Hold your horses, U.S. Forest Service

DENVER – Legislators pushed forward with a plan Monday to restrict the U.S. Forest Service’s ability to control ski area water rights, a year after Forest Service lobbying stalled a similar bill. The Forest Service has tried to get Powderhorn and other ski areas to sign over their water rights to federal control before they renewed their operating permits. Legislators pushed back, led by Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling. The House approved Sonnenberg’s House Bill 1028 on a voice vote Monday morning. It needs one more recorded vote before it can go to the Senate. “This bill basically does the same thing that it did last year: It tells the federal government that you cannot require as a condition of a permit or lease to sign over your water rights,” Sonnenberg said. Democrats are divided on the bill this year. Rep. Randy Fischer, D-Fort Collins, is opposed. “I actually don’t believe there’s a problem that this bill is trying to fix,” he said. He pointed to an opinion by the Legislature’s lawyers predicting Sonnenberg’s bill would be overturned in court because state law can’t trump federal law. The Forest Service has been working on a new water rights policy for more than a year. The bill applies not just to ski areas, but also to anyone leasing federal land – including ranchers. Congress might tackle the issue this week. U.S. Reps. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, and Jared Polis, D-Boulder, have a bill passing out of committee and could be heard on the House floor this week, Coram said. Tipton’s and Polis’ bill would bar the Forest Service from gaining control of water rights used for snowmaking and other ski-area functions when granting ski areas permits for operation...more