Tuesday, March 5, 2024

A History of Village at Wolf Creek, RGNF - Ryan Bidwell's 2009 presentation


With election season just around the corner I thought it might be time to revisit the ongoing Leavell McCombs Joint Venture threat to the health and safety of Alberta Park at the headwaters of the already threatened Rio Grande River.  Unfortunately, Caucus Season isn't what it used to be, but I still plan to attend the La Plata Democratic Assembly in Durango this coming Saturday and do what I can to help remind folks that this issue is still a long way from getting resolved.  

Basically it will never get resolved unless We The People put pressure on the Rio Grande National Forest powers that be and convince them to shift and refocus USDA-RGNF priorities back to the needs of the endangered Rio Grande River, and returning Alberta Park to the Rio Grande National Forest, to serve the nation's needs as opposed to entertaining a greedy developer's speculative gamble.
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Village at Wolf Creek History

Ryan Bidwell, Executive Director of Colorado Wild 

A nine part series by West Davies

Recorded October, 2009

Wednesday, August 2, 2023

Village at Wolf Creek saga continues...Rocky Mtn Wild, News Update - August 2nd, 2023


RMW: "On July 21, 2023, Rocky Mountain Wild and our partner organizations filed a Response Brief defending both Judge Matsch and Judge Arguello's Orders and reiterating all the reasons why the Agencies actions were unlawful."

I received an update to the ongoing legal sage of the infamous "Village at Wolf Creek" land speculation, which is situated at over 10,000 feet (over 3,000 meters) elevation, where the air pressure is 10.2 PSI compared to sea level's 14.7 PSI, which makes a big difference when it comes to maintaining a healthy body.  

But I digress, this issue is about speculation for profits and developers, not breathable air, or healthy living, and the reason for this post is to share Rocky Mountain Wild's recent update on the seemingly never-ending legal battle to save Alberta Park from a destructive fanciful development (that's destined to turn into a habitat destroying, business bankrupting boondoggle, if ever allowed to go forward).

For some backstory, visit: Caught Red-handed - April 4, 2019


August 1, 2023


The Village at Wolf Creek saga continues...

 

On October 20, 2022, Federal District Court Judge Christine Arguello once again ruled that the Forest Service acted unlawfully when issuing the access decision for the Village at Wolf Creek. The Court also found that the Fish and Wildlife Service violated the Endangered Species Act when analyzing the impacts of this decision on the Federally listed Canada lynx. 


Judge Arguello partially based her decision on Judge Richard Matsch's 2017 Orders finding a similar decision to be unlawful. Instead of responding to Judge Matsch's Orders through completing a lawful environmental analysis of the impacts of this access decision, the agencies relied on the same faulty analysis in issuing a new decision in 2018.  

 

Both the Forest Service and the Developer, the Leavell-McCombs Joint Venture, appealed Judge Arguello's decision to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. 


On July 21, 2023, Rocky Mountain Wild and our partner organizations filed a Response Brief defending both Judge Matsch and Judge Arguello's Orders and reiterating all the reasons why the Agencies actions were unlawful. The Agencies continue to elevate the desires of a developer over protection of our National Forests and the species that require that habitat to survive.  

 

The issues with this proposed development started back in 1986. The developer acquired this piece of land with what it conveyed as a worst-case development scenario of 208 units. To ensure the development was compatible with the ski area and the surrounding Forests, a scenic easement was placed on the parcel to limit the development and the ski area was involved in the project. 


However, after acquiring the parcel, the Developer proposed closer to a 2000-unit development. The Developer and the Ski Area's relationship also deteriorated to the point where they ended up in Court on opposite sides of a case. Based on the increase in the development size and the issues with the Ski Area, the Developer needs a new and larger access road to the parcel. Decades of litigation, improper political pressure, unlawful agency actions, and uncertainty for Wolf Creek Pass ensued.  

 

Now the fate of this important habitat connectivity corridor in a uniquely undeveloped area of Southern Colorado will be up to a panel of three appellate judges. We will keep you posted as our efforts to protect Wolf Creek Pass continue to unfold.  

 

No Pillage!



Matt Sandler

Legal Director, Leadership Team

Rocky Mountain Wild



P.S. Interested in supporting this work? Donate to Rocky Mountain Wild through our Colorado Gives page.



