Dear Editor,

There is increased interest in wetland restoration and beaver reintroduction in the Boulder Creek watershed. Ecological restoration could be a part of Nederland purchasing the ski area. Beavers were once present in the Peterson Lake/Lake Eldora basin. Some of us in the Nederland area used to enjoy seeing the beavers of Peterson Lake swim at dusk.

But the beaver are gone as they were viewed to be in conflict with the ski area's water storage and supply system. Making beaver and snow-making systems compatible should be a part of managing a sustainable ski area in this day and age. 

Over 30 acres of wetlands were filled to make the main parking area in the 1960s - one of the largest wetland fills in Boulder County. Wetlands were not viewed with much value back then. It would be good if some or all of these wetland losses could be mitigated somewhere in the upper Boulder Creek watershed.

Potential public projects on the montane parklands of Middle and South Boulder creeks could provide an opportunity for wetland restoration. The Boulder Watershed Collective could be interested in helping with these projects. 

It appears that there is interest to explore increased summer use at the ski area - biking and hiking use of the cross-country ski trails and maybe public land access to Jenny Creek and the Indian Peaks - put that big parking lot up there to use over the summer.

But a current ecological benefit of the ski area having limited summer activities is that it functions as good Spring through Fall habitat for large to mid-sized animals. Few people are present throughout the property during these months. The Nederland landscape has a fairly mature summer recreation scene - Indian Peaks Wilderness, West Magnolia, Magnolia Trails, Caribou Ranch Open Space, Hessie and Fourth of July, Mud Lake, Caribou Townsite, Rainbow Lakes, Sourdough Trail, and James Creek Wilderness.

Is opening the ski area for summer use going to shift and possibly reduce recreation levels in other parts of the landscape? Or will it just bring more people to the area for recreation? If there is any reduction in use to other recreation sites, is it not likely that this will only be short-lived as the Front Range population continues to grow?

The return of night skiing has been mentioned. The community of Eldora lived through a period of night skiing in the earlier days of the ski area. The night lights of the ski area would light up the valley, especially on cloudy nights. Should the ski area go back to night skiing? Or should we have a "dark skies" ski area? Night lighting makes it difficult for nocturnal animals, such as owls, to hunt at night.

In closing, I wonder if there is a way to have a truly sustainable ski area. Ski areas are actively working to achieve carbon footprint sustainability (which Powdr has been good at). But ski areas are not as good in minimizing the expansion of their physical footprint - each physical expansion results in unmitigated habitat loss. Maybe there is an opportunity here to create a fully sustainable ski resort.

Dave Hallock

Eldora