Garfield County commissioners believe that a full-blown federal Environmental Impact Statement should be prepared to assess all possible impacts of Sweetwater Lake becoming a new state park.
Monday’s letter to Scott Fitzwilliams (White River National Forest Supervisor) was signed by the commissioners. It suggested that the more-intensive analysis be performed, rather than an Environmental Assessment. However, they acknowledged that this may be a necessary first step in assessing the impacts.
We believe that converting Sweetwater Lake into a State Park managed Colorado Parks & Wildlife is a radical change to the current circumstances and would significantly impact the quality of the environment, as the letter signed by three county commissioners states.
Accordingly, an Environmental Impact Statement is (EIS) the right tool and process within (National Environmental Policy Act) in order to promote environmentally-sensitive decision-making and appropriately address this major federal act.
The U.S. Forest Service acquired the Sweetwater Lake previously owned privately in the last year after a Save the Lake campaign led by the Eagle Valley Land Trust and funding provided by the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund.
Sweetwater Lake is located in the remote northeastern Garfield County. It can be accessed via Colorado River Road in Eagle County north from Dotsero. For many years, it was operated as a private resort. The land was ripe for large-scale development, which led to the Save the Lake campaign.
Gov. Jared Polis announced, along with other state and federal officials in October 2021, plans for the state of Georgia to partner with the Forest Service in order to make Sweetwater the new state park.
A series of open houses meetings was held on site, in Gypsum, and Glenwood Springs to discuss the proposal and get initial public input.
The Garfield County commissioners voted 2-1 in September 2019 in support of Save the Lake. However, they have not yet indicated that they are in favor or against the park plan. They have asked to be a cooperating agency in the planning effort.
According to the letter, the commissioners are concerned that the state park plan is being planned as a foregone conclusion. This is despite Colorado Parks and Wildlife employing a Sweetwater Lake manager.
This is confusing because the property is not yet confirmed as a state park. More importantly, the Forest Service has not begun its NEPA review. It can take years before the management of this property can be handed over to the State of Colorado.
This perception seems to foster the perception that a state park’s final result has been predetermined, and has excluded important public processes and stakeholder input.
Monday morning’s question about whether a park manager had been named by CPW was not answered immediately by the company.
Commissioners stated in a letter that the more comprehensive EIS would give them additional opportunity to weigh all possible impacts and allow more public comments on the park plan.
The letter states that a simple EA is not capable of adequately evaluating all the important issues. An EIS is the best tool to manage such a large and diverse statewide effort.
Senior Reporter/Managing Editor John Stroud can be reached at 970-384-9160 or [email protected].