Public lands for needy ski resorts
Officials from Glenwood Springs welcomed the proposal, but not everyone agreed.
In a letter to the Glenwood Post, resident Bob Richardson said, "Those employees are here commuting and scratching around for housing of their own free will. Must we, in effect, foul our own nest to accommodate them?"
Summit County Commissioner Joe Sands was also skeptical, but for different reasons. When ski resort operators claim they can't afford to build employee housing, says Sands, they really mean they're saving their private land for luxury homes and condominiums. "Ski areas will just lower salaries if (the Forest Service) provides housing," warns Sands. "Why are we subsidizing the profit margin of industrial tourism?"
*Heather Abel