Tree Removal One Small Piece of Heavenly Expansion

by John Friedrich

published in the Tahoe Mountain News, April 2007

TRPA made the right decision to re-hear the extensive expansion plans of Heavenly, owned by Vail Corporation. When it was brought to TRPA’s attention that the agency violated California’s open meeting law (the Brown Act) at its February meeting, all TRPA Governing Board members – except for Mike Weber – voted for a new hearing on April 25. This will provide the public a fair and lawful opportunity to participate in the decision-making process. To their credit, Heavenly did not object.

The outcome of the April 25 hearing at TRPA will have an impact on Heavenly and the south shore for the next decade and beyond. While the fate of the old growth North Bowl stand has received the most scrutiny, Heavenly’s desire to build a new lift through the heart of that stand is but one small slice of the Resort’s overall construction plans.

While five alternative development plans were prepared for TRPA and Forest Service review, virtually all of Heavenly’s wish list is contained in each alternative. The only differences among the plan alternatives are whether the new North Bowl lift(s) will go through or around an old growth tree stand, and the size of the amphitheater planned for the top of the Gondola area (1100 or 2500 seats).

Otherwise, all alternatives under consideration would allow a 20% increase in construction footprint over what exists today on the steep, fragile slopes that drain down into Lake Tahoe. In this light, it stands to reason that each alternative meets or exceeds Heavenly’s overall objectives in the Master Plan update. Further, it’s not as if requiring Heavenly to select a lift alternative to bypass the North Bowl stand, while still allowing the vast majority of their plans, will make or break Vail Corporation -- which recently reported a 23% increase in profits over the 2^nd quarter profits in the previous year.

Heavenly already has more lifts than any other Resort operating with the Tahoe area, and bills itself as having the “one of the largest snowmaking systems in the world, and certainly the largest in the West.” All alternatives for additional construction include:

• More than 125 acres of acres of ski runs and lifts, 67 acres beyond what was approved in the 1996 Master Plan.

• 45 new or expanded ski runs

• 29.6 acres of additional snowmaking

• 2 large new lodges

• A 120 unit residential complex at the Stagecoach parking lot

• 2 expanded lodge decks, a redeveloped lodge, skier services building, 1100 seat amphitheater, zip line, expanded maintenance shop, and more.

At a time when environmental scientists have determined that pollutants must be reduced by 35% to restore Lake Tahoe’s clarity, the extent of new planned construction at Heavenly presents a substantial environmental risk, regardless of which alternative is selected.

Despite concerns with the scope of Heavenly’s intended expansion, the Tahoe environmental community invested considerable time over the last 18 months not to stop Heavenly’s plans, but to make them better. Working collaboratively with Heavenly, the Forest Service, TRPA, and ski area erosion control specialist Michael Hogan, the environmental monitoring, mitigation and enforcement plan was strengthened.

But mitigation is not the right strategy for the whole mountain. In the most ecologically sensitive areas, such as the degraded and still recovering Edgewood Creek watershed where the North Bowl stand is located, avoiding or minimizing new impacts is the best strategy. Due to past degradation, TRPA has a current prohibition against new disturbance in the Edgewood Creek watershed that must be lifted before any lift or ski run alternatives can be adopted.

In addition, TRPA has strong protections on its books for old growth trees, which the agency defines as 24” diameter or greater for trees on the east side of the Basin, such as the North Bowl trees. To remove trees greater than 24” diameter for any project, including the 104 that would come out for the North Bowl Express Lift, TRPA must conclude that it is “necessary” for recreation activity, that the proposed action represents the “minimum removal” of trees, and that no “feasible” alternatives are available that avoid or minimize disturbance. It’s hard to make these findings when there are two viable alternatives available that accomplish Heavenly’s objective of moving skiers and boarders up the North Bowl faster, while sparing the old growth North Bowl stand.

Alternative 5 would upgrade the existing North Bowl and Olympic lifts with faster lifts in the current alignments, reducing the amount of new construction on currently undisturbed land in the Edgewood Creek– think of it as the redevelopment option. This alternative also includes a ski run alternative that goes around the stand. These lift and run choices would reduce the number of old growth acres to be cut and disturbed by 4.5 acres, and reduce the overall footprint of new disturbance in Edgewood Creek by about 225,000 square feet (the area to be cleared for the proposed lift).

Alternative 4A, the angled lift alternative prepared in response to an outpouring from the public, would also bypass the North Bowl late seral/old growth stand. A high-speed lift would replace the existing North Bowl lift, then angle from the North Bowl top station to the top of the existing Olympic lift.

Top TRPA staff have asserted that Alternative 4, which includes the lift through the old growth stand, would offset the cutting of old growth trees with greater watershed benefits than alternatives 4A or 5. However, the Environmental Impact Statement prepared for the project does not support this conclusion. Neither does the Environmental Protection Agency, which stated in a letter sent to the Forest Service on Feb. 26, “Because Alternative 4A and 5 are the least environmentally damaging of the alternatives considered, EPA recommends the selection of one of these alternatives as the preferred alternative.”

Check out the facts for yourself, and plan to speak out at the April 25 hearing at TRPA’s office.