SAM Magazine-Boise, Idaho, July 5, 2011-Bank of America (BoA) is proceeding with its plan to remove and sell two Tamarack Resort lifts. The move could make it more difficult to find a buyer for the bankrupt resort. One lift provides access for homeowners, the second serves terrain on the resort's northern boundary.

BoA is filing the necessary paperwork with the state after the resort defaulted on its lease payments. State approval is required because some of the lifts are on state land.

Homeowners in the Tamarack Municipal Association, which operated the resort last winter, are fighting the plan in county court. A hearing is set for July 14; TMA hopes to get a public airing of Bank of America's plans. The group has also pledged to force BoA into a permitting process.

Matthew Hutcheson, who led a group that offered $40 million for the resort last year, also tried to postpone the lift work or render it unnecessary, but his negotiations with BoA were unsuccessful. He has said that if BoA proceeds with its plan and his group eventually wins control of Tamarack, it would replace the lifts.

While it's possible that BoA could obtain swift legal approval to remove the lifts, the past season's record snowfall may delay the actual process. It could be some time before the ground around the lift towers is dry enough to allow the work to occur.

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