The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is reviewing public comments on a proposal that would permit the development of a private ski resort on lands overlapping valuable lynx habitat on and around Battle Mountain near Minturn, Colorado, reports the Wildlife Management Institute.

The Ginn Company, a private Florida-based real estate developer, plans to construct a luxury resort, skiing area and 1,700 housing units on recently purchased lands that include several thousand acres of mature spruce and fir forest plus shoreline along both sides of the Eagle River. The development would impact approximately 4,800 acres surrounded by the Eagles Nest and Holy Cross wilderness areas.

A notice issued by the Service in the Federal Register in November 2006 announced that, in conjunction with the Ginn Company, it would be (and currently is) gathering necessary information to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) of the proposed development site. Four species are slated to be included in the HCP?bald eagle, slender moonwort, boreal toad and lynx. Lynx were re-introduced to Colorado in 1999 and are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

Local conservation organizations contend that the development would eliminate an important wildlife corridor between the wilderness areas that provide critical habitat for lynx and other species. According to the November Federal Register notice, the Service will consider the option of granting the Ginn Company an Incidental Take Permit. Issuance of such a permit would cover any incidental lynx death associated with the construction and management of the resort, including increased traffic on Interstate 70 (I-70) and Colorado Highway 24.

"We are very concerned with how the potential increase in traffic would impact lynx and other wildlife," said Julia Kintsch, program director for the Southern Rockies Ecosystem Project. Her conservation organization currently monitors wildlife use of I-70 underpasses just north of the proposed Battle Mountain development site. Kintsch explained that the development could produce a "barrier effect"?fragmenting habitat within extant home ranges of lynx and other wide-ranging wildlife.

Possible mitigation strategies proposed for the Battle Mountain HCP include, "(1) creation of suitable winter forage habitat for lynx; (2) designing and implementing a traffic management plan to address increased vehicular traffic; (3) creating a fund for habitat protection and enhancement opportunities in the Eagle River Basin; and (4) financial support of Canada lynx reintroduction programs by the Colorado Division of Wildlife."

A draft of the EIS for the HCP will likely be available for public review sometime this spring. To examine the FWS notice of intent in the Federal Register, visit www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/EPA-IMPACT/2006/November/Day-14/i19142/htm. (mcd)