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Show Snowbosin decision upheld by the Forest Service chief The chief of the Forest Service in Washington, D.C. announced Wednesday that he is upholding an earlier decision made by Regional Forester Stan Tixier regarding regar-ding a proposal for expansion of the Snow basin Ski Area near Ogden. That earlier decision made last September would eventually allow a major expansion at Snowbasin, including in-cluding nearly 700 acres of Wasatch-Cache National Forest land at the ski area being made available for exchange. The September decision was strongly supported sup-ported by various local government agencies because of its potential to boost the local economy with the development de-velopment of a four-session resort However, that same decision received equally strong opposition from environmental interest groups wanting to protect Snowbasin from further development, and those groups appealed the decision to the Forest Service Ser-vice Chief in Washington. w While the Regional Forester's decision identified certain National Forest lands to be available for exchange, it did not decide on the specific private lands to be included in total exchange proposal. The Ogden Ranger District of the Wasatch-Cache National Forest is currently proceeding with a public involvement plan which will help determine the criteria to be used in selecting the private Forest Service permit to operate the ski area. Sun Valley Corporation received earlier approvals from the Forest Service for several significant improvements, im-provements, including the connecting road from the new Trappers Loop Highway to the ski area and the addition ad-dition of the John Paul lift. Approval of its revised Master Development Plan and final consummation of the land exchange will be the next major steps in Sun Valley Corporation's ability to develop a four-season destination resort at Snowbasin. |
