The Forest Service now will publicly review alternatives for developing a park at Sweetwater Lake managed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
Scott Fitzwilliams
Posted inOutdoors
An Alaska law. A Colorado road. A lawsuit argues those two do not belong together.
Environmental groups sue to overturn Forest Service approval of a road across public land accessing a planned luxury community above Edwards
Posted inNews
White River National Forest approves access road to proposed 19-home Berlaimont Estates community above Eagle River Valley
In his final decision, Forest Supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams said federal laws require “adequate access” for “reasonable use” of private land despite “long-term impacts to wildlife habitat and recreation” from the road to the controversial Berlaimont Estates.
Posted inOutdoors
Sweetwater residents warn federal, state officials they are ready to fight plans for Colorado’s 43rd state park
A group of Sweetwater residents tasked with helping the Forest Service and Colorado Parks and Wildlife craft a plan for the first-of-its-kind state park at Sweetwater Lake ask “are you truly listening?”
Posted inOutdoors
Colorado’s White River is the country’s busiest national forest, with a $1.6B impact. But can it keep it up?
“The answer here is not another lane on 70,” forest chief Scott Fitzwilliams says as he plans robust community discussions on the future of White River
Posted inBusiness
After a 14-year wait, developers sue Forest Service to get answer on whether they can build luxury homes above Vail Valley
The developers behind the 19-home Berlaimont Estates plan want to build a road on federal land to reach their planned 680-acre mountaintop community
Posted inNews
Forest Service OKs Vail Resorts plan to restore Keystone tundra. But expanded terrain’s opening will be delayed.
The U.S. Forest Service is allowing Vail Resorts to continue building a new lift at Keystone after the company submitted a plan to repair tundra damaged by a temporary road that extended beyond permitting boundaries. But the monthlong delay in construction will prevent the resort from opening new terrain in Bergman Bowl by this winter. White […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors
Forest Service halts new Keystone chairlift after resort mistakenly builds road in protected tundra
The U.S. Forest Service has halted construction of a new lift in Keystone after the resort mistakenly built a temporary road in protected alpine tundra. Keystone has Forest Service permission to build a road to the bottom of its new Bergman Bowl chairlift and a temporary road higher in the bowl to access lift towers. […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors
Why the Forest Service did not take all the water rights when it acquired Sweetwater Lake, Colorado’s newest state park
SWEETWATER LAKE — When the U.S. Forest Service acquired Sweetwater Lake in 2021, the agency did not pick up all the water rights associated with the property that is slated for development as Colorado’s newest state park. The Conservation Fund, which acquired the property in 2020, retained water rights that did not transfer over when […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors
Plan to shutter buildings surrounding Colorado’s Sweetwater Lake has locals wondering if it was better off in private hands
SWEETWATER — “Don’t look up, OK?” Adrienne Brink is showing off the kitchen of the lodge at Sweetwater Lake Resort. For nearly 40 years she has used the lakeside log cabin with cinder block additions as a headquarters for AJ Brink outfitters, guiding thousands of hunters and horseback riders into the Flat Tops Wilderness. She’s […]