The Carson National Forest opened its doors to public comments last week about the scope of its federally mandated National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), review of a major Taos Ski Valley development plan that calls for the construction, among other things, of a new gondola.
The Ski Valley operates under special use permits issued by the Forest Service. These permits will need to be renewed in 2054. The U.S. Forest Service accepted the updated Master Development Plan of the ski corporation, which was published in October.
Lift 2 and Lift 8 were built in 1990s and “near the end of their operational lives.” According to the proposal, a 33-acre groomable cross country ski and snowshoe trail area would develop at the northern end.
The Whistlestop Café would be replaced with a facility twice its size. There will also be more bathrooms at an adjacent location that won’t interfere with skier flow. Near the top Lift 7, a new restaurant of 7,000 square feet will be built. This will provide guests with a central location in mid-mountain for food and restrooms.
According to James Duran (Forest Supervisor), a hiking trail would be built near Lift 4 that generally follows Hunziker’s ski trail. Duran also released a letter last week describing the project. “This trail would be approximately 2 miles long and provide intermediate-high alpine hiking experiences with easy access to the Kachina Basin base areas.
The main motivation behind the gondola proposal was to reduce traffic congestion and chronic maintenance problems along Twining Road and Kachina Road. The resort’s Frontside base and Kachina Basin areas would be connected by the gondola.
Duran wrote that the Kachina Basin’s base area can be accessed via Twining/Kachina Road. This road was originally constructed as maintenance roads. “Guests now use this road frequently and park near the base of Lift 4 (current out-of-base lift at the Kachina Basin’s base area). It was not designed to handle the volume of traffic it sees, so it is often congested and needs frequent maintenance.
The 7,300-foot-long gondola will have eight cabins for eight people and can transport 1,800 people per hour. Duran stated that they would improve “general connectivity between the two bases areas during the summer season and winter seasons” and also “would also improve skier circulation on terrain served by Lifts 4-7.” Duran said that while the Clean Energy Corridor proposal remains on the table, he did not give any indications that the gondola, or any other components of the project, will be powered from renewable energy. He also didn’t mention renewably-sourced electrification in the Master Development Plan.
Taos Ski Valley, Inc. CEO David Norden told Taos News that the Forest Service has the NEPA scoping for the development project. Therefore, it would not be appropriate for the corporation at this time to comment on the development proposal.
Duran said that the Ski Valley proposes “to improve snowmaking operations, provide fire suppression capabilities on Lift 2 specifically”, by building “a new booster, water tank, snowmaking pipe, and additional snowmaking pipes to connect the booster station with the existing snowmaking system.”
He stated that these projects would not increase the Rio Hondo’s water uptake. “Taos Ski Valley” will continue to have a diversionary right of 200 acres or 65.2 million gallons each of water from Rio Hondo.
John Avila (Village of Taos Ski Valley administrator) stated that the Village approved a support letter “for an environmental study to take a gondola across the village property near Rio Hondo, approximately at Latitude of Hiker Parking.” He also noted that other components of this project would benefit village dwellers.
Ski valleys are particularly at risk from wildfire.
“According to [Federal Emergency Management Agency]Maps show that the Village of Taos Ski Valley lies in a high-risk zone for fires, landslides, and other hazards that requires a robust water supply and fire suppression system.” Avila stated that while the fire department has attempted to mitigate the situation, “high insurance rates have been caused by these conditions that negatively impact the safety rating of the municipality.” He also said that the fire department has improved all fire and suppression facilities and roads to reach properties, as well as work to reduce residential fire hazard.
Avila stated that developing a Water Master Plan with the ski company remains a top priority. The village will depend on the plan for future project funding requests.
He stated that the Village would continue to develop a Water Master Plan to address both predictable demands and supply as well as to prepare for climate change and its effects on our wilderness.
Paul Schilke, winter sport coordinator for the Carson, stated that a draft Environmental Assessment of Carson could be completed as soon as June. A separate public consultation period would take place in July and August. He expects that NEPA will be completed by January.
Friends of Wheeler Peak Wilderness encouraged the general public to ask the Forest Service to produce a more detailed environmental statement for the development proposal. This is in addition to the current, briefer environmental assessment that they are currently anticipating.
Emily Sadow sent an email stating that it was up to her to tell agencies in comments what she wants and why. “Any topics that are not within the scope of the review (i.e. Your letters will not go through and will not form part of the EIS/EA. CNF and TSV are likely to insist on only conducting an EA. However, it is important that you request in your comments that an EIS is conducted for this project.
Sadow advised that commenters “consider the agency’s purpose, and focus their attention on the specifics; support their statements with facts and references; and include potential socioeconomic and environmental impacts. The agency must address the potential cumulative, indirect and direct effects of their potential environmental and social impacts when assessing them.
Sadow stressed that comments that are “statements for or against a proposal action” are not sufficient. “Comments do not count as votes.”
For any comments, please write to James Duran, Forest Supervisor, or Paul Schilke (Winter Sports Coordinator), P.O. Box 110, Questa. N.M. fs.usda.gov/project/?project=61390. Comments must be submitted by May 7. If you have any questions, please call Schilke at (575-587-2255).
