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
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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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
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?
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.
