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| What our Friends are saying |
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| "The best that Crested Butte could hope for is if CBMR stopped trying to keep up with the Jones’ and embraced what they have. What the decision reveals is that the Snodgrass expansion proposal was fundamentally flawed. Instead of pursuing an unlikely and risky expansion CBMR needs to focus on its positive attributes - like some of Colorado’s best terrain, the incredible setting of the Gunnison Valley and the unique Crested Butte community - to find success within its current footprint. Thank you to the Forest Service for its broad and balanced examination of the issues, its objective analysis of law and policy, and its decision to protect the environment by turning down requests for inappropriate development. Long Live Snodgrass Lift Free Forever!!"
P. Joyce |
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| "[Crested Butte's] human
community matches the integrity of its biological community. Nowhere else in Colorado
do plants grow as tall and fecund as they do around the edges of the Maroon Bells-Snowmass
Wilderness, and nowhere else have community residents held in such high esteem
natural values and worked so thoughtfully to protect biodiversity from the pressures
of resort development. These people have shaped a place like no other in Colorado
by maintaining a delicate balance between preserving nature and allowing people
to enjoy it." -John Fielder, Nature Photographer (12/21/09) )Read the whole
letter
here.) |
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| "Did you know that it would take 45
minutes, one-way,
and 4 lift rides, to get to the top of Snodgrass from the base area? Here´s what
your trip would involve." -Kiki and Gary Dotzler, Crested Butte, CO |
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"Today, Crested Butte Mountain Resort wants to expand across the valley onto Snodgrass
Mountain. The primary beneficiary will be-Crested Butte Mountain Resort. It certainly
won't be me, or people like me. In mid-July I was on my bike by 7:00 am riding the
bike path up to the resort for an early morning mountain bike ride on Snodgrass.
The rest of my party was still asleep in our rental house in CB. For the first time
ever (in the summer) I had Snodgrass to myself. Later in the day, the trail would
be busy with other bikers and hikers, but for this moment I had it to myself, and
I took my time to enjoy the views, the flowers, the sounds, the smells. By 9:00 am,
I was back in town waiting for the rest of my family to meet me at Izzy's for breakfast.
The only other time I have had Snodgrass to myself is in the winter when I have skied
its north face down to the Gothic Road and back to my car-a common circuit for back
country skiers. Back in town, I rejoined my family and friends who had spent the
day skiing the resort where they were perfectly happy skiing on intermediate runs
while I was over doing my back country thing.
"If CMBR expands to Snodgrass, it doesn't affect them: they still get to sleep
in or ski the runs they like, but people such as I, people who like to venture into
the back country for their skiing and biking and hiking will lose an irreplaceable
location: Snodgrass Mountain.
"This is a cautionary tale: weirs are forever; wilderness is not. Snodgrass is irreplaceable.
43 years from now, I hope it is much the way it is today-wild and ski lift free."
Retired US Forester |
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| "Please add our names to the petition. We both spend several years
living
in Crested Butte and really enjoyed hiking and backcountry skiing on
Snodgrass."
Big Sky, MT |
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| "I love visiting Colorado, and especially the Rockies, and when I heard
about this debate through the High Country News, I was compelled to offer my
support. Thanks a bunch for keeping up the good fight- there are times when
we as a species and as a community have to say "Stop," and this is certainly
one of them.
"We visit CB often, and hate to see development take over our public lands."
Denver, CO |
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| "Let's learn to say no! No more mountains filled with lifts. I live
in Tahoe
City, Calif and we've gotten too carried away with ski facilities"
Tahoe City, CA |
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| "I am a resident of Mt. Crested Butte and opposed to ski lifts being placed
on Snodgrass Mtn. To me, the land is more valuable to the people of
Colorado as it is, as opposed to creating some mediocre ski terrain with
little recreational value to support a real estate project."
