Surfrider Foundation: MAKING WAVES, 4/98, Mountain Habitat: Loved to Death


	LOVED TO DEATH Are You Riding Over the Bones of a Murdered Mountain Habitat? By Steve Barilotti Reprinted with the author's permission MAKING WAVES, April 1998

Ever see a ski resort after the spring melt? Not a pretty picture. If you need an image, just visualize Yellowstone National Park...after a nuclear holocaust.
    Without that deceiving white upholstery of groomed snow, wide swaths of bulldozed earth are laid bare, broken only by skinny islands of trees-the last shreds of the forest that once covered the slopes. The immense lift towers snaking up the mountain resemble a massive Third World electrification project. And at the base of the runs lie acres of barren, oil-stained parking lots and paved roads ringing the mountain down to the resort "village," usually a tawdry collection of garish mini-malls, crackerbox condos and Cloneburger franchises all hardwired to a sensitive alpine habitat. This is mighty nature tamed-bound up tight with a bright red rubber ball in its mouth.
    Let's face it: ski resorts don't exactly leave a light footprint on the planet.
    In the last few decades, unprecedented world-wide growth in winter sports such as snowboarding and skiing have spurred rapid development of the planet's remaining mountain wildlands. As existing resorts expand and new ones are built, we humans, as usual, are fundamentally altering natural habitat.
    Here are a few of the other problems and impacts associated with ski resorts:

Erosion/siltation: The deforestation caused by ski-run construction usually leads to severe and ongoing erosion come spring runoff. Beyond topsoil loss, this can lead to situation problems in neighboring lakes.
Species disruption/loss of habitat: When development moves into wilderness, critical plant and animal habitat is invariably displaced or destroyed. Migration routes are also heavily impacted by high-traffic roads and human perusion.
Pollution runoff/watershed impact:The cumulative impact of a large human population developing a mountain environment is huge. Pollutants such as automotive fluids, sewage and salt can contaminate ground water and lakes downstream.
Increased air pollution due to auto traffic: Most people drive their car to ski or ride. When they do they are pumping environmentally damaging hydrocarbons directly into the forests surrounding the resort. As airborne pollutants accumulate on the needles of upland conifers, the evergreens eventually weaken to a point where they succumb to insect and parasite attack.

    These problems-combined with leapfrog development, degraded views, increased litter, garbage and sewage problems, water table shrinkage due to snowmaking and cultural disruption of tribal people-have made environmentalists view large mountain resorts as ecological nightmares.
    There is a growing movement of preservationists, longtime snowpeople, and a few farsighted resort operators working to develop "low-impact" resorts. These areas will have buildings incorporating rammed-earth (in-ground) architecture that heat and cool more efficiently, low-watt power grids with energy derived from methane drawn off composting biowaste, and gray-water recycling to water landscaping.
    Some large mainstream resorts are also recognizing the need to preserve the environment they profit from. At Heavenly Valley in Lake Tahoe, the resort has spent more than $2 million on erosion control and is experimenting with a number of eco-friendly practices and projects-including a wetland restoration, a watershed study, underground catchments for parking-lot runoff and an innovative enzyme-based road treatment to keep sediments from spilling into the lake.
    So the next time you trade in a day at the beach for a day in the mountains- Keep in mind that the mountains are nature, not an amusement park and should be respected.

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