650-page environmental study comes more than two years after Ski Ashland first announced plans to build as many as 10 new ski trails on the north side of Mount Ashland. Environmental activists raised questions about the expansion proposal, and the Forest Service began to study the effects of building more ski trails on the mountain. Ski Ashland must get Forest Service approval to expand because it operates on public land managed by the Forest Service. The ski area operates on slopes at the top of Ashland's municipal watershed. Managers of the nonprofit ski area said they were pleased that the Forest Service will consider adding more beginning and intermediate trails. "There are still a lot of details we all need to review before we can comment further," said Jeff Hanson, Ski Ashland's mountain manager. Hanson said the ski area has spent about $200,000 providing data for the environmental review. The Rogue Group Sierra Club has opposed the expansion plan. Environmental activists say the new runs could cause erosion in the Ashland watershed and threaten the city's water supply. Club leaders also say that building more ski trails could damage wetlands and threaten rare plants on the mountain. Tom Rose, a Sierra Club member who has opposed the expansion, said he preferred not to comment on the Forest Service plan until he had time to review it. The proposed ski trails and chair lift pass through meadows and mixed forests of Shasta red fir, mountain hemlock, white fir and Englemann spruce. The trees vary in size. Surveyors found some trees as large as 40 inches in diameter that would be cut for ski trails, but many are far smaller. The ski area received general approval for expansion in a 1991 environmental study. Johnson said the new document looks at specific areas where Ski Ashland proposes new ski trails, ski lifts and buildings. Johnson said the document analyzes three alternatives: no expansion; the ski area's expansion proposal; and a modified expansion plan that responds to issues raised by the public. In a prepared statement, Acting Forest Supervisor Tom Reilly said he was not ready to identify either of the expansion proposals as the preferred alternative. He said forest managers expect public comment on the draft plan to shape the final expansion plan. Public comment on the draft plan will be accepted until April 3. Johnson said a final environmental impact statement will be released during the summer, probably around August. Opponents of the final plan could appeal the decision to the Forest Service and ultimately take their grievances to court. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA