[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 119 (Friday, June 20, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37018-37019]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-15792]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[CO-820-02-5440-DS-C028]


Notice of Availability of Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
and Draft Amendment to the San Juan/San Miguel Resource Management Plan 
for a Proposed Ski Area Near Silverton, CO

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management.

ACTION: Notice of availability of Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS) and draft amendment to the San Juan/San Miguel Resource 
Management Plan (RMP) for a proposed ski area near Silverton, Colorado.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 202 of the Federal Land Policy and 
Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA) and section 102(2)(C) of the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), the Bureau of Land Management 
(BLM) directed the preparation of a Draft EIS, prepared by a third 
party contractor, to provide agency decision makers with comprehensive 
environmental impact information related to the proposed ski area. The 
proponent, Core Mountain Enterprises, LLC, proposes to use 
approximately 1,300 acres of BLM managed public land, combined with 
about 400 acres of their private lands, for a downhill ski area located 
about 5 miles north of Silverton, Colorado. The proposed action will 
require a plan amendment if it results in a change in the scope of 
resources uses, or decisions in the San Juan/San Miguel RMP.

DATES: Written comments will be accepted for 90 days following the date 
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publishes this notice in the 
Federal Register. For future meetings or any other public involvement 
activities, all parties on the project's mailing list will be notified 
through written correspondence; in addition, public notices will be 
placed in the local newspapers 15 days prior to the meetings.

[[Page 37019]]


ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to the Bureau of Land 
Management, San Juan Public Lands Center, Columbine Field Office, 15 
Burnett Court, Durango, Colorado 81301. Responses to written comments 
will be published as part of the Final Environmental Impact Statement. 
If you wish to withhold your name or street address from public review 
or from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, you must state 
this prominently at the beginning of your written comment. Such 
requests will be honored to the extent allowed by law. All submissions 
from organizations and businesses, and from individuals identifying 
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or 
businesses, will be available for public inspection in their entirety.
    You may obtain copies of the Draft EIS will from the San Juan 
Public Lands Center, 15 Burnett Ct. Durango, Colorado. Copies will also 
be available at the following locations:

Silverton Public Library, 1111 Reese Street, Silverton, Colorado.
Durango Public Library, 1188 2nd Ave., Durango, Colorado.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Speegle, Team Leader, 
Columbine Field Office, at 970-375-3310, or e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Draft EIS/Draft Amendment analyzes four 
alternatives to address the issues of public safety, Canada lynx 
impacts, impacts on the local winter economy, impacts to neighboring 
private lands, public access and other related issues. The four 
alternatives can be summarized as: Proposed action (unguided skiing 
only), (A) no action, or continuation of current practices, (B) guided 
skiing only, and (C) the preferred alternative, an integrated guided 
and unguided operation. The proposed action alternative is the proposal 
by Core Mountain Enterprises, LLC (Silverton Outdoor Learning and 
Recreation Center) for a ski area and recreation/learning facility, 
titled the ``Silverton Outdoor Learning and Recreation Center (SOLRC)'' 
on public lands north of Silverton, Colorado. The proposal includes 
lift-accessed skiing, snow boarding, and summer and winter related 
educational courses; and hiking, mountain biking and lift-accessed 
scenic chairlift rides during the summer months. Seasonal foot bridges 
would be installed across Cement Creek for skier access. In addition, 
two summer use trails (one would be a mountaineering trail, the other a 
hiking trail) are proposed on public lands. The alternative (B) guided 
operation only, includes the same proposed area and all of the elements 
of the proposed action, but would allow for a limited ``guided only'' 
operation.
    It would also allow the optional use of a guided helicopter access, 
allowing a wider skier distribution and more extensive skier compaction 
of the area, creating potential skier safety benefits as well as 
increasing recreational opportunities. The preferred alternative (C) 
integrated guided and unguided operation, would blend the unguided 
skiing under the proposed action with the guided only operation of 
alternative (B), incorporating the skier safety approaches appropriate 
to both. The preferred alternative (C) would include all elements of 
both the proposed action and the guided only operation of alternative 
(B), with the following exceptions:
    1. Skier access to the permit area terrain would be staged 
according to skier safety hazards. Areas where risks were adequately 
reduced, due to avalanche control efforts and/or naturally evolving 
snow conditions, would be open to unguided skiing. Areas where hazards 
existed but could be avoided would be open to guide skiing only, and 
areas where the hazard was too high to reliably avoid, would be closed.
    2. Limited tree thinning, limbing, and cleanup on forested, north-
facing slopes within the permit area. The objective would be to 
increase safe tree-skiing opportunities, primarily for unguided skiers, 
during periods of high avalanche hazard above timberline. This 
alternative would incorporate both approaches to skier safety, from 
resort-style risk reduction as described above under the proposed 
action to the risk-avoidance approach typical of guided operations 
(alternative B). Determination of which areas were open for unguided 
skiing and for guided skiing--and which areas were closed to skiing of 
any type--would be made on the basis of snow-stability criteria 
detailed in the skier-safety operation plan.
    Public participation has occurred throughout the EIS process. A 
notice of intent was filed in the Federal Register in September of 
2002. Since that time, an open house was conducted in Silverton, 
Colorado to solicit comments and ideas. Any comments presented 
throughout the process have been considered.

    Dated: April 11, 2003.
Mike Znerold,
Acting Center Manager, San Juan Public Lands Center.
[FR Doc. 03-15792 Filed 6-19-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-JB-P