Mt. Ashland turns down mediation offer

Aug. 7 likely date for district court hearing

By Robert Plain
Ashland Daily Tidings

The Mt. Ashland Ski Area board of directors has rejected a request from the Sierra Club and other environmentalists to enter into mediation on expansion plans. With mediation now off the table, the controversial expansion plans, which would add new ski runs at lower elevations across the Middle Branch of Ashland Creek, will likely be heard in a Medford district court on Aug. 7.

“Based on advice from our legal counsel we believe this matter will shortly be resolved in the federal district court through the legal process you initiated,” Bill Little, president of the Mt. Ashland Association Board of Directors, said in an e-mail to Tom Dimitre, executive director of the local chapter of the Sierra Club, one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit seeking to stop the expansion.

Little said he could not expand on this, because of the pending legal matters. Both sides have said they will prevail in court.

The Sierra Club, Oregon Natural Resources Council and Ashland resident Eric Navickas, the plaintiffs in a suit charging that the expansion plans should not have been approved by the US Forest Service, offered to enter into mediation as a way to protect Ashland’s drinking water, keep lift tickets more affordable and address the rift in the community the expansion plans have caused.

While some in the Rogue Valley believe expanding Mt. Ashland is the only way to keep the business competitive, others believe to do so at the expense of Ashland’s drinking water is unwarranted.

“As you know, the community has long been divided over the proposed expansion into the Middle Branch,” Dimitre wrote in a letter to the MAA board. “Mediation could lead to preserving the water quality for the City of Ashland’s municipal watershed.”

In a press release, Dimitre said he is “disappointed” Mt. Ashland did not want to come to the table for mediation.

“A compromise could have reigned in lift ticket prices and helped keep skiing affordable for everyone. We believe the Community Alternative or something similar could have provided the beginning runs they desire at a cost much less than the $17 million that MAA has quoted for the proposed expansion.”

The community alternative was proposed during the period when the forest service was debating approval for the expansion. Proposed by Headwaters, it allowed for additional ski slopes but avoided the Middle Branch.

Staff writer Robert Plain can be reached at 482-3456 x. 226 or bplain@dailytidings.com.