Lift construction
suspended
Yellowstone National Park has
suspended improvements on a small ski area in the park. Last month,
workers began installing a used poma lift at Undine Falls ski area,
five miles east of Mammoth Hot Springs, Wyo., to replace a rope tow
that was considered unsafe. But after receiving phone calls and
letters from environmental groups and local residents, the Park
Service halted construction to further review the issue, says
Yellowstone public affairs officer Marsha Karle. People began
complaining about the lift last December, when workers removed two
dozen trees, including some 200-year-old Douglas-firs, and poured
concrete pads for lift towers. If the project continues, eight
brown towers, ranging in height from 18 to 23 feet, will be erected
on the slope. The ski run is used primarily by a ski club, composed
mostly of people living in Mammoth Hot Springs and Gardiner, Mont.,
says Karle. The Yellowstone elementary school in Mammoth, which
uses the area for downhill ski classes, is paying for the $60,000
project with discretionary funds. Michael Scott, Northern Rockies
director for The Wilderness Society, says the ski area is
inappropriate in the park and that children could downhill ski at
nearby Big Sky and Bridger Bowl resorts.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Lift construction suspended.
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