Support the Mt. Ashland Expansion Effort

Support the Mt. Ashland Expansion Effort We need your help... Help us fight a small group (50-75) of radicalized individuals intent on stopping the Mt.

Ashland Ski Expansion who won’t let facts get in the way of their efforts.

01/07/2013

January 3rd, 2013
Oregon Legal Journal

Mt. Ashland Ski Area graced with strong attendance, new expansion plan proposed

By Maya Moore- staff

Mt. Ashland received 9 inches of snow Sunday night, and a total of 93 inches in December, according to General Manager Kim Clark. “It’s a bluebird day,” he said on Sunday, referring to the clear skies and abundant snow, ideal conditions for skiers and snowboarders.

Clark added that attendance has been strong since the ski area opened on December 6th, and that the resort is “on track budget wise” as it heads into its busiest time. The regular five-day schedule has been expanded to seven days to accommodate the winter holiday from December 20th through January 7th. The ski area offers 12 groomed runs, and 22 ski runs total, as well as a terrain park, all of which is accessed by four ski lifts. The park is managed by the Mt. Ashland Association, a non-profit group composed of local Rogue Valley citizens, and the park leases land from the City of Ashland.

Due to its steeper terrain, Mt. Ashland has long been considered a venue geared for advanced skiers and snowboarders, with 78 % of terrain rated intermediate to advanced.

The Sonnet run currently rises from a 6% to an 18% grade, which is steep for beginners. The ski area has sought to change this aspect of the park through a large scale expansion plan, which was first approved by the U.S. Forest Service in 2004, that would create more beginner runs.

However, this process was stymied by a series of law suites and appeals filed by the Sierra Club and local citizen groups who expressed concerns over environmental issues and the health of the city’s water supply.

Now the Mt. Ashland Association has proposed a lower-impact plan that is much less expensive than the original, and has the intention of mitigating parking problems and “enhancing the guest experience.” Clark described the new plan at the December 18th Ashland City Council meeting, outlining a three-part effort that would add 90 parking spaces, widen some existing runs, and use the dirt fill from the parking project to reshape the Sonnet run.

The project is estimated to cost $250,000, a far cry from the estimated $3.5 million the larger project would have required; however, Clark insists the Mt. Ashland Association has not abandoned the initial plan, but wants to work within its budget to address guests’ most pressing needs.

“This is what we can afford at this time,” said Clark, “It’s not a compromise at all.”

He said donations are already coming in to fund the improvements, which could start as early as spring 2013.

12/21/2012

December 19, 2012
Vickie Aldous
By Vickie Aldous
for the Mail Tribune

ASHLAND — The Mt. Ashland Association has proposed a limited phase one expansion for the Mt. Ashland Ski Area that would cost only about $250,000 and wouldn't involve cutting new ski runs.

The association outlined its proposal for a limited phase one expansion during an Ashland City Council meeting on Tuesday night.
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Ski area wins latest round in legal battle

The work could be carried out this coming spring.

It would include adding 90 parking spaces, widening runs within the existing ski area and re-contouring the Sonnet beginner hill so that it's less steep.

"This is something we felt we could raise the money to do," said Mt. Ashland Ski Area General Manager Kim Clark in an interview on Tuesday afternoon. "We want to show our guests that we're sincere about this."

He added: "We don't want to bite off a million-dollar project. We probably couldn't do a $1 million to $2 million project by spring. These are all actions that we feel are attainable."

Clark said the Mt. Ashland Association will rely on fundraising and money from operations to fund the expansion, and will not go into debt to finance the work.

He said the association has no estimate on when it would carry out the bulk of the expansion, which would include new ski runs and chairlifts.

In 2004, the U.S. Forest Service approved the ski expansion, including a phase one plan that included new ski runs, chair lifts and the bulk of the expansion proposal.

That ambitious phase one would have cost about $3.5 million.

The expansion was held up by court battles until a judge lifted an injunction blocking expansion work in August.

Last week, attorneys for the Sierra Club, Oregon Wild and the Center for Biological Diversity filed a new lawsuit claiming the Forest Service's analysis of the expansion is outdated and doesn't consider issues such as climate change and cumulative impacts to the Ashland Watershed from the expansion and ongoing wildfire fuels thinning work.

In the lawsuit, the environmental groups said they are not opposed to widening runs in the existing ski area, building a new tubing facility with tubing facility parking, carrying out planned watershed restoration activities and several other limited improvements.

They are seeking a new injunction to block the bulk of the expansion, including the construction of new ski runs and chairlifts.

In their lawsuit, the groups did not name the expansion of the regular parking lot or the re-contouring of the beginner hill as improvements they support.

The parking lot expansion is located in the Cottonwood Creek watershed, not the Ashland Watershed, which stretches from the mountain's top down to Ashland and is the source of the town's water.

Dirt removed for the parking lot expansion would be used to re-contour the beginner's hill, Clark said.

Clark said the ski area's parking lot is too small to accommodate visitors on busy days, leading to many complaints.

Law enforcement and Oregon Department of Transportation personnel also are concerned about parking issues, he said.

Widening existing runs will improve safety by reducing congestion and will give skiers and snowboarders more room to maneuver, Clark said.

Trees will be removed to widen existing runs, he said.

In its newly presented phase one plan, the association is not proposing to do any logging for ski runs and chairlifts outside the existing ski area.

