3 Colo. Counties Back Land Swap For Ski Village

Three southern Colorado counties support a federal-private land swap that could allow construction of a long-contested ski village, but congressman John Salazar hasn't signed on. Developers of the Village at Wolf Creek and the U.S. Forest Service would swap parcels of about 200 acres each. That would put most of the project away from wetlands and ski runs and place it adjacent to a highway, so no access road would be needed across federal land. Archuleta, Mineral and Rio Grande county commissioners have voted to endorse the swap. The site is near the point where the counties converge. A spokesman for Salazar, a Democrat, says he's waiting to see whether more consensus develops before writing legislation to allow the swap. AP