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| 1996 Snodgrass NEPA Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) |
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Gunnison County
has previous experience with the "losing
proposition" of a "stalled" NEPA process. In 1994
a Snodgrass expansion EIS was begun that required substantial
expenditure of resources by the USFS and by CBMR. In addition,
a Coordinated Review Process (CRP) was initiated which included
the USFS, Army Corps of Engineers, Colorado
DOW, Colorado Division
of Water Quality, Gunnison County, Crested Butte, Mt Crested
Butte, High Country Citizens' Alliance and CBMR. The
CRP met monthly during the 1995-1996 period but ended when
CBMR opted to terminate their application. The termination
occurred after CBMR was notified
by then-GMUG Supervisor Robert Storch that the EIS process was uncovering “substantial
issues”, which“could in fact lead to partial
or even complete denial of authorization to develop Snodgrass.” The
expenditure of hundreds of people-hours during the aborted
CRP, EIS and 1041 Review exemplified the waste of limited public
and private resources that occurs when a non-viable project
is prematurely accepted into NEPA.
In
response to Mr. Storch's
4/25/96 letter, Edward Callaway, then-CBMR
president, assured the Forest Service, "The resort will continue
to refocus on the existing ski area and improve it in such
a way that the Snodgrass expansion may not be necessary." |
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