Environmental Impact Statement Being Prepared

TELLURIDE — The U.S. Forest Service is once again seeking public comment on a development project proposed for Alta Lakes after determining earlier this month that an Environmental Impact Statement should be prepared to address its potential effects.

The 45-day comment period began in June, when the agency published its intent to prepare an EIS in the Federal Register, and will end on Friday, August 7.

“It’s very important for people to comment,” said Judy Schutza, District Ranger for the Norwood Ranger District.

“Get engaged and get engaged early,” she urged.

The EIS is being prepared in response to an application submitted by Silver Mountain Industries for road and utility improvements that would enable year-round access to a clustered development proposed for 540 acres SMI owns on Turkey Creek Mesa.

The development would create 28 home sites and the potential for 20 caretaker units, as proposed; allowable-development area would total 71 acres including building envelopes ranging from 1.25 to 1.6 acres on each of 28 parcels, driveways, and internal subdivision roads, according to Mark Oligschlaeger, vice president of the Leucadia Financial Corporation.

SMI is a subsidiary of the Fortune 500 Leucadia National Corporation, which also owns the New Sheridan Hotel.

“Anything that happens on that lot has to be restricted to that building envelope,” Oligschlaeger said, pointing out that the allowable development being proposed by SMI would preserve nearly 87 percent of the Turkey Creek Mesa land it owns as public or private open space.

The SMI plan proposes no change to the land’s F zoning district, which by right allows for one single-family dwelling up to 12,000 square feet and one caretaker unit up to 2,000 square feet per 35-acre lot or larger.

Instead it seeks an exemption to create parcels averaging 12 acres each.

In addition to its land on Turkey Creek Mesa, SMI also owns 307 acres in Gold King Basin that lie within the county’s High Country Master Plan area.

The purpose of the HCMP is to protect and preserve the alpine, sub-alpine and scenic hillsides in the county’s high country areas.

In exchange for the exemption, SMI would convey its ownership of that property and an additional 140 acres located east of Boomerang Road to the county for preservation as publicly owned open space.

Six individuals or organizations responded to an initial request for comment made by the USFS when it published an initial scoping notice in March in response to SMI’s application, according to Schutza.

Largely, “They requested that we do an EIS and we are,” she said.

Among the preliminary issues identified by the USFS are the effects that road reconstruction, maintenance and use could have on the Canada lynx, listed in 2000 as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

“That’s mapped lynx habitat,” said Schutza.

Effects to wetlands, impacts to private lands, the effects of utilities installation on wildlife and the effects that the proposed action would have on changing the character of the area have also been identified as preliminary issues.

The draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency and made available for public review this fall, after which the public will have another opportunity to comment.

The Forest Service will address relevant comments received during public review of the draft EIS, and will include those comments and the agency’s responses to them in the final EIS, which Schutza anticipated could be completed by the end of this year.

Those issues will be considered when a final decision about the proposal is made.

At this time no public meetings are planned.

“It’s important for people to bring us issues,” said Schutza.

Written comments can be mailed to Jeff Burch, Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forest, Supervisor's Office, 2250 Highway 50, Delta, CO 81416, emailed to or comments-rocky-mountain-gmug@fs.fed.us or faxed to (970) 874-6698. Telephone: (970) 874-6649.