Colorado wilderness may expand where planned ski resort failed

The U. S. Congress is currently considering a proposal to retain a section of wilderness near Steamboat Springs where several investors, over the course of 50 years, hoped and tried - and failed - to build a ski resort.

A bill to expand the Sarvis Creek Wilderness to its original form was introduced by Rep. Joe Neguse and Sens. Michael Bennett and John Hickenlooper in March. It awaits a hearing in the House's Committee on Natural Resources.

What's been set aside since the 1970s is a 6,817-acre stretch along the Green and Harrison Creeks. The area, called Pleasant Valley, was first targeted by local developers making their own pitch to host the 1976 Winter Olympics at the site.

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Colorado residents eventually voted down the idea of hosting the Olympics. But that didn't stop the developers, who forged ahead with their plans to create a ski area about seven miles south of Steamboat.

The venture buckled years later in its early stages. One of the first goals of the project was to construct a dam on the Yampa River. It created Lake Catamount. But the build went badly over budget (two and a half times its original estimate) and past deadline (double the planned 18-month duration). The developers cut their losses. A bank took over to finish the dam, but the remainder of the project languished.

Years later in the 1980s, another investment group stepped in and purchased the project.

Meanwhile, Congress passed the Colorado Wilderness Act of 1993 . This legislation created 19 wilderness areas across the state, including the Mount Zirkel, Weminuche, Uncompaghre, Lost Creek and Sangre de Cristo wildernesses.

The small part of Pleasant Valley was still exempted from the larger wilderness designation, recognized and set aside by the U.S. Forest Service and Routt County planners for the expected ski resort.

This latest one was another ambitious plan, too. The developers sought a four-season resort, like Aspen or Keystone, with three distinct villages, 3,756 dwelling units, two lodges, 1,000 hotel rooms, a 12,000-square-foot conference center, a 27-hole golf course, a marina, and a world-class ski area with 2,800 acres of skiable terrain.

This time, the financial backing faltered. The ski area project was put on haitus.

The area around Lake Catamount did develop . It now hosts dozens of residential lots, some with multi-million dollar homes. There are cabins alongside a commercial lodge with an 18-hole golf course.

But the land once tabbed for ski areas could now move from a recreation classification and join the rest of the Sarvis Creek Wilderness.

"The Routt County Commissioners are very pleased to see the introduction of the Sarvis Creek Wilderness Completion Act into the United States Congress," stated Commissioner Tim Corrigan in a press release . "This expansion fulfills the original vision for the Sarvis Creek Wilderness and will work to preserve an intact primitive ecosystem."

The U.S. Forest Service and Lake Catamount management are said to be negotiating responsibilities of wildfire mitigation and a possible 1,000-foot-wide buffer zone between the edge of the Sarvis Creek Wilderness and the development's boundary.