A message from the Friends of Wolf Creek. I encourage you to visit their website and check out the petition they're circulating - sign and add your concise thoughts 250 words or less.
SanJuanCitizens.Org/village-at-wolf-creek
THE VILLAGE AT WOLF CREEK
HAS REARED IT'S UGLY HEAD ONCE AGAIN
Nearly four decades ago, Billy Joe “Red” McCombs – the Texan billionaire who built an empire spanning car dealerships, media, and sports – teamed up with Mineral County landowner Charles Leavell to form a real estate venture. Red owned three parcels of sagebrush in the San Luis Valley (SLV) near Saguache, but his sights were set on Wolf Creek Pass.
Wolf Creek Pass straddles the Continental Divide between the SLV and the San Juan Basin, spanning the unprotected saddle between the Weminuche Wilderness and South San Juan Wilderness. Highway 160 crests the pass at 10,857 feet, with steep grades on either side that scared CW McCall enough to pen a country song about it in 1975.
The remote terrain provides critical habitat for threatened lynx, calving grounds for elk, and is a favored spot for wolverine reintroduction. The pass has some of the highest annual snowfalls in Colorado, supporting a laid-back ski hill and excellent backcountry recreation. When the snowpack melts, it yields water resources for communities downstream, including irrigators on the notoriously over tapped Rio Grande River. The Rio Grande National Forest is responsible for managing all of these resources on behalf of the public.
A message for concerned citizens:
“... Regardless of any legal action, the Wolf Creek Village plan will require many more years of planning, with the developer needing a permit from the Colorado Department of Transportation to access U.S. 160 and permits from Mineral County.
“There are a lot of opportunities for public participation on upcoming decisions that will probably stretch out for quite a long time,” Mark Pearson (with the San Juan Citizens Alliance) said. “There are enormous physical and structural limitations for a village up there. Is there enough water to support the city they are proposing to build? How are they going to get power up there? All this will require some significant planning and public scrutiny.” ( reported by Jason Blevins )
This post is a collection of information regarding ANILCA (the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act,), and it will be updated as new information becomes available.
It’s important because a controversial section of that Act has become LMJV’s trump card in forcing the USDA-USFS into supporting their development wishes, rather than pursuing a strategy of ecological caution and getting Alberta Park returned to the RGNF.
As for ANILCA §3210(a), basically when vast tracks of Alaska lands became part of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, this provision was added to the follow up ANILCA Act of 1980. The intention was to guarantee private land owners (that now found themselves landlocked within the newly established federally owned lands) road access.
Whereas at Alberta Park, RGNF, is a situation where the parcel of land was torn away from the Rio Grande National Forest by some heavy handed '80 style Washington DC political wheeling and dealing, that had USDA rejecting their own Rocky Mtn. Region USDA-USFS experts' considered facts and reversing their decision to reject Red McComb original devious land swap offer.
The Alberta Park parcel, in the middle of Wolf Creek watershed should never have been removed from the Rio Grande National Forest to begin with. It was and is a mistake that I believe deserves being reversed in light of contemporary Rio Grande River Basin water issues, and ecological common sense.
ANILCA §3210. Access by owner to nonfederally owned land
AmericanRivers.org/rio-grande river
Because river systems are so critical to human thriving and commerce it makes sense to focus on protecting and nurturing those systems to guarantee our children will enjoy their benefits. Toward this end I think John Wesley Powell had a great idea when he advocated for western state lines to be drawn along river drainage basin boundary lines.
See, John Wesley Powell’s Report on the Lands of the Arid Regions of the United States (1878)
It’s too late for that, still, the importance of clean healthy rivers to downstream stakeholders, remains as crucial as ever. Especially as water levels drop.
Alberta Park sits below the Great Divide mountain slopes of the Wolf Creek snowshed, located within the Rio Grande National Forest. Its meltwater feeds through Alberta Park on the way to the Rio Grande River, and that gets way too little attention in this controversy were it sometimes feels like legalities and tossing papers at each other is the only thing that matters.
This posting is dedicated to the Rio Grande River and is basically a collection of articles, a bibliographic resource for learning some important background.