F.Y.I.


April 2019


Wednesday, February 22, 2023

'Red' McCombs dies at 95

 

Red McCombs, Car Salesman Turned Media Mogul, Dies at 95

By Glenn Rifkin - New York TimesFeb. 21, 2023


Red McCombs, a former Texas used car dealer who became a billionaire entrepreneur by venturing into an array of successful businesses, including the media giant Clear Channel Communications and several professional sports teams, died on Sunday at his home in San Antonio. He was 95.

His family announced his death but did not state the cause.   …


I did meet him twice and all I can say is that he was a man for whom too much was never enough.

       


Now I can only hope his family will reconsider their Alberta Park misadventure, then do the right thing by trading the Alberta Park parcel for something more realistic at lower elevation, or simply returning it to it's rightful owners, the national trust, within the protection of the Rio Grande National Forest.  

They could then change the name to "Red McCombs' Memorial Meadow".

      


After all, it is in the heart of the headwaters to the interstate, international Rio Grande River, it deserves to be left alone, serving its historic function as watershed and wildlife refuge.  

What better tribute could there be?

          


SUNDAY, APRIL 7, 2019

INDEX of VWC-Environmental Impact Statement issues ...


Contents 

Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Red McCombs, Can You Hear Us Now?... NO Village at Wolf Creek! (update 10/25/22)

 

The Wolf Creek Village speculator loses third legal fight for access road atop Wolf Creek Pass.                                        Update:  Jason Blevins, The Colorado Sun

It's an essential watershed !

© citizenschallenge 2022
     
LEAVE IT ALONE !


Texas billionaire Red McCombs has spent 36 years vying for access to an inholding where he plans a resort village for 10,000 residents in the middle of this Rio Grande watershed.


Monday, Oct 24, 2022

Excerpts Via the Durango Herald


“Judge Arguello on Thursday ruled that the Forest Service should not have relied on its “flawed” and “legally deficient” 2015 environmental review of Wolf Creek Village to make its 2019 access decision. She ruled both the 2019 right of way decision by the Forest Service, just like the agency’s 2015 approval of the land exchange, was “arbitrary and capricious.”

“… confirmed an earlier ruling that the Forest Service “failed to consider important aspects of the issues before them, offered an explanation for their decision that runs counter to the evidence, failed to base their decision on consideration of the relevant factors, and based their decision on an analysis that is contrary to the law. …”

“We’ve never seen an honest evaluation of the environmental impacts of constructing a city of 8,000 people at over 10,000 feet atop one of snowiest locations in Colorado, probably because the impacts if revealed would be staggering,” Mark Pearson, executive director at San Juan Citizens Alliance, said in a statement.

© citizenschallenge 2022

Thursday, December 16, 2021

VWC Land Trade is Dead - Rio Grande Nat'l Forest, Dec 16, 2021

Texan billionaire and land speculator, Red McCombs, is back to first base and his original parcel of land in the heart of Alberta Park at upper Wolf Creek, Rio Grande National Forest, in southern Colorado.  With it's access issues, not to mention the pristine watershed they'll need to bulldoze in order to realize the developer's dreams.  

STOP the Pillage - NO Village at Wolf Creek! 
Save Alberta Park's watershed and wildlife corridor.

written while visiting Alberta Park mid June 2017.


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Judge ends ‘Village at Wolf Creek’ land exchange

By Aedan Hannon, Durango Herald Staff Writer - December 16, 2021

… District of Colorado Judge John L. Kane officially unwound the 2015* land exchange between Rio Grande National Forest and Leavell-McCombs Joint Venture this week, ending one of the paths forward for the development of the “Village at Wolf Creek.”

The ruling confirms a major victory for environmental groups in Southwest Colorado that have fought to stop the 1,700-unit development that would have served 8,000 to 10,000 people adjacent to the remote Wolf Creek Ski Area.

