THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Friday, October 29,1999 -- VAIL, Colo. -- Town officials and business owners are angry about an Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) decision they say will send 1,500 logging trucks through the resort town's narrow streets in the next
several summers.
They say the decision, which is meant to protect less than an acre of wetlands, will endanger residents and visitors,
dirty the air, damage roads and drive summer tourists away.
"The EPA's arrogance is very unsettling. They're making wetlands more important than people. And they are
punishing the people for a mistake by Vail Resorts. Vail Resorts will just pass the cost on," said Mayor Rob
Ford. "How could they make this decision without even consulting us?"
Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., sent the EPA a letter Thursday, demanding that they meet with town officials.
EPA spokeswoman Jody Ostendorf said: "There's no room for public comment in the early stages of an enforcement
action. All we're concerned about is that the wetland is restored and protected. We're just responsible for our
mandates."
She said the Forest Service must decide how to deal with getting the logs out.
Last week, the EPA closed a temporary access road being used by Vail Resorts to remove logs from a new skiing area
it is opening behind Vail Mountain. The road inadvertently was built through less than an acre of wetlands, violating
the federal Clean Water Act.
That leaves Vail Resorts with one main route to remove the logs, the existing road over Vail Mountain, which begins
near the middle of this mostly pedestrian village. If that happens, the popular road would be tied up for several
summers, pitting hikers and mountain bikers against tons of heavy machinery.
It also is scheduled to be the route for the World Mountain Biking Championships in 2001.
"The summer season has saved our bacon the last two years" when snowfall was below normal and skier numbers
dropped, said Town Manager Bob McLaurin.
Steve Sheridan, owner of a ski shop, said the decision "could kill us. First, two bad snow years while competition
for skiers has become cutthroat, and then arson fires on our mountain. We cannot take much more."
In October 1998, eco-terrorists claimed responsibility for fires that caused $12 million in damage on Vail Mountain.
The groups said the planned ski expansion land should be preserved as habitat for the lynx, which is listed as
endangered by the state.
The U.S. Forest Service, on whose land Vail operates, says it will hold hearings on how to deal with removing the
logs.