major ski resort threatens wild national forest area

[montana500]

www.wilderness-sportsman.com


see: November 8, 2005 Montana: Ski resort threatens nations top habitat.


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On September 9th and 10th 1805, after traveling down the Bitterroot River, the Lewis and Clark Expedition camped at Travelers Rest in the shadow of Lolo Peak. On September 11th while traveling up present-day Lolo Creek, Lewis wrote in his journal “the mountains on the left high & covered with snow.” Lolo Peak (9,096' elev.), now Missoula Montana's loftiest landmark dominates the high peaks at the northern boundary of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness and looks today much as it did 200 years ago.

A massive ski resort development billed as the largest in North America (A ski area twice the size of Big Mountain in Whitefish, MT.) is being proposed for the public lands surrounding Lolo Peak. The proposed development of a full-service “village” with high-end shops, 2200 exclusive housing units, ice skating rink and a golf course is just 3 miles from historic sites at Travelers Rest State Park and the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail and would forever blemish the historic view from the adjacent Lolo Trail. "