Middle Boulder Creek Enhancement

As a skier, one of the finest things is gliding down powder snow, effortlessly making turns on what seems like a feather bed. It's a feeling of absolute freedom and it's one of the best ways to connect with nature and wild places, both on the planet and in ourselves. 

Truth is though, without those wild places, skiing wouldn't be the same. Perhaps you've seen indoor ski areas in Dubai and such. Sure, it's sliding down snow, but it's not the same - it lacks soul. 

As skiers we're exposed to beautiful places. The same is true for snowboarders, snowshoers, hikers, mountain bikers, fishermen and women and anybody who enjoys getting out into the big world and exploring. 

When you spend a lot of time out there, you grow to love it.  And sometimes you get to the point where your love of an area supersedes the activity itself...six more turns aren't worth destroying a forest over. 

That's essentially what we have here. Eldora wants to expand beyond it's current boundaries to the very banks of Middle Boulder Creek and the Hessie Trailhead. There are a number of reasons why this is a bad idea. 

First off, Boulder Creek is really nice here. It's a great place to start a hike, catch a trout or just sit in the forest on a hot summer day. In the winter, these woods offer a nice respite for the cross country skier and snowshoer. It's a peaceful place. Building a bridge, adding a couple of lifts, cutting down parts of a forest and adding machinery will ruin a good part of that peace.

The construction process is going to be a bit nightmarish for the town of Eldora. Logging trucks will be crossing through town, helicopters will be flying over head with lift towers and the constant roar of machinery will be prevelant for a couple years. Those folks who live there didn't sign up for that and they don't deserve it. 

Hessie is a extremely popular trailhead for the Indian Peaks Wilderness. Wilderness is the key word here...people are looking for that wild experience. Why would we compromise that by bringing the ski resort literally right down to where those folks are going to start their adventure in the mountains?

The shady part of this whole deal is the fact that at public meetings opinions were by-and-large opposed to the expansion. The Boulder County Commissioners - who by design the Forest Service is supposed to work with - opposed the part of the plan that included the Middle Boulder Creek expansion. And yet, in the final draft released on March 17, 2015, the U.S. Forest Service ignored that feedback. They essentially gave the resort exactly what they wanted. 

Beyond being bad for the environment, this is sketchy politics. When the needs and requests of the people are ignored, we essentially have lost a free society...the public, the everyday person is now taken out of the process. 

As such, we need a good lawyer. Public comments will help, but as we've already seen they are not that powerful. Unfortunately, Eldora has a lot of money and most of us don't have as much. That's the reason for this gofundme campaign. 

Donations to the gofundme campaign will go directly to the Middle Boulder Creek Coalition (of which the Sierra Club is a member), the group leading the fight against the Eldora expansion. They have hired an environmental consultant to analyze the Draft decision issued by the Forest Service. Once the analysis is complete, they will decide if we are going to file a formal objection to the decision. MBCC has some funds, but need to raise $1200 to cover the consultant's fee. Every dollar you contribute will go to the consultant's fees. 

This can work. The same exact thing happened at Brainard Lake years ago, during the same part of the process. The Forest Service wanted to build enhanced structures but public outcry was so strong that the plan got nixed in the 23rd hour. Thats what we need here...a ground swell of support to overwhelm the decision makers. 

Beyond this, we have a change.org campaign, phone numbers to call and things you can do to help. We even have cool t-shirts and stickers, from which all the proceeds also go to this legal fund.

Thank you in advance and thanks for fighting the fight. As the Lorax said, "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."