[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 88 (Thursday, May 7, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25197-25198]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-12161]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Rocky Mountain Region; Telluride Ski Area Expansion--Supplemental
Analysis, Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests, San
Miguel County, CO
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service will
prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SFEIS) to the
Final Environmental Impact Statement Telluride Ski Area Expansion
(FEIS) to address the adequacy of the FEIS and to disclose new
information. The Final Record of Decision (ROD) on the Telluride Ski
Area Expansion released in July 1996 was subsequently withdrawn pending
further analysis required by the Appeal Deciding Officer and a civil
complaint. The SFEIS will address the points raised by the Appeal
Deciding Officer and the civil complaint as well as any applicable new
information. The FEIS disclosed potential impacts on a proposal to
develop six new ski lifts with associated runs and five new restaurants
at the Telluride Ski Area on the Norwood District of the Grand Mesa,
Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests within San Miguel County,
Colorado.
DATES: The draft SFEIS is scheduled for publication in June 1998 and
the final in September 1998.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Dick Cook, Norwood Ranger District,
Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests, P.O. Box 388,
Norwood, Colorado 81423. Robert L. Storch, Forest Supervisor, Grand
Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests, is the Responsible
Official for this EIS.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Arthur Bauer, Project Coordinator, Norwood Ranger District--(970) 728-
9351 or (970) 327-4261.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The EIS process for the Telluride Ski Area
Expansion began with a Notice of Intent in the Federal Register on June
18, 1993. The proposal includes the construction of six new lifts and
associated trails, five new restaurants, and the expansion of
additional off-season recreational activities. A draft EIS was
published in March 1994 and a supplement to the draft EIS was published
in December 1994. The FEIS for the Telluride Ski Area Expansion was
prepared and released in February 1996 and the ROD was released in July
1996.
The ROD was the subject of an appeal to the Rocky Mountain Regional
Forester on September 6, 1996. The ruling made on October 22, 1996 by
the Appeal Deciding Officer directed the Forest Supervisor to: (1)
Disclose the socio-economic impacts, including community infrastructure
and services, to communities outside of San Miguel County but within
the employee commuting area of Telluride; (2) specify the required best
management practices for erosion and sedimentation control; (3)
disclose the instream flows of the San Miguel River resulting from the
proposed action with the existing flows, the associated effects
including cumulative effects of water depletions, and specify required
mitigation; and (4) analyze and disclose the environmental effects of
off-season operation and use of any chairlift, other than Lift #10.
Subsequent to the ruling by the Appeal Deciding Officer, a civil
complaint was filed against the USFS in March 1997 and was subsequently
amended on April 22, 1997. The claims made by the plaintiffs included
four counts which dealt with potential inadequacies in the FEIS, the
exclusion of two transportation exhibits in the Appeal Record, concerns
that potential bias in the analysis may have tainted the process, and
the possible violation of the Clean Air Act by the issuance of the
conformity Determination.
On June 30, 1997, the Forest Supervisor of the GMUG National
Forests withdrew the decision on the Telluride Ski Area expansion
pending further analysis required by the Appeal Deciding Officer and
the points raised in the civil complaint. The ROD released in July 1996
is no longer considered valid. Once the Supplement has been finalized,
a new decision will be issued by the Forest Supervisor. The new
decision will consider all the findings of the Supplement as well as
those released in the FEIS. All elements and alternatives displayed in
the FEIS will be reconsidered in the Record of Decision associated with
the supplement.
The Deciding Official will be Robert L. Storch, Forest Supervisor,
Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison
[[Page 25198]]
National Forests, 2250 Highway 50, Delta, Colorado 81416.
Dated: April 27, 1998.
Robert L. Storch,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 98-12161 Filed 5-6-98; 8:45 am]
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