The Forest Service has given Arapahoe Basin
Ski Area the green light to imitate nature and make
snow.
In 1998, A-Basin, the only major resort in
Colorado that doesn’t make artificial snow, submitted a plan to
divert water from the North Fork of the Snake River. Snowmaking
would allow the ski area to compete with large neighbors such as
Vail, while reliable, near year-round operations might also
stabilize business in low snow years, say A-Basin
representatives.
But the ski area’s proposal met
strong opposition from a Colorado environmental group. In January,
Colorado Wild appealed the Forest Service district office’s
decision to approve snowmaking. The nonprofit group said taking
water from the North Fork would decrease dilution downstream and
increase the concentration of heavy metals in the polluted Snake
River.
In February, Colorado Wild’s appeal was
denied by the regional Forest Service office in Denver. The
reviewing officer said there was no evidence the decision violated
any law or policy and that all water quality issues were adequately
addressed in the environmental impact
statement.
A-Basin spokesman Alan Henceroth says
the ski area went to great lengths to minimize any environmental
damage. The ski area has representatives on a task force for
cleaning up the Snake, he says, and “no water diverter in Colorado
has ever been required to meet such strict standards.”
Nonetheless, Colorado Wild says it plans to sue
to overturn the agency’s decision. Staffer Rocky Smith asks: “How
much is enough for these ski
areas?”
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Greens call snowmaking a snow job.
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