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Ski Area
to Add 50 Runs and Seeks Park Land for Condos |
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Downhill skiers will find 30 new runs when Granite Peak Ski Area opens this season and can expect about 20 more runs the following winter, the owner said Monday. Charles Skinner Jr. said the expansion is progressing quickly, which he said is good news for skiers and for nearby businesses that benefit from the tourism. But environmentalists say it’s destroying the hill’s ecosystem, and many came to a four-hour public meeting Monday in Wausau to voice their concerns. Granite Peak already clear-cut 29 acres for the 30 new runs on the east side of Rib Mountain, and it plans to clear another 29 acres for the west-side expansion. Critics also questioned the state Department of Natural Resources’ unprecedented plan to sell or swap state park land to Skinner so that he can build rental lodging near the ski runs. The development would include one central building of 60 to 70 upscale rooms and about 15 double-unit cabins for families and larger groups. Dawn Narron, 75, wants all the expansion to stop. “I want them to get the heck out of there,” Narron, a town of Texas resident, said in a telephone interview before the DNR held the public meeting at the University of Wisconsin Marathon County. “They shouldn’t be tearing the mountain up. The mountain belongs to the people. The (DNR) is putting money into the pockets of investors and the guy (Skinner) putting it up.” Skinner, a Duluth resident who also operates Lutsen Mountain north of Duluth, signed a 30-year lease with the state to operate the Rib Mountain ski hill owned by the DNR. Skinner secured $7 million last summer from several sources, including a team of nine local banks. Without the expansion, downhill skiing would have no future in Rib Mountain, he said. Granite Peak must also offer lodging to survive long-term, Skinner said. “I wouldn’t do it if it weren’t necessary for the ski area,” he said. “But it’s necessary for the park’s survival in the decades to come.” Dave Daniels, northern region parks and recreation specialist for the DNR, said Skinner has come up with funding that previous owners could not generate. “It has been fallow for a long time,” Daniels said. DNR officials said they probably would swap land with Skinner, instead of selling property, because they want to keep the park at its current 412 acres. The state already has helped Skinner by buying 40 acres for about $140,000 to allow for the ski hill’s west-side addition. Skinner wants 20 acres at the base of the hill on which to build the rental units, Daniels said. The state would want 20 acres of equal value in return. The deal requires federal approval, said Tom Watkins, a DNR official in Madison. “Whenever you change the park boundaries, (the federal government) gets involved in the review and approval,” Watkins said. The public will be kept involved in the process, DNR officials said. “But the important thing is that at this point there is no decision at hand regarding the land trade or sale,” Watkins said. The current lease places land value at about $5,000 an acre at Rib Mountain State Park. The land will be reassessed and appraised to determine its current value. Dennis Holzem, 53, town of Weston, supports Skinner’s expansion plans and said he understands the need for rental lodging. “It’s high time that we make something out of Rib Mountain State Park,” said Holzem, who skied there about 80 times last season. “I sometimes wonder if (rental units) are really necessary, but I have to trust the business end of it,” he said. “Seeing how poorly used the ski hill is during the week, rental units could solve that problem.” “That ski area is probably the single biggest tourist draw for the whole Wausau area,” said Roger Jolly, 52. “I’m totally in favor of utilizing whatever space (Skinner) needs to make the hill even more attractive to skiers and snowboarders.” Tony Schultz, 21, of Athens opposes Skinner’s upgrades. “I’m concerned about the environmental devastation and the declining water quality and the fact that they can pump water from the river (to make snow),” Schultz said. “This is a public land being manipulated by a guy with money. I’m just amazed that so many people are willing to defend this guy’s profits.” “The DNR has been entrusted to protect our public properties and have done us a disservice by even thinking of selling or trading lands for private development,” said Al Opall, a Rib Mountain resident and member of Save Our Mountain Environment. Opall said he’s not against skiing or improvements on the hill, but he is against additional development that would eat up state park land. Skinner can make improvements within the existing property to make a living on the ski hill, Opall said. Wisconsin Green Party member Donna Krause of Wausau agrees. “We’re letting a private business make a profit off state lands,” Krause said. “It’s putting money into Skinner’s pockets, not the community’s.” |
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