“It really just ties up the bow,” said Jimbo Buickerood, the lands and forest protection program manager with the nonprofit San Juan Citizens Alliance. …


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As a friend of Wolf Creek and Alberta Park I know that special thanks goes to San Juan Citizens Alliance & San Luis Valley Ecosystems Council :

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Update Courtesy of the San Juan Citizens Alliance

        A quick summary courtesy of 
{PS. Thank you San Juan Citizens Alliance for all you do!}

In 1986 Leavell Properties, Inc. (later joined by Texas billionaire B. J. “Red” McCombs to form the Leavell-McCombs Joint Venture, or LMJV) swapped land with the United States Forest Service to obtain a property on top of Wolf Creek Pass surrounded by Forest Service land. McCombs, who now spearheads the project, expanded the plan to his “Village at Wolf Creek.” In order to construct the Village at Wolf creek, however, LMJV needs Forest Service approval to gain year-round highway access to the isolated property.
Since the beginning, the “Friends of Wolf Creek” – a coalition of conservation groups from around the state – have fought to ensure the development is never realized. So far we’ve been able to keep construction at bay, forcing the Forest Service to hand over documents and rewrite woefully inadequate Environmental Impact Statements (EISs). In 2006, we sued the Forest Service for inappropriately colluding with the developer during environmental assessments, and won. 
Our partner Rocky Mountain Wild sued the Forest Service three times for disregarding Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. Rocky Mountain Wild won the first two cases and the third is in process.
In May of 2017, we won another lawsuit, putting the development on hold yet again. A federal judge nullified the land exchange on grounds the Forest Service avoided a thorough analysis of the environmental impacts of development in their latest EIS and that they failed to meet independent review requirements. 
The judge agreed that the Forest Service shirked their responsibility by ignoring the immense impacts of building a city at 10,400’.
But McCombs and the Forest Service refused to accept the public’s verdict opposing the destructive project, and in February 2019 the Forest Service approved yet another scheme to give McCombs carte blanche for development. 
The 2019 decision simply hands over a paved access road to McCombs using precisely the same flawed environmental analysis used to justify the land exchange decision that was invalidated by the court in 2017. 
As we investigate the agency’s justification, the Forest Service finally started to hand over the documents behind its decision in March 2019, under court order, after fighting public transparency for 8 months.
It’s been a long 30-year journey, but we remain committed to ensuring the Village at Wolf Creek never defaces the heart of the San Juans.

For more detailed information please read the “Concise History of Wolf Creek.”
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Friday, January 17, 2020

Friends Of Wolf Creek.org Update - Alberta Park vs LMJV-VWC

STOP the Pillage - NO Village at Wolf Creek! 
Save Alberta Park's watershed and wildlife corridor.
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Considering that the Colorado political Caucus season is arriving March 7th. 
Colorado Caucus: March 7, 2020
Colorado will be having a Presidential Primary Election on Tuesday, March 3, 2020 for the first time in many years!
 
But on Saturday, March 7, 2020,  Democrats will still be gathering at precincts all across the state to caucus.  
I thought I’d check in with the San Juan Citizens Alliance and Friends of Wolf Creek, so that I can add any relevant updates to this blog.  
Seems to me with all the political gatherings that will be happening it would be a good idea to keep reminding voters that the Red McCombs’ threat to Alberta Park and the Rio Grande River remains alive and well.  
In fact, it feels like the matter has evolved from a calculated speculative developer's dream, into an old billionaire's obstinate vendetta against Colorado's citizens.  
Yes, it is true that the matter is back in the courts, which means another holding pattern as we wait the new decisions, still it also requires our redoubled attentiveness and continued outspoken public opposition to catch and thwart LMJV’s next sneaky move.  
I know that the San Juan Citizens Alliance has posted everything they finally received through their long overdue FOIA request and they encourage citizens to look through those papers since they tell a revealing and pretty damning story.
Friends of Wolf Creek has this crisp summary along with much more information awaiting your review:  
      
The Latest News
On July 20, 2018 we filed a Freedom of Information Act request to better understand the Forest Service’s decision to grant an easement to allow for construction of the Village at Wolf Creek. After months of not providing documents, we filed suit to obtain the information, and a Federal Judge has ordered the Forest Service to release documents to us every two weeks. We are posting the documents here as we receive them so that the public can remain involved in this process of understanding how the Service is making decisions about the management of our public lands.
Please continue to follow this activity on our website or sign up for our action alerts to be notified when actions are available. #No Pillage

I was also very impressed with the SJCA website, it’s been improved with more information, great images and a wonderful LMJV/VWC timeline for quick orientation.  I will be featuring excerpts in my next post, although I can't resist including their timeline now: 

(click on the image for a clearer view)


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