January 30 2013 - Village At Wolf Creek EIS Update

Out of curiosity I wrote Mike Blakeman the Public Affairs Officer at the Rio Grande National Forest asking him how the Village at Wolf Creek Environmental Impact Statement was progressing.  He replied with the following, which I pass along with his blessing:

Quite frankly, we aren’t sure when the Village EIS will be completed because the proponent and the Fish and Wildlife Service are negotiating the conservation measures that will address the anticipated adverse effects to the lynx.  

Once agreed upon, these will be incorporated into a final Biological Assessment, which is part of the analysis of effects in compliance with the Endangered Species Act.  

Once this BA is finalized, the FWS uses it to complete a Biological Opinion, which we must have before making a decision about the proposed land exchange.  

What is important to understand is this process is required and in no way means any decision has been made.       

[M.B. - 1/29/2013] 

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Thank you for the information Mr. Blakeman.

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As a footnote.

In putting together this post I looked over the visits to these various blog-pages over the past few months and noticed a few have received over one hundred hits.  But, I bring this up because one blog-post sky-rocketed past the others with over 750 hits.  Needless to say, I hope the powers that be take notice; this is a crucial issue and people are paying attention.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2012
The Impact of Climate Change on Ski Resort Operations and Development: Opportunities and Threats
To support my claim in yesterday's VWC-DEIS Comment, namely, that the future bodes ill for such grand speculations as Mr. McCombs dream of bulldozing the Alberta Park Watershed into a luxury vacation village.   I submit a few highlights from the following report, but encourage you to view the entire study at: continue here