Mt. Crested Butte, CO |
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| "Increased skier days will not come from us becoming more and more like
other resorts. On the contrary, people do not come here necessarily just for
skiing, but rather for the uniqueness of this community and our tradition of
being our own thing not at all like Vail, Aspen, Breckenridge, etcŠ It
is
this uniqueness and beauty that tourists come here to enjoy, that they
comment on to locals, and that eventually could bring more skier days if
marketed well."
Crested Butte, CO |
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| "I believe the future of CB is not DOWNHILL SKIING, but a tourist town
offering a wide range of activities and appealing to a wide range of
interests."
Crested Butte, CO |
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"I love Snodgrass just as it is. It is so beautiful and untouched. My
friends and I love to skin up it in the winter time. Huffing and puffing
and laughing the whole way up. We enjoy the tranquility in the aspens and
pines as we climb and the untracked powder turns as we fly down. We love to
get away from the craziness of CBMR. We love to get away from the crowds
and machines and lift lines and restaurants. We love to get back to nature
in it's pure state. I have learned a lot on Snodgrass Mountain.
"
The spring, summer and fall brings many more reasons why I love
Snodgrass just as it is. Snodgrass Mountain bike trail is one of my all time
favorite trails in the Gunnison Valley. I love that it is so close to my
house yet when out there I feel a million miles away from everything. I
love the climb at the beginning that gets my heart going and the woopty-doos
as you come down through the aspen trees and open meadows. Those meadows
fill up with so many beautiful wild flowers in the summer. And the trail
looks alive in the fall when it is covered in bright red and yellow leaves
falling from the aspens high above. I have many times come into the meadows
to find a mama deer with her fawn grazing. And I have biked the fastest I
have ever biked in my life when I heard a rustling in the bushes and saw out
of the corner of my eye a large black bear eating berries in the bushes. It
is so tranquil and beautiful and alive and untouched. It is hard for me to
express in words how much I love it."
Crested Butte, CO |
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| "Snodgrass is an important buffer not only for the RMBL but for the
entire
Gothic Valley and the West Elk Mountain Wilderness Area. The Forest Service
has approved too many terrain expansions onto public lands throughout
Colorado without much consideration of protecting our public lands which an
approval of this proposal will certainly damage. The result, someone makes
a lot of money, habitat destruction, the public loses access, and
encouragement for more land development that contributes to the uglification
of Colorado."
Boulder and Gothic, CO |
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| "Snodgrass will continue to provide enjoyment to residents and visitors
of
all ages as another magical space that we have been smart enough to leave
alone. I walk within the woods of this special mountain and I feel a great
inner peace. I see the wildlife thriving here, and I am thankful we have
not encroached upon this space. I know that Snodgrass is there as a buffer
for RMBL, and I am glad. I spend a winter morning climbing up her ridges to
blissfully link turns all the way down, and I am renewed with a joy that
this open space exists so readily available in my big backyard. I work a
long day in the summer, knowing I have time to jump on my bike and head up
the mountain with time to climb up Snodgrass, relishing the views, the
steady climb, and the swift joyful decent. I head out on my cross country
skis down Gothic or Washington Gulch, and I am so appreciative as I pass by
this mountain that we have left her alone. On a perfect fall day I walk
slowly through the bright aspens, and sit by the calm, clean streams and I
am thankful for Snodgrass Mountain. I spend a summer day exploring
wildflowers, and all the wonders and beauty that this mountain provides. I
have brought children to this perfect space to hike, bike, cross country
ski, snowshoe, and appreciate this mountain that is perfect as it is- open
and public, and lift-free. I pray that it remains as such. "
Crested Butte, CO |
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"Dear FOS,
I hope that when you read Charlie Richmond’s response to the Snodgrass Appeal you will take some satisfaction in the work you have done to contribute to his clear and eloquent denial of the CBMR’s efforts to expand into unsuitable terrain. This proves once again that community level citizen involvement can make a difference! (now if the R-5 Regional Forester will concur – and I don’t see why he wouldn’t, Crested Butte’s future will be assured."
Bozeman, MT |
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