Proposed improvements at Heavenly released

The U.S. Forest Service has released their draft decision for proposed improvements to existing skiing and snowboarding terrain at Heavenly Mountain Resort. Much of the work will be done on runs outside of the Lake Tahoe Basin boundary.

Those proposed improvements would include selective widening of ski trails, removing trail obstacles and relocation and/or realignment of some portions of existing snowmaking air and water pipelines to improve user experience, maintain user safety, increase energy and water efficiency, and maintain native species.

Ski trail widening to reduce bottlenecks and improve skier flow, would include tree removal and selective boulder relocation on approximately 12 trails, with grading required in two locations to match the widened area to the grade of the existing trail. Due to the widening, any existing snowmaking lines would be relocated to the new edge of the trail. Removal of obstacles, such as boulders, stumps and logs, would take place on 11 trails to improve natural snow surface coverage.

The proposal to remove trail obstacles was addressed in the Heavenly Ski Resort Master Plan and includes protection of native plants and revegetation, removal of invasive plants, chipping of large woody debris and existing felled trees, stump grinding, and boulder height reduction. There are also plans in place to monitor native species in the area during the work period.

Project work could begin as early as spring/summer 2018.

For the full document: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/ltbmu/landmanagement/projects/?cid=fseprd537866.

Objections may only be submitted by those who previously commented during the initial public within 45 days following the publication of the legal notice on Feb. 7, 2018.