[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] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 The Final Record of Decision (ROD) on the Telluride Ski Area Expansion released in July 1996 was subsequently withdrawn pending further analysis required by the Appeal Deciding Officer and a civil complaint.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] BILLING CODE 3410-11-M