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

• Durango Telegraph - Caught Red-handed - April 4, 2019
• INDEX of VWC-EIS ...
• VWC-EIS, Objection Issues and Responses #1, #2
• VWC-EIS, Objection Issues and Responses #3, #4, #5...
• VWC-EIS, Objection Issues and Responses #7, #8, #9...
• VWC-EIS, Objection Issues and Responses #11, #12 #13
• VWC-EIS, Objection Issues and Responses #14, #15, #16
• VWC-EIS, Objection Issues and Responses #17, #18,...
• VWC-EIS, Objection Issues and Responses #20, #21, #22
• VWC-EIS, Objection Issues and Responses #23, #24,...
• VWC-EIS, Objection Issues and Responses #26, #27, #28
• VWC-EIS, Objection Issues and Responses #29, #30, ...

'Red' McCombs dies at 95

 

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

By Glenn Rifkin - New York Times - Feb. 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 

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 !

     

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.

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.

Link to my Open letter to Mr. McCombs and family, 

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 :

Update Courtesy of the San Juan Citizens Alliance

        A quick summary courtesy of 

San Juan Citizens Alliance

{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.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

source:  https://www.sanjuancitizens.org/the-village-at-wolf-creek

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.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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)

source: https://www.sanjuancitizens.org/the-village-at-wolf-creek

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

UPDATE Village at Wolf Creek - May 28, 2019 - Back to Court.

Here we go again, news from :

We filed suit on Tuesday to challenge the US Forest Service's approval to grant increased road access to the Village at Wolf Creek

As you may remember, last year, the Rio Grande National Forest Supervisor Dan Dallas signed a Final Record of Decision that provided expanded access across National Forest System lands to the private parcel created during the controversial 1986 land exchange. That private parcel, proposed home to the "Village" at Wolf Creek, is in the middle of a critical widllife corridor between two wilderness areas vital to threatened Canada lynx and home to rare fen wetlands and the headwaters of the Rio Grande.

The decision was based on the same environmental analysis that the late Judge Matsch deemed "an artful dodge" and ruled was arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law on Endangered Species Day in 2017. In fact, Courts have repeatedly blocked attempts to fast track approvals and skimp on environmental analysis and public input.

We had called for the Forest Service to conduct a new environmental impact statement that fully considered the impact to species like the Canada lynx, but the Forest Service decided instead to give the developers increased road access. 

Well, on Tuesday, we, along with our partners, once again filed a lawsuit seeking to invalidate that Final Record of Decision.

To help fund further efforts to protect Wolf Creek Pass, please visit our donation webpage and select "Friends of Wolf Creek" under "Direct My Donation."

For the wild!

Chris Talbot-Heindl

For more information about the battle to keep Wolf Creek Pass wild, visit the Friends of Wolf Creek website

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PRESS RELEASE: Conservation Groups Challenge Forest Service Again Over Approval of Village at Wolf Creek

Published by Chris Talbot-Heindl on May 28, 2019

http://www.friendsofwolfcreek.org/press-release-conservation-groups-challenge-forest-service-again-over-approval-of-village-at-wolf-creek/
     

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Conservation groups challenge road access for Village at Wolf Creek

Forest Service says environmental reviews sound

By Jonathan Romeo, County and environment reporter

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

https://durangoherald.com/articles/278902

A coalition of environmental groups Tuesday filed a challenge of the U.S. Forest Service’s approval last year to grant road access to the Village at Wolf Creek, a decision that ultimately paves the way for the proposed massive development atop Wolf Creek Pass.

“Once again, it falls to the public to demand protection of Wolf Creek Pass, a place long cherished by generations of visitors and residents alike,” said Jimbo Buickerood, lands program manager at San Juan Citizens Alliance, in a prepared statement. “Though the Forest Service might be inclined to renege on its stewardship responsibilities, we are ready to insist on compliance with the law and the public’s will.” …