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Ski-resorts represent an clear extreme commercialization, privatization (and yes) motorization of our National Forests. They also represent the shape of things to come. With ski-resorts, the lands are public, but the commercial improvements are not. Leases run 40 years and for that that period the mountain is, for all intends and purposes privatized. Without motorized lifts, downhill resorts could not function --- hence they are truly commercialized, privatized and motorized.
For more than a decade the ski-industry has enjoyed a unique working arrangement with their public sector partners (the USFS), and visa-versa. To illustrate that point, here's a short quote from an extraordinary speech Under Secretary of Agriculture Jim Lyons gave in 1997:
http://www.wildwilderness.org/docs/lyons.htm
These challenges do afford us opportunities to explore new ways of doing business. Opportunities to enhance partnerships with the private sector. Opportunities to market our recreation products. And make the Forest Service "BRAND NAME" stand for high quality outdoor recreation experiences, synonymous with our mission as an agency "Caring for the Land and Serving People", and equal--in the public's eye--to the kind of quality one comes to expect out of a Coleman stove, or an REI parka, or a day at Disneyworld, or a run down one of the ski trails at Sun Valley.... My vision of the future for national forest recreation is an ambitious, and perhaps, a less traditional one. And, if we're to get there, we'll need your help.
A few months ago, Chief of the USFS Bosworth gave a very similar speech to a gathing of the National Ski Area Association. If you missed the Lyon's speech, you might read it now to better see the glidepath upon which the Forest Service has been sliding. And if you want to read for yourself the current USFS thinking, pasted below is a condensed version of Bosworth's recent presentation.
The branding of outdoor recreation and the corporate takeover of nature are processes nearing completion. I sincerely hope that given the amount of momentum they've gain in the past decade, they can still be stopped.
Here is one of the dozen or so branded logos about which Lyon's spoke. The agency's entire product line can be viewed at www.wildwilderness.org/docs/brands.htm
Scott
--- QUOTED, ALBEIT MUCH CONDENSED, FROM ORIGINAL---
http://www.fs.fed.us/news/2006/speeches/05/ski-areas.shtml
SPEECH: USDA Forest Service, Washington, D.C.
Ski Areas: Key Forest Service Partners
Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth
National Convention, National Ski Area Association
Marco Island, FL— May 23, 2006
I want to start by giving you a broad idea of our approach to national
forest management and how it’s changed over the years. I think it’s
important for you to understand where we’re coming from … the broader
issues we’re addressing today. Then I’ll turn to what we might do to
work together better to meet the needs of the people that you and we
serve together at ski areas.
Today, we’re in a whole new era. Of course, we still deliver timber
from national forest land, both to provide jobs and to meet the needs
of the American people for wood. But our primary focus has changed. Our
main focus at the Forest Service today is on ecological restoration and
outdoor recreation. What we leave on the land is more important than
what we take away.
Recreation Challenge: Making Memories
Our job, as I see it, is to make sure that people take home the
memories they come for. That includes furnishing the services they
need—the roads, the slopes, the facilities, and everything else. It
also includes furnishing reasonable access to all kinds of
opportunities for outdoor adventure, and that includes newer sports
popular with younger generations. It could include using the
infrastructure of ski areas to help meet recreational demand year-round.
Recreation Diversification
Another question has to do with the kinds of recreation we’ll be seeing
in the future. For an old fogey like me, when I think of outdoor
recreation, I think mainly of hunting, fishing, camping, hiking,
skiing, and maybe horseback riding. And it used to be—back in the Stone
Age—that was ninety to a hundred percent of what we got on national
forest land.
But not anymore. Now we get all kinds of recreation, ranging from
fairly light activities like birdwatching to strenuous sports like
mountain biking. A lot of it involves motors, like OHVs or snowmobiles
… or gadgets, like global positioning systems or all the paraphernalia
you need for caving, kayaking, hang-gliding, or rock climbing.
The lesson is clear: We have to be ready to respond to what our visitors want.
Partnerships
Another lesson from all this is that the Forest Service can’t do it
alone....In fact, we’re using partnerships to meet every one of the
restoration challenges I mentioned at the beginning of my remarks.
I want our folks in the field to know that we have got to be thinking
long-term about this. That means improving our business relationships,
our business savvy, and our ability to look at issues from a business
perspective. As an organization, we’ve got to simplify our processes to
make it easier for our partners to work with us. We’re committed to
doing that, and I think we’ve made some progress in recent years.
With respect to resources, I’ll be straight with you: Since 9/11, our
national priorities have shifted. We don’t foresee significant
increases in our budgets for years to come, and we didn’t get any for
fiscal year 2007. Overall, the President’s budget for the Forest
Service has about $182 million less in funding than the budget enacted
last year. For Recreation, Heritage, and Wilderness, we expect to see
about $10.5 million less in funding. That’s a relatively small decline
overall—about 4 percent—but it’s still a decline.
Opportunities
...as I mentioned, changing demographics are bringing new demands, and
some ski areas understandably want to create new facilities and offer
new recreation opportunities. We need to sit down together to weigh the
pros and cons on a case-by-case basis. Do we need to change? Are there
opportunities to accommodate a new set of recreational users within the
limits of the land? I want you to know that we are open to dialogue.
How can we work together to better serve our visitors in a way that
ensures your viability as a business?
Partnership Is Key
The bottom line is this: The Forest Service is going to have to rely
more on our partners. You play the most important role for the future
of outdoor recreation, and we value your expertise. We know that our
ski areas need to make a living from public land. We want your business
to be viable, and we welcome your ideas and suggestions. For the sake
of the land we care for and the people we serve, we want our
partnership to stay strong.
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- Privatization 
