Crested Butte ski resort loses appeal on expansion proposal

The U.S. Forest Service has rejected Crested Butte Mountain Resort's appeal of a decision in November that blocked a long-planned expansion at the resort. Deputy Regional Forester Jim Peña affirmed the decision by Gunnison National Forest supervisor Charlie Richmond, who last fall decided the resort's proposed expansion onto neighboring Snodgrass Mountain was not in the public interest and should not proceed into deeper environmental review. Tim Mueller, Crested Butte resort's president, said Peña failed to consider "fundamentally unfair aspects" of Richmond's decision. Mueller spent four years and $2 million working with Richmond to sculpt the Snodgrass proposal in a "pre-application" process before the project entered into formal review under the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. He said Richmond indicated the proposal had met pre-application concerns, and he thought the project was set to move ahead. "Richmond abruptly reversed his decision in November 2009, citing a previously nonexistent test," Mueller said...more