Alberta Park at Wolf Creek needs advocates to start lobbying the USDA-USFS powers-that-be to begin making every effort possible to reconsider going forward with this 1980’s speculative luxury retreat. Why? This is 2024, not the go-go ‘80s, environmentally and sociologically (read stakeholders) - the realities of the Rio Grande River Basin have become way more challenging.
I’m no expert, but I do know enough to seek out experts and get my facts from them. That’s what this bibliographic collection is all about, sharing important information with the friends of Wolf Creek & Alberta Park.
We The People should be able to expect the USDA-USFS to start incorporating the Rio Grande River and the greater good, along with science and climate realities. It’s time to get serious about prioritizing the health of the Rio Grande River system, as paramount over some developer’s glory pipe dream.
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GETTING TO KNOW THE RIO GRANDE RIVER
Texas Water Resources Institute - by Kerry Halladay - email - 2024
HYDROLOGY OF THE WOLF CREEK PASS AREA
MountainStudies.org - Dr. November 7, 2014 - Project Leader: Mark Williams (University of Colorado)
A RIVER STRETCH BEYOND ITS MEANS
Wild Earth guardians.org - email - 2024
A DRYING RIVER - The Rio Grande is in peril, and the consequences have already manifested
Erick S. Albarran - medium.com - Environmental Issue Profiles 2021
CLIMATE-SMART CONSERVATION ALONG THE RIO GRANDE RIVER
Janessa Price - WorldWildlife.org -
Rio Grande International Study Center -
THE RIO GRANDE WATERSHED IS AT ITS ECOLOGICAL BREAKING POINT.
By: Rio Grande Waterkeeper - March 21, 2019
Protecting forests and water in northern New Mexico.
Pennsylvania State University - e-education course
RESTORING THE NATURAL FLOW OF THE RIO GRANDE-RIO BRAVO RIVER
Daniel Vernick, December 07, 2023 - Worldwildlife.org
THE RIO GRANDE ISN’T JUST A BORDER - IT’S A CRISIS!
By Vianey Rueda & Drew Gronewold - October 23, 2023 - The Conversation Media Group
CLIMATE-SMART CONSERVATION ALONG THE RIO GRANDE
World Wild Life Fund - Janessa Price - 2024
RIO GRANDE, A DRYING RIVER
Erick S. Albarran - March 21, 2021 - medium.com
THE RIO GRANDE RIVER - InTeGrate
Interdisciplinary Teaching about Earth for a Sustainable Future
Water Matter - THE RIO GRANDE AS AN INTERNATIONAL RIVER
By Margaret J. Vick, J.S.D. (2012) - Utton Transboundary Resources Center - University of New Mexico
PUBLIC REPORTS FROM WOLF CREEK SUMMIT above Alberta Park, Colorado
Air & Water Database Public Reports
CLIMATE OF THE SOUTHWEST UNITED STATES
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Click and behold, the LMJV's Alberta Park developers' pipe dream
On the VWC webpage, they tell you that the friends of Alberta Park and Wolf Creek, "are NOT your local grass-roots coalition fighting against this project." Well, I'm out here in my rural cabin, working on my own, occasionally communicating with others - and about as grass-roots as can be, I even have soil under my fingernails right now.
Though, it is true that this is NOT a "local issue"!
The Rio Grande River is an endangered interstate, international river, and LMJV wants to mess with its precious source waters.
That's personal for all Rio Grande River stakeholders!
I’ve been going through San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council’s VWC legal documents and came across a letter written by Christine Canaly, Director of the SLVEC, to the USFS’s NEPA Coordinator, just over twenty years ago.
It seems like a perfect cautionary essay (based on solid study) to start with and share with friends, including LMJV developers and USDA/RGNF powers that be. Two decades ago, a decision was made to focus exclusively on gaining access to Leavell McCombs Joint Venture’s Alberta Park inholding, while steadfastly ignoring the varied environmental (read physical reality) concerns raised in Christina’s appraisal.
Her thoughtful constructive advice was ignored by the governmental powers that be, and LMJV salesmen alike. That has resulted in twenty-years of squandered time and treasure with LMJV right back where they started.
Talk about throwing good money, after bad. Now in 2024 LMJV appears poised for victory. Yet, one way, or the other, it will be a pyrrhic victory since these issues haven't gone away.
Not to mention that the general economic feasibility index for such a 1980's inspired go-go dream project, and profits driver, gets thinner with every massive infrastructure damaging, global warming driven, extreme weather event eating away at the luxury market bottomline.
