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[Peter]

http://www.mountainresortmag.com/index.php...12&Itemid=1



On Wednesday, Judge Owen Panner supported plans by the U.S. Forest Service and the Mount Ashland Association to expand the non-profit community area. On the other side of the aisle, the Rogue Sierra Club is again looking for grounds to appeal.

The same day, in California, a sixth decision--three of which have been for and three against---had been reached by another Federal judge, who has upheld Clinton's roadless policy.




The expansion, a heavily contentious issue since 1998, includes 16 new trails, two new chairlifts and 200 parking spaces on the mountain. The total land use would be 71 acres.

It stretches into the McDonald Peak roadless area, and the environmental group used the potential for impact to the city's water supply as their grounds for this appeal.

An independent environmental firm later released an opinion that the impact would be less than 2%.

This negotiation has been a hot topic for the local community, with the town's own city council backing off from taking a position on either side this summer. The Forest Service has assured both sides they will have their attorneys review this approval, as Judge Owen has not yet released his opinion on why he weighed in favor of the USFS and Mt. Ashland. This latest appeal followed the 2004 Record of Decision approval issued by the agency, a process that had included two separate, favorable Environmental Impact Statements.


To complicate the situation, another Federal Court recently reinstated the "roadless" policy put in effect during the Clinton administration, then put aside during the Bush administration. McDonald Peak is/was considered roadless area, but the expansion area has been part of Ashland's Master Plan for decades.

That roadless policy in itself is also a very hot issue. Judge Elizabeth D. Laporte ruled this week that the Bush policy was illegal, but this now brings the number of rulings on the roadless issue to six. Three have been in favor of Clinton, throwing out Bush, three have been in favor of Bush, tossing aside Clinton.







Too bad that they sold the lift they were planning to install to 49 North because they never thought they could install it.

[SkiBachelor]

It's a win for Mt. Ashland, but just a little bit too late since the ski area just sold its CTEC Quad to 49 Degrees North after owning it for 7 years.