Salt Lake City, UT – U.S. Forest Service officials in Salt Lake City today announced that the government entity has denied Solitude Mountain Resort’s request to expand lift-served ski and snowboard terrain onto adjacent land in Silver Fork, a side canyon to Utah’s Big Cottonwood Canyon.nFerebee indicated that Solitude’s plan to relocate the Honeycomb lift and add a new lift to access 182 acres on the east side of Silver Fork is inconsistent with the 2003 Forest Plan for Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, which specifically allocated Silver Fork to provide for watershed protection and undeveloped recreational opportunities, including backcountry skiing for which the drainage is popular. As a result, Ferebee concluded that Solitude’s proposed expansion would not be in the public interest.

“Solitude’s expansion proposal did not meet several of the screening criteria,” said Brian Ferebee, Supervisor of the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest. “That said, the Forest will continue to work with Solitude as an important provider of alpine skiing opportunities on National Forest System lands within Big Cottonwood Canyon.”

“We’re disappointed,” Solitude spokesperson Nick Como acknowledged this afternoon. Ski resort owner Dave DeSeelhorst did not return calls seeking comment.

This past spring, Solitude’s reduced its permit request to expand resort skiing into Silver Fork Canyon, from the 462 additional acres first proposed in May 2009, to 182 by eliminating resort skiing on the western side of Silver Fork, already home popular backcountry ski routes including the Meadows Chutes. A 100-foot buffer zone along the creek was suggested to assuage water quality concerns.

“We’re giving up some fantastic skiing,” DeSeelhorst was quoted as saying by the Salt Lake City Tribune last April, referring to the reduced acreage in the revised proposal. “We recognize the need for divergent recreation opportunities. This plan is well thought-out and will accommodate everyone’s needs.”

DeSeelhorst asked that the U.S. Forest Service put the resort’s proposal to a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process with public involvement. NEPA prescribes a process by which a formal proposal is reviewed, objective studies are prepared and public comment is sought. It allows those in favor of, opposed to, and wanting to know more about the proposal to review the facts and weigh in.

With this week’s decision, however, the Forest Service rejected that request, finding that Solitude’s proposal failed to pass its pre-NEPA screening procedures. “When we accept a proposal it can go on to the NEPA process, but since it didn’t meet the screening criteria and we rejected it, it doesn’t go to the NEPA process,” U.S. Forest Service District Ranger Cathy Kahlow explained on Thursday.

The recreation special uses screening criteria is applied to proposals that facilitate the use of National Forest System lands for recreation opportunities by private entities.

Environmental organizations, including the Wasatch Mountain Club and Save Our Canyons, disagreed with Solitude’s proposal as well. “While it is a smaller proposal, a significant amount of public lands are still being affected and will be lost to the public. We could go on an on why this is still a horrible idea,” Save Our Canyons published on its website this past spring.

Kahlow added that there are no avenues for Solitude to appeal the Forest Service decision. “It’s not an appealable decision,” she said, adding, “They’re always welcome like any permitee to talk to us about any other proposals they might have. If an entity wants to submit a proposal, we’ll review it in light of the screening criteria that we use.”

Kahlow’s comments echoed those of Ferebee. “While the screening criteria remains constant,” he stressed. “Every special use proposal is evaluated individually and on its own merit.”