NEWS FLASH - April 19, 2024 - Alberta Park, Wolf Creek, CO.
US District Court finds* District court was wrong to vacate agency authorizations* Federal Alaska conservation act (ANILCA) supports access to parcel
"The Tenth Circuit on Friday overruled a lower court and reinstated federal agencies' authorizations for a right-of-way easement to develop a ski resort village in Colorado.A federal district court has sent the approvals back to agencies, saying they were based on the same deficient documents as previously vacated authorizations - but the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit said that decision was wrong because the agencies proposed different options for the project. ..."
Quoting, JUSTIA US LAW:
Rocky Mountain Wild v. Dallas, No. 22-1438 (10th Cir. 2024)
Justia Opinion Summary
San Juan Citizens Alliance org
1986: Land Exchange #1
Leavell Properties requested 420 acres of U.S. Forest Service (USFS) land on the east flank of Wolf Creek Pass in exchange for 1,631 acres of degraded rangeland they owned in Saguache County. Their aim was to develop 200 residential units adjacent to the Wolf Creek Ski Area. Colorado’s then Congressman Hank Brown interfered with this process. The USFS denied the exchange due to concerns surrounding “a decrease in public values;” but two weeks later, the USFS withdrew the denial decision and, without providing a valid reason, approved the transfer of 300 acres to Leavell.
1986 - Forest Service Environmental Assessment anticipated 200 residential units
* Deemed “Not in the Public Interest”, denied Feb. 20, 1986
* Opposite decision issued March 6, 1986
Albert Park meadow
Here we are in 2024 and the epic struggle to save Alberta Park, in the hydrological heart of the Rio Grande National Forest, and the Wolf Creek watershed, which feeds into the Rio Grande river, slogs on.
Since Ryan Bidwell’s 2009 presentation, LMJV continued pursuing their land trade strategy, but friends of Wolf Creek went to court again and again, ultimately their land-trade proposal was rejected by the courts. Nevertheless, the RGNF rushed an approval of the developer’s access road. Which various Friends of Wolf Creek also successfully challenged.
In October 2022 a federal judge invalidated the Forest Service’s approval. The Forest Service appealed that decision in April 2023, with Rocky Mountain Wild filing a response brief. In January of this year oral arguments were heard, and a ruling is expected sometime this year.
When that decision comes down, the smoldering Alberta Park issue will reignite as LMJV start warming up their bulldozers in anticipation, and it will be time, once again, for the far flung Friends of Wolf Creek to remember:
NO Pillage of a Village at Alberta Park, Wolf Creek, Rio Grande National Forest.
But what to do? Especially those of us without money or connections, can we make a difference? If you consider yourself a “Friend of Wolf Creek” how can you make a stand that matters?
I’ve been thinking about the possibility of a good old fashioned mass letter writing campaign of persuasion. Individuals reaching out with their own unique rational reasoning and bold requests.
We could begin with questioning why the Rio Grande National Forest powers-that-be have so consistently avoided facing the reality of the environmental concerns, and the many unavoidable damaging impacts this project would guarantee. An attitude that is reflected in USDA-RGNF’s decidedly pro-development decisions over these past decades?
A campaign of persuasion that reaches out to all relevant stakeholders, governmental representatives and agencies, along with private entities including the McCombs’ family itself. (somewhere near the end of this series, I intend to post a list of relevant recipients)
What message? Perhaps something along the lines of . . .
I believe that We The People have a right to assert our claim upon this Alberta Park parcel of land. Land that was underhandedly ripped away from the Rio Grande National Forest in 1986. It deserves to be returned to the protection of the Rio Grande National Forest and our American legacy. Let it continue being the pristine constructive biologically productive member of the RGNF and the Rio Grande River source waters landscape, that it has always been.
For my part, I’m hoping to spend the next couple months, supporting my above assertions with a series of posts that will bring together the factual details and hopefully help inform some curious Friends of Wolf Creek, along with newbies to this issue.
Thank you,
Peter
PS. Please understand I am simply an individual off in rural Colorado, doing my thing and hoping it might be a constructive part of this effort to save Alberta Park, and ultimately get it back under protection. If you want do something, please be sure to contact one of the organizations that have been doing all the heavy lifting.
