industries Association (USIA), acting as publisher. They consiitute a positive and eSective move for the ski industry.
Ski area operations people will use them for planning before entering a permitting process and as technical background for working with approval agencies. Technical staff will find them useful as a compendium of regulations and procedures.
There is a similarity in format for each volume. Each is prefaced by a short synopsis of the contents, followed by the appropriate legislation, regulation, court case or case history. This synopsis provides a complete picture of the issue at hand for quick briefings or review by senior staff. More detailed analysis will require additional sifting through the information provided. This format has an additional advantage in that updates can be easily inserted into the book. This is an important feature, because as recently as August 16, new regulations on wetlands and their definitions were announced in the Federal Register. These in turn are subject to a 60-day public review process before being promulgated. Updating a moving target will be a difficult and ongoing program, though updates for So/u-
tions for the Environment should be easier, because personnel at Utah State University will store the research and technical material, as arranged by ASF.
Each volume contains a glossary of terms and reference organizations. The glossaries are taken directly from government and private-industry publications, including the Federal Register, but are not alphabetized together. Users need to take additional care when researching a technical point.
Finally, sources for the various documents in each volume would assist the reader in making the transition from ASF/USIA writings, agency documents or Federal Register publications.
The Ski Industry and NEPA is a thorough review of NEPA, how to work with the system, what, how much and when data is required. The regulatory section of this document includes the overriding Council on Environmental Quality guidelines as well as complete NEPA procedures for the National Forests, Corps of Engineers and the Federal Highway Administration. It should be noted that each Forest Service region, Forest or District may have its own, more detailed procedures that are not discussed in this volume but are based upon the overall direction provided here.
The NEPA volume presents a list of current NEPA studies underway and copy of a newsletter (Breckenridge) dealing with the important public review process.
The Methow Valley decision is included for specific reference. Other important cases are listed but not included are Sierra Club vs Marsh 1985 (all impacts must be considered) and Friends of Endangered Species vs Jantzen (mitigation based EA’s). These are helpful references for EIS preparation.
The Ski Industry and Solutions for the Environment presents the ski industry position on caring for the physical environment as articulated by Carrie Bowers, of ASF. Through case studies, this volume collects methods of dealing with some of the most visible impacts of ski area operations. Considerable attention is paid to recycling programs and underground storage tank regulations. The reprint of the Colorado Ski Country USA report, Ski Area Interactions with Wildlife in Colorado, a Literary Review and Ski Industry Survey is very helpful in attempting to deal with emotionally based responses to ski area expansion.
Current plans for water quality/erosion control are included. These solutions would be more effective if they were taken from currently operating areas rather than proposals for new areas. Other issues including transportation, wildlife and visual impacts are referenced.
Lacking in this volume are solutions practiced by many ski areas in the socioeconomic environment, including employee housing proposals and public service activities.
The Ski Industry and Wetlands volume is the most complete of the four-volume set. Copies of the most pertinent regulations and a well done introduction characterize this volume. The complete Army Corps of Engineers document Recognizing Wetlands is incorporated. This includes the methodology required for delineating wetlands. Important points of interest from Army Corps of Engineers Regulatory Guidance letters regarding land clearing activities, water quality and lengths of time for validity of delineations are produced in their entirety.
The Memorandum of Agreement between the Corps of Engineers and Environmental Protection Agency concerning mitigation is also reproduced completely. This key document sets out the “rules” for evaluating the amounts and types of mitigation of wetland impact that may be proposed. The 404 (b) (1) alternative analysis process administered by the EPA has been left out and deserves a detailed section in the update to this volume.
ASF/USIA included key issues outline statements for each of the wetlands case laws references included in this volume. New cases are to be added (1991) as they become available.
The Ski Industry and Public Lands volume compares very favorably with the Wetlands volume. The introduction covers skiing on public lands, the economic impact of the travel industry and a comparison of various lease/permit terms on public lands. Central to this volume is the ASF paper on the Forest Service decision-making process and public participation. The case laws with citations and endnotes is a valuable tool for those involved in, or contemplating a Forest Service process. A number of appeals of Forest Service actions are included, especially East Fork Ski Area, Colorado; Mt. Shasta Ski Area, California; and Heavenly Valley Ski Area, California and Nevada.
A copy of the ski area term Special Use Permit is included in this volume. Also included is the ASF white paper on the Graduated Rate Fee Schedule (GRFS). ASF/USIA has also thoughtfully provided a Government Accounting Office (GAO) unpublished report on GRFS.
A well documented report on mineral withdrawals and case law (Methow Valley) rounds out this volume.
This set of volumes produced by ASF/USIA provides the industry with a well researched baseline for dealing with environmental and regulatory affairs. It also serves as a trail map for pro-active approaches to expansion planning. Similar documents by other recreation industries have not yet been produced. ASF and USIA have exceeded their goal of producing an educational, useful reference and guide.