Vickie Aldous is a reporter for the Ashland Daily Tidings. She can be reached at 541-479-8199 or [email protected]

02/27/2012

If you want to receive updates from this page, just click "Like" up at the top...Thanks, Jay

02/26/2012

Letter at Length, the Daily Tidings, February 24th, 2012

Forest Service has the facts on its side

Nobody understands the terrain of the Mount Ashland ski area better than the U.S. Forest Service. The Forest Service has conducted exhaustive reviews of the proposed improvements. They did an initial review and have verified the accuracy of the work on many occasions due to the serial challenges mounted by the opposition.

The Forest Service relies on facts rather than myths and unsupported claims advanced by those who oppose the proposed improvements to the Mount Ashland ski area.

The opponents are now reduced to manufacturing "evidence" — with the hopes that an unsuspecting public will believe the "evidence" to be true by virtue of its repeated appearance. Please do not be fooled by these false claims.

Recent claims by Bill Hicks and George Badura are no more than that. Unlike Hicks and Badura, the Forest Service had personnel on the ground examining the area itself rather than relying on others' long-distance observations. Oregon's Department of Geology and Mineral Industries appears to agree with the Forest Service in the area of the improvements: Most of the deposits are glacial and not from landslides.

The opposition is now claiming features created during the last ice age are landslide deposits. Simply put, the evidence supports no such claim. The Forest Service has been supported in this finding by two federal courts. The Court of Appeals found three minor problems with the Forest Service science related to the improvements, and those three areas of concern have been addressed.

There is no landslide danger in the area of proposed improvements at Mount Ashland, nor is there any danger to Reeder Reservoir from Mount Ashland. Hicks and Badura offer no support for their claims of erosion.

The undisputed scientific evidence is that after the improvements are complete there will be less erosion to Reeder Reservoir. This is because of the extensive remediation projects Mount Ashland is bound to undertake as part of the improvements.

One is left to speculate as to why the opposition won't agree to let the Mt. Ashland Association begin the remediation projects that will improve the watershed. Rather, our opponents claim they are attempting to preserve the watershed while their actions are the exact opposite. The Sierra Club is preventing the Mt. Ashland Association from taking steps it has agreed to that will help the watershed.

Frank Rote, president, Mt. Ashland Association

Medford

02/23/2012

From the Mail Tribune Cheers and Jeers, February 16th, 2012

Jeers — to opponents of the Mount Ashland ski area expansion proposal, who continue to move the goal posts every time it appears the plan might inch forward. The latest development came in response to the U.S. Forest Service's announcement that it would seek to have a court injunction lifted, allowing the expansion project to proceed. The injunction was ordered by U.S. District Court in Medford. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2007 ordered the Medford court to leave the injunction in place while the Forest Service worked to address concerns the appeals court said it had not addressed in response to a lawsuit by the Rogue Group Sierra Club and others.

Club Chairman Tom Dimitre now says not only will his group ask that the injunction remain in place, it will raise new issues, including the effect of climate change and the economic feasibility of the project — neither of which were raised in the original lawsuit.

11/20/2011

Occupy Mount Ashland

Ski season is nearly upon us. I encourage skiers and snowboarders to "Occupy Mount Ashland" in a big show of support this season. Show our pal Eric Navickas that he and his little band of followers are irrelevant. — Frank Hoeper, Medford

10/25/2011

How long?

How long must we endure Eric Navickas, a man who seems hell-bent on nothing less than the demise of one of our most valued community resources — Mount Ashland?

Navickas has the temerity to accuse the Mt. Ashland Association of being politically divisive and irresponsible. He feigns concern for the "broader economy," yet in the same breath calls for a divisive and potentially costly boycott. He claims to speak for the community, yet he represents a small, vocal, disruptive group of radical activists.

Navickas claims he has been ignored, yet I can't think of any local politician or activist who has gained more local exposure than him.

The claims of damage to the watershed have been answered time and again. Navickas' desperate tactics have failed, as evidenced by his own admission that "the expansion project is now imminent ... it will proceed." The people of this community — who don't get tons of local media time — realize the value of a healthy Mount Ashland to our economy and quality of life. So Navickas is calling for one last desperate act — a boycott. I say it's time to show Eric the door, and support something that is long overdue.

Support Mount Ashland's expansion! — David Spear, Medford

10/20/2011

The proposed expansion doubles the size of the ski area and would cut multiple runs into the fragile headwaters of Ashland Creek, the very source of Ashland's drinking water supply. The development will unquestionably increase peak flows during flood events, escalate sedimentation to Ashland's drink...

10/07/2011

and Greg Lemhouse

10/07/2011

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (Mail Tribune 10-04-2011)
Boycott the boycotters

As a response to those that would boycott businesses that sponsor Mount Ashland as a means to economically force a failure of the expansion and quite possibly the ski area itself, I propose this:

If you feel so strongly that your cause is right, I would like to know your businesses and means of income so that I may choose to exert a similar economic pressure upon you. After all, it's my only option at this point. "We have no choice but to boycott".

Perhaps by removing as much income from the activists, they will no longer be able to afford to file one misguided and non-fact-based lawsuit after another. — Thom Kneeland, Medford

10/06/2011

It is with amusement that I read about a boycott of Mount Ashland, and it's sponsored by Eric Navickas and his little band of followers.

10/05/2011

I am getting quite a few emails (to my email account) from facebook that people “like” this page and even some great positive comments, but the emails come in as anonymized (i.e. From: Facebook update+[email protected]) so I have no way of getting back to you. Setting up a “page” in facebook is totally different from the regular “friends” facebook which most people are familiar with. So as far as I can tell, there is no email or messaging provision when using a page (this is also confirmed on their help page). So I need you to send me your email address so I can start building a network of support. Also, anyone with knowledge of pages, please let me know if I am missing something. Thanks, Jay [email protected]

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