jchristenson@blm.gov<\/a>.<\/p>\nSome community members quickly expressed fears that the proposal would limit locals\u2019 access to highly prized backcountry ski terrain in exchange for expensive heli-skiing that might attract tourists.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is public land, but it\u2019s just being given to (Aaron) Brill for his own private use,\u201d Nicole Bellman, a property manager in the Silverton area, said of ski-area owner Aaron Brill, who owns the mountain with his wife, Jen Brill. \u201cThe land that he\u2019s requesting is some of the best, secure, accessible lines in San Juan County.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Brills did not return calls left by The Durango Herald seeking comment about the proposal.<\/p>\n
The request to the BLM was made on behalf of Silverton Guides, the arm of Silverton Mountain that provides heli-skiing adventures. Connie Clementson, field manager for the BLM\u2019s Tres Rios Field Office, said there is no proposed increase in authorized use. The owners have simply proposed a change in terrain.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe BLM has received a request from Silverton Guides for a change in authorized terrain to provide more diversity in the skier experience and opportunity,\u201d Clementson said. \u201cWe are looking forward to hearing from the community on this proposal-modification in the existing authorized use.\u201d<\/p>\n
The request would diversify heli-terrain within the Alpine Triangle, a so-called \u201cspecial recreation management area,\u201d made up of more than 150,000 acres managed by the BLM.<\/p>\n
Silverton Mountain\u2019s base \u2013 situated off County Road 110 \u2013 would be directly across from terrain under consideration. The new areas would include small patches to the south, west and north of the base area. The biggest swath would be southeast of the base area on the east side of County Road 2. It would run about six miles north-south and six miles east-west.<\/p>\n
The terrain is currently entirely above tree line, though the request would include terrain below tree line. The BLM said no tree-cutting would be required.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe purpose and need for the action is to provide an increased opportunity for a high-quality, diverse and challenging recreational experience,\u201d the BLM notice says of the request.<\/p>\n
But the Brills may have to navigate a maze of concerned neighbors and environmentalists. It is not the first time they have had to wrestle with the community. When they launched plans for Silverton Mountain in the early 2000s, the Brills faced lawsuits.<\/p>\n
Skiers love the area, as it is one of the most extreme ski mountains in North America, with glorious soft powder. With only one chairlift, only advanced skiers use this high alpine environment. It is the highest ski area in North America, with a peak of 13,487 feet.<\/p>\n
Jimbo Buickerood, public lands coordinator for the San Juan Citizens Alliance, raised concerns with the BLM\u2019s process.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe BLM\u2019s outreach per the project is slow, shoddy and incomplete,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Buickerood pointed out that the BLM\u2019s notice only left two weeks for public comments.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is what I would characterize as extremely poor public outreach and a ridiculously short scoping period,\u201d Buickerood said.<\/p>\n
Bellman said attracting skiers to the area does not outweigh locals having access to public lands.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor what?\u201d she asked. \u201cHe\u2019s increasing tourism but totally defacing our mountains that we are living here for. At this point, it\u2019s not about the tourism.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Neighbors worry about closing public lands<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":110975,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6328,6313],"tags":[13,327,1792],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-110974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports-2-more-sports","category-sports-2","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-silverton","tag-snow-sports"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110974"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110974\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110974"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=110974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}