Mr. McCombs and Ms Shields, please reconsider your intentions, VillageWolfCreek speculation. (an open letter)

Today I was doing some clean up and came across an open letter I'd sent by US Post to both Red McCombs and his daughter Marsha M. Shields along with posting it here.  What shocked me is that in a few days it'll be year since I sent it.  Never did get a response, still it list issues and reasons that can't be ignored and it's as timely today as it was a year ago and it's also worth posting again. 

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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 McCombs and his daughter Marsha M. Shields, asking them to completely reconsider their out of date plans for a mountain village at Alberta Park.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.  

Open letter to Mr. McCombs and family, 

written while visiting Alberta Park mid June 2017.

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Dear Mr. McCombs and Marsha Shields,

We’ve met a couple times. Once was in Creede, at your 2005 Village at Wolf Creek presentation. I was passing out my No-VWC pamphlet and though we never got close, we did share a couple eye-to-eyes during the many speeches. Then at Congressman Salazar’s 2010 (Adam's State College) roundtable in Alamosa.  You walked up to me and accepted my flier, then you surprised me by extending your hand.

I was honored to shake it. Not much was said, just two guys sizing each other up and walking away. I honestly cherish the memory since it made you a real person to me and not some distant cartoon. 

Given Judge Matsch’s decision and the Village at Wolf Creek land trade being nullified, I feel it’s a good time to personally explain why I’ve been dogging your project and to ask that you and your daughter stop to consider Alberta Park as the irreplaceable biological treasure that it is.

What's the Village at Wolf Creek Good For?

The following appears in the November Four Corners Free Press.

The suspense is over, Red McCombs and family have decided to appeal Judge Matsch’s May decision which nullified the 2015 “Village at Wolf Creek/LMJV, landswap agreement with the Rio Grande National Forest/US Dept Agriculture.

There's much to be said, but here I focus on the headline quote from Leavell-McCombs Joint Venture’s attorney William J Leone a top notch legal gunslinger at Norton Rose Fulbright* who assures us:   

“The Leavell-McCombs Joint-Venture believes strongly the project is a good project and the Forest Service did everything it needed to do to study the environmental impacts of that project.”

Good for who?  Good for what?  What good will it be for the Rio Grande National Forest?

What good will it be for the Alberta Park watershed at the source waters of the Rio Grande River?  What good will it be for the wellbeing of this wildlife corridor and its occupants?  What good will it be for tax payers and local governments who are left holding a boondoggle?

Open Letter to Mr. McCombs and Marsha Shields, please reconsider your intentions.

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.  
(It was suggested that my letter lacked an appropriate ending.  Upon reflection, they were right.  Revised June 20th.)

Open letter to Mr. McCombs and family, 

written while visiting Alberta Park earlier this week.

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Dear Mr. McCombs and Marsha Shields,

We’ve met a couple times. Once was in Creede, at your 2005 Village at Wolf Creek presentation. I was passing out my No-VWC pamphlet and though we never got close, we did share a couple eye-to-eyes during the many speeches. Then at Congressman Salazar’s 2010 (Adam's State College) roundtable in Alamosa.

You walked up to me and accepted my flier, then you surprised me by extending your hand and I was honored to shake it. Not much was said, just two guys sizing each other up and walking away. I honestly cherish the memory since it made you a real person to me and not some distant cartoon. 

Given Judge Matsch’s decision and the Village at Wolf Creek land trade being nullified, I feel it’s a good time to personally explain why I’ve been dogging your project and to ask that you and your daughter stop to consider Alberta Park as the irreplaceable biological treasure that it is.

Letter to Mr. McCombs and LMJV - supplemental information

List of links and other supporting information for my letter to LMJV’s Red McCombs and his daughter Marsha McCombs Shields pleading with them to consider abandoning all their development dreams for Alberta Park, in favor of leaving that precious landscape unmolested to continue serving the many biological and wildlife support functions it currently fulfills.

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“Creede, at your 2005 Village at Wolf Creek presentation”

www.denverpost.com/2005/05/01/wolf-creek-braces-for-battle/

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“2010 (Adam's State College) roundtable in Alamosa"

www.chieftain.com/news/local/salazar-seeks-consensus-over-wolf-creek-study/article_7c1a071b-abf8-5017-ab60-4cbc47a45137.html

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“surrounding watershed”

www.cnhp.colostate.edu/download/documents/2012/RGNFWetlandAssessmentReportFINAL.pdf

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Fens “provide a real service”

https://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/es/fen/FWSRegion6FenPolicy1999.pdf

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“La Garita Wilderness Area”

www.coloradowilderness.com/wildpages/lagarita.html]

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“Weminuche Wilderness Area”

www.coloradowilderness.com/wildpages/weminuche.html

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“Silverton” 9,813 feet above sea level

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverton,_Colorado

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WOLF CREEK PASS, COLORADO

Elevation: 10326 feet     Latitude: 37 29N     Longitude: 106 52W

Köppen Classification: Continental Subarctic Climate

www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather-summary.php3?s=381950&cityname=Wolf+Creek+Pass,+Colorado,+United+States+of+America&units=

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“the wind blows incessantly”

https://www.windfinder.com/report/pagosa_springs_wolf_creek_pass

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“Why would we expect calm days”

https://wcc.sc.egov.usda.gov/nwcc/site?sitenum=874

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Defining “subarctic weather conditions”

https://www.britannica.com/science/continental-subarctic-climate

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Federal Judge Has Ruled - Red McCombs and LMJV land swap nullified.

US District Court Colorado, Judge Matsch's ORDER: 

"Where an agency action is found to be arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion, or 39 otherwise not in accordance with law, the Court must “hold [it] unlawful and set [it] aside.” 5 U.S.C. § 706(2). The Court finds and concludes that Defendants‟ actions violated the APA in the respects specified in this decision.  

Accordingly, it is ORDERED that the Record of Decision dated May 21, 2015, is SET ASIDE.”

For Text of Ruling:

http://no-villageatwolfcreek.blogspot.com/2017/05/red-mccombs-lmjv-land-swap-nullified.html