Submit your comment on Telluride Ski Resort's Improvements Project!
Recently, the Draft Environmental Assessment for Telluride Ski Resort’s Improvement Project was publicly released. All together, the project is large and varied in scope: its components include replacing the aging Lifts 7 and Lift 8, creating an alternate egress called the Jaws Skiway below Lift 9, widening the Galloping Goose trail, transforming the current High Camp Warming Hut into a full restaurant, creating a new bike trail near Lift 4, and conducting extensive logging on multiple areas of the resort, including the front side near the proposed Jaws Skiway, around the top of Lift 10, and at the top of Lift 12.
Much of the proposed logging will be taking place in primary suitable lynx habitat. These incredible creatures rely on fluffy, untracked snow, dead and down trees for cover and hunting their favorite prey, (the snowshoe hare), and limited human presence to thrive. Within the already-disturbed area of the Telluride Ski Resort, additional logging will further disrupt lynx habitat. The EA even admits that some of the primary suitable habitat will become unsuitable habitat due to the actions in this project.
This project is varied and diverse, and Sheep Mountain Alliance sees the necessity for aspects of the project to take place, such as the upgrades to Lifts 7 and 8 for safety reasons. However, other aspects of the project go beyond Telski’s current capacity. A few concerns we have are:
An additional full-service restaurant upgrade is being proposed despite the lack of progress made on the Giuseppies project due to failure to correctly permit the project
Disturbing primary suitable lynx habitat is a big deal, especially when lynx are already existing in a primarily recreational environment. We are seriously concerned about the amount of logging proposed. Please see below for specific details you can add to your comment in opposition of additional logging.
In the summer of 2026, Telluride Ski Resort isn’t opening their bike park. We are wondering why they would be putting effort into creating a new bike trail if their bike park does not appear to be an operational priority.
As members of our community, we encourage you to use your voice! Submitting a public comment is easy. Check out these resources!
Here is the link to the PROJECT PAGE. If you are interested in learning more about the project, all of the draft documents are available here.
Here is a link to SUBMIT YOUR COMMENT! Comments are due Monday, May 11 - so time is of the essence!
See below for some additional talking points. If any of these resonate with you, please feel free to include them in your comment. The more specific your comments are, the better!
Lynx and logging talking points:
The project describes “glading” as removing dead and dying trees, but creating ski glades would likely require cutting many healthy trees to make skiable paths.
The public has not been given enough information about:
where logging equipment would travel,
where logs would be processed,
how soil damage would be prevented,
how leftover slash would be managed, or
whether newly cleared areas would become unofficial ski runs.
Areas cleared for fuel reduction would likely attract skiers because open glades are easier to ski through. This would further deteriorate lynx habitat.
The analysis assumes forests in treated areas will naturally grow back and continue functioning as wildlife habitat, but maintaining ski glades would require repeatedly removing young trees to keep runs open.
Ski traffic and heavy logging equipment could compact snow and soil, making it harder for trees to regrow.
At high elevations, forests regenerate slowly, especially for species like Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir.
Even if trees regrow, it could take decades before they provide the dense cover needed by snowshoe hare and Canada lynx.
Removing trees and understory vegetation reduces the dense horizontal cover that snowshoe hares rely on for protection from predators.
Because lynx depend heavily on snowshoe hares for food, reducing hare habitat also harms lynx habitat.
Scientific guidance from the Interagency Lynx Biology Team states that dense understory vegetation and high stem density are critical for supporting snowshoe hare and lynx populations.
Wetlands talking points:
Wetlands in the project area should be fully avoided during glading and tethered logging operations.
The Wetland Technical Memo assumes impacts from glading would only be temporary, but that may not be accurate - if glading occurs, it could open these areas as skiing terrain.
Skiers and snowboarders using new glades would repeatedly compact snow over wetlands.
Compacted snow can melt later in the spring, shortening the growing season for wetland plants.
Delayed snowmelt may also delay greening and flowering of wetland vegetation and reduce important wetland functions over time.
Because the wetlands identified in the project area are relatively small and limited in extent, it should be feasible to avoid them entirely during vegetation management activities.
Thank you for using your voice to engage in this relevant community update! Please don’t forget - you can submit your comment HERE by Monday, May 11.