SAM Magazine-Denver, Sept. 28, 2009-In a dramatic shift in its environmental program, Vail Resorts (VR) has joined a collaborative conservation partnership-"Treasured Landscapes: The Hayman Restoration Partnership - Working Together for Healthy Forests and Clean Water"-with the National Forest Foundation (NFF) and the USDA Forest Service, and ended its practice of buying renewable energy credits.

The Hayman project aims to restore forest health and water quality to a key ecosystem approximately 70 miles from Denver. The Hayman fire in 2002 consumed 137,760 acres in the Pike National Forest and continues to impact the water supply for more than 75 percent of Colorado residents. The total project area covers more than 115,000 thousand acres, with a focus on 45,000 acres in four key watersheds. The goal is to complete the work by 2012.

Funding from VR is the catalyst for the estimated $4-million project. "Thanks to a significant contribution by Vail Resorts, matched by the U.S. Forest Service, we are about half way to our goal of fully funding this project," said Bill Possiel, NFF president.

"The threats facing our forests require us to change the way we view and manage America's forestlands," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "The Hayman Restoration Project, spearheaded by the U.S. Forest Service, National Forest Foundation, and Vail Resorts, exemplifies our new vision of collaborative conservation, management and restoration of our nation's forests. Through private-public partnerships like this one, we can make our forests more resilient to climate change, protect water resources and improve forest health while creating jobs and generating rural wealth through recreation and tourism."

"As the largest tourism company in Colorado, Vail Resorts has a unique opportunity and obligation to protect forest health not only for year-round recreational opportunities but also for the environmental and economic vitality of our communities, our state and our country," said VR chairman and CEO Rob Katz. Protecting forest health, including wildlife, climate change and clean water issues, will be one of the company's primary environmental efforts in the future, he said, as it seeks additional ways to amplify its actions through public-private partnerships.

Those ways do not include RECs. "As a company, we remain committed to addressing climate change and are focused on energy conservation across our company. However, going forward, we intend to channel our efforts on more comprehensive projects," said Katz.

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