Lutsen Mountain Corporation’s (LMC) expansion plan is wrong for the North Shore. Expansion onto public lands is not in the public interest and is out of step with industry trends. . Overall Alpine Ski participation is on a steady long-term decline while the sectors of Freestyle and Backcountry Skiing are showing sustained growth. Increasing our intermediate alpine terrain will not increase visitor traffic to our area. . Our area, limited by its vertical feet and natural annual snowfall, will never be able to compete with large destination mountain resorts such as Vail and Breckenridge. Instead, our services and ticket pricing should be competitive with the likes of Red Lodge, Bridger Bowl and Mt. Bohemia. . Recent infrastructure improvements by LMC have so far failed to attract the projected increase in winter visitors. Instead, increased lift ticket prices have impaired our area’s ability to remain competitive with similar resorts. Expansion onto public lands pre-empts existing and future public uses. . The current proposal would effectively take away access to public lands that have been deer hunted by Minnesotans for generations. Early season snowmaking and downhill skiing are not compatible with the deer hunting rifle or muzzleloader seasons. . The current proposal would also pre-empt a rare Midwest backcountry skiing resource for private gain. Moose and Eagle Mountains are home to some of the best public backcountry skiing terrain in the Midwest, and a private corporation should not be allowed to take it for pennies on the dollar. . Moose Mountain is one of the most prominent geological landscape features in the state of Minnesota. An increase in light and noise pollution, especially from snowmaking, grooming and maintenance, would negatively impact other current area uses, such as hiking on the Superior Hiking Trail, vistas on Oberg Mountain and near Lake Agnes, and cross country skiing at the Oberg Mountain trailhead. . Moose and Eagle Mountains are home to limited, biologically unique northern hardwood forest stands that contain some of the most northerly sugar maple trees in the country. Many of these stands would be clear-cut for this expansion. . LMC was very slow in taking responsibility for impairing the lower Poplar River and are still using public funds to offset their own costs in cleaning up the river. They have not proven themselves responsible enough to be entrusted with any more public resources.
Superior Highland Backcountry is a group of backcountry skiers dedicated to preserving and expanding backcountry opportunities and public access along the North Shore and is opposed to LMC’s current expansion plan. We are offering an alternative proposal that we believe addresses the concerns of economic viability and environmental footprint while also being more in touch with industry trends.
Rory Scoles, owner of
Lutsen Recreation, Inc.
signed the letter,
which was in collaboration
with members of the
Superior Highland
Backcountry organization.
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