The state's recent land-use decisions for newly acquired Catskills forestland strike a good compromise between environmental and economic concerns, balancing stakeholder interests in a sensitive way.
The lands adjoin the Belleayre Mountain Ski Center, and the acquisition is part of a deal with developer Crossroads Ventures, which wants to build a large, private, luxury ski resort on the mountaintop above the ski center. The state Department of Environmental Conservation's decisions on the proposed resort and related issues of expanding and upgrading the ski center are still pending, and they're the big ones, with substantial environmental and economic impacts for the region.
But so far, so good. The DEC set land-use classifications for most of the 1,200 forest acres, including 300 acres in Lost Clove to be kept pristine "wilderness" with no encroachment other than activities like hiking, hunting and fishing. Some 630 acres on Belleayre Mountain will be "wild forest," allowing low-impact alterations for recreational uses like preserving old logging roads and building trails for mountain bikes, cross-country skiers, strollers and wheelchairs. We're waiting to hear if the remaining 270 acres will all be approved for "intensive use," which may be somewhat more than we need.
But, overall, the DEC found an admirable compromise between conflicting stakeholder demands, like the Town of Shandaken's wanting all 1,200 acres to be "intensive use" vs. the Natural Resources Defense Council wanting all "wilderness." DEC's decisions balance environmental protections with economic considerations. They protect habitats and viewsheds while allowing the kind of sustainable recreational uses that are the backbone of the regional economy, attracting visitors and boosting economic development.
Let's hope this spirit of judicious compromise DEC has shown also guides its decisions about expanding the ski center and permitting the proposed resort. A balanced approach could benefit the region economically while protecting it environmentally.
But the "full build-out" scenario for the resort that Crossroads has insisted on is far from balanced. It's too high up, and, at 629 rooms, too big. Crossroad's consultant admitted the resort, at that size, was only "marginally feasible" economically, and that was before the 2008 downturn. Analysis shows such a resort couldn't meet operating projections. Instead of attracting enough new visitors to benefit the local economy, it would be a net loss — pulling existing customers from other local businesses and costing municipal governments more in services than it paid in taxes.
The mountaintop site Crossroads wants for the resort would require the state to spend public money to buy the old Highmount Ski Center and build long, expensive lifts to link to it. Building at such high elevation on steep slopes with thin soils would also cause erosion and other impacts and aggravate flooding in hamlets already hit hard by extreme weather.
These aren't the best options for Belleayre's future. There are others. DEC's draft unit management plan for Belleayre envisioned alternatives, including lower-build approaches that don't involve expensive new lands and lifts, consistent with a smaller resort of about 300 rooms. At that scale, growth could be both economically beneficial and environmentally manageable.
DEC should consider such a compromise seriously as it works through thousands of public comments on the Crossroads project and weighs the big decisions on upgrading the ski center and issuing permits for the resort. A more appropriately sited and scaled version of the project would be a better way to balance diverse stakeholder interests and a better fit with the ski center's existing strengths and mission as a public, affordable, family-centered ski facility.
Kathy Nolan is the chair of the Catskill HeritageAlliance, www.catskillheritage.org, a grassroots organization dedicated to preserving the harmony between people and wilderness in the central Catskills.