Durango – The U.S. Forest Service on Friday said it was right in April when it decided to require two access roads for the proposed $1 billion Village at Wolf Creek.
Texas developers Billy Joe “Red” McCombs and Bob Honts had asked for a relatively inexpensive 250-foot extension of a road already crossing the Wolf Creek Ski Area, a family-owned operation that opposes the massive scale of the development proposed next to it.
And environmental groups such as Colorado Wild and Friends of Wolf Creek oppose any access for a project that could entail up to 2,172 residences in the snowiest, wildest reaches of the San Juan Mountains.
In reaffirming the agency’s earlier decision, the deputy regional forester for the Rocky Mountain Region, Greg Griffith, concluded that McCombs and Honts are entitled by law to reasonable access to their 287-acre inholding in the Rio Grande National Forest. But Griffith further found that two roads were needed to ensure village residents’ safe access to U.S. 160 along Wolf Creek Pass and to avoid disruption of ski area activities.
Construction of the second road authorized by the Forest Service could cost more than $12 million, Honts has estimated.
“We’re pleased we have access. We’re not necessarily pleased at the cost of building two roads,” he said in a telephone interview Friday. “But we intend to move forward.”
Colorado Wild spokesman Jeff Berman said the decision wasn’t surprising, considering “the political influence evident in this case.”
“I’m fairly confident we will challenge this decision (in court),” he said. “We only expect fair hearing on the issue once the decision is removed from the executive branch.”
Colorado Wild alleges that McCombs, a billionaire radio mogul with ties to top Department of Agriculture officials, improperly influenced the Forest Service’s decision.
Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., said in a Friday news release that he is continuing to press for an investigation by the inspector general’s office of any agency improprieties in completing the Environmental Impact Statement.
“Due to the size and scope of the Village at Wolf Creek project, the allegations of improper actions need to be addressed to remove any cloud of inappropriate activity in the permit application, review and approval process,” Salazar said.
“Should the IG decide to pursue an inquiry of any kind, we look forward to working with the IG fully and completely,” regional forester Rick Cables said.
Cables denied allegations of improper influence on the original decision to grant access made by Rio Grande Forest Supervisor Peter Clark.
“It was his decision and his decision alone,” Cables said.
Cables said that many seem to be missing the point that Clark did not give the developer what it wanted – an extension of an existing road.
“This was a decision to provide access to land-locked private land as is required by law,” Cables said. “It doesn’t matter who the landowner is. This decision is not a decision about the development. That is not the Forest Service’s decision to make. The (project) size, scale, density is the purview of local government.”
Mineral County gave preliminary approval to the full project, but in October a state judge voided the permit until developers could secure adequate access from the Forest Service and Colorado Department of Transportation.
CDOT officials told The Denver Post they wouldn’t proceed with permitting until the Forest Service granted its permits.
Staff writer Electa Draper can be reached at 970-385-0917 or edraper@denverpost.com.
