WSP09805 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Aspen Highlands Ski Area Special use penn its are to be administered for public recreational uses that promote public health and safety and protect the environment. Forest Service policy encourages year-round recreation opponunities at ski areas to serve the public. provide economic stability to local communities, and promote economic commercial ventures (Forest Service Manual (FSM) 2343.1). Other management guidelines used for the project area are summarized below. ECOSYSTEM MANAGEMENT Beginning in 1992, the Forest Service initiated a policy of integrating ecosystem considerations into its management of public lands. Ecosystem Management is intended to promote the use of an ecological approach to achieve multiple-use management by balancing the needs of people and environmental values in a manner that emphasizes diverse. healthy, productive, and sustainable ecosystems. The EIS included considerable analysis and discussion related to biodiversity, wildlife, and other ecosystem components and incorporated an evaluation at several geographic scales over time. NATIONAL FOREST SKI AREA PERMIT ACT The National Forest Ski Area Penn it Act of 1986 (16 USC 497b: FSM 2700-92-13) authorizes the Forest Service to issue tenn ski area penn its "...for the use and occupancy of suitable lands within the National Forest System for nordic and alpine skiing operations and purposes" (Section 3(b)). The Act also states that a penn it "shall encompass such acreage as the Forest Service detemlines sufficient and appropriate to accommodate the pennittee's needs for ski operations and appropriate ancillary facilities" (Section 3(b)(3)). ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGIONAL GUIDE It is the policy of the Forest Service in Region 2 to provide for the development of winter spons sites to meet public needs where such development is compatible with other resource values. It is also policy to maintain the opponunity for expansion or construction of downhill skiing opponunities by the private sector. When the need is justified, existing pennittees are encouraged to expand. Requests for expansion of existing ski areas take precedence over new ski area proposals. The need for this project was described in Chapter I of the EIS and additional infonnation related to the need for this development is included in the Decision and Rationale section of this ROD. The EIS for the Rocky Mountain Regional Guide establishes a four-level system for delennining the priorities for ski area expansion or development. A 1992 Supplement to the Regional Guide updates the inventory of potential ski area sites. The Aspen Highlands Ski Area in both the Rocky Mountain Regional Guide EIS and the Regional Supplement was shown as a Category I site, or area of highest priority for expansion. FOREST PLAN Pursuant to Council on Environmental Quality regulations (CEQ i 502.20), the EIS was tiered to the Whiter River National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan). The Forest Plan provides long-range management direction for the White River National Forest (WRNF). All uses of NFS lands must be consistent with management prescriptions, and standards and guidelines in the Forest Plan. Those proposed uses or activities that would be inconsistent are not approved. 2 Inlraductian Faresl Plan