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Alpenblogger 2007/2008
Gillette washes hands of
Alpental.
Conservationists win!
Billionaire George
Gillette has appeared to have backed away from having any interest
in Alpental or developing it. Last year Booth Creek Ski
Holdings Inc., (of which Gillette is CEO) sold the ski
concession to Florida based CNL
Income Properties Inc.; a company commonly referred to as a
"Real
Estate Investment Trust." After the sale to CNL,
Booth Creek continued to lease, and therefore reap the
profits for the operation of the area. What has happened now,
is Crystal Montain's parent company Boyne USA Resorts, has
replaced Booth Creek, as the client of CNL which
manages the ski business. Among CNL's other
properties are:
Bretton Woods, Brighton, Cyprus Mountain, Loon
Mountain, Northstar and Sierra at Tahoe, Sugarloaf, Sunday River, as
well as more golf courses that ski areas, several marinas, and
amusement parks.
Master Development Plan pushed back as
ownership of ski concession changes.
The Knoll One area
however, is still in danger of being developed based on
what the US Forest Service decides in its Record of Decision on the
plan. The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS)
still has to be released and go through the scrutiny of public
comment process, and is currently scheduled to be released in March
2008, unless it is pushed back further . It should have been
out by now, but with over 1500 comments submitted by the public on
the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) it is taking some
time. This is good news for conservationists and the valley
who both won big this last year with the Sierra Club and
others, convincing Booth Creek (the previous owner of
Alpental) not to develop the fragile environment at the top of Denny
Mountain with a gondola, restaurant, and "nature
trail." Before the DEIS had even been released, the
proposal to build a large maintenance shop on the headwaters of the South
Fork Snoqualmie river was defeated.
Alpental skiers largely do not want these
things, nor do they want their beloved backcountry turned into
in-bounds skiing with the addition of the still proposed "Internationale"
chairlift. This would change the classic character of runs
such as "Gunbarrel," "Roxoff," and "Rockface,"
as well as putting more novice and intermediate skiers in more
dangerous and exposed places. To comment on the proposed new
lift please contact Sean Wetterberg swetterberg@fs.fed.us
at the USFS.
upcoming features:
SE Group has "special
relationship" with both Boyne USA Resorts, and US Forest
Service.
Even though the ski area
ownership has technically changed, SE Group wants to continue
the development plan they wrote and reviewed for Alpental, just like
they did at Crystal. More to come!
USFS has no records of land use fees collected
by private security contractor in Lot 3.
Stay tuned in for updated
information pending a current investigation concerning what happened
to the money collected in lot 3 the past two seasons. We will
be posting receipts and signatures.
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