NO Village at Wolf Creek: 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.

“The decision Thursday is the third (Federal Court) rejection for Texas investor B.J. “Red” McCombs, who has spent 36 years trying to develop a highly controversial village on about 300 isolated acres in the Rio Grande National Forest adjacent to the Wolf Creek Ski Area. …” (and in the heart of this Rio Grande River headwaters.)

For what it’s worth department:

“Clint Jones, who has shepherded the Wolf Creek Village plan for the now 95-year-old (Red) McCombs, has spent the last three years waiting for a decision on the 2019 Forest Service access decision. (Clint) said the redevelopment’s legal team is going through the ruling and planning a meeting with the Forest Service: to determine our next steps. (… and to assess if the golden goose has any eggs left to lay.)”

I myself hope Mr. McCombs finally sees the light and returns his ill-gotten inholding back into the Rio Grande National Forest and the headwaters of the international Rio Grande River that surrounds it. Now that would be a wonderful legacy worth passing on!

Further reading:

San Juan Citizens Alliance

Friends of Wolf Creek

Rio Grande Water Conservation District

JUNE 29, 2015

Pictures of Alberta Park the proposed site for the luxury Village at Wolf Creek

Village at Wolf Creek site at bottom of Alberta Lift

INDEX of VWC-Environmental Impact Statement Issues … - April 7, 2019

Caught Red-Handed - April 4, 2019

Red’s a billionaire and We Are The People. Down to brass tacks. - March 8, 2019

Open Letter to Mr. McCombs and Marsha Shields, please reconsider your intentions. - June 17, 2017

I believe it is appropriate to personally petition Mr. McCombs and his daughter Marsha M. Shields, asking them to completely reconsider their out of date plans for a mountain village at Alberta Park. I encourage others to send their own thoughtful and constructive petitions on behalf of yourself, Alberta Park and all the wildlife and biology going on that can’t speak for itself.

What's the Village at Wolf Creek Good For? - November 3, 2017

Concise History of the Village at Wolf Creek - San Juan Citizens Alliance - January 19, 2016

Same as it ever was, Red's saga continues. - January 17, 2016

This was originally posted March 21, 2012. Considering today's news I thought it would be appropriate to dust it off a bit, update it a bunch and share.

McCombs' political arm-twisting,

the ugly details start coming out. - January 17, 2016

I so want to believe in the integrity of the Rio Grande National Forest administrators and their Environmental Impact Study staff, but the more information comes forward the harder it gets. Wish I could ask Rio Grande National Forest's District Ranger Dan Dallas, when will the public's best interest receive an objective hearing?

An essay concerning Red McCombs' long and winding road - September 13, 2012

Wetlands & Old-Growth fens heat up VWC debate. by Adam Howell - May 15, 2012

Village at Wolf Creek at 10'300 feet & Altitude Sickness - January 26, 2010