Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley Base-to-Base Gondola Project Draft EIS/EIR released

Squaw Valley, Calif. April 27, 2018 – The U.S. Forest Service and Placer County have released the draft Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadows Base-to-Base Gondola Project Environmental Impact Report (EIR)/ Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The draft EIS/ EIR is now available online at:

https://www.squawalpinegondola-eis.com  https://www.placer.ca.gov/departments/communitydevelopment/envcoordsvcs/eir/squawvalleygondolaproject.

Squaw Valley Ski Holdings, LLC. has proposed a base-to-base gondola project connecting Alpine Meadows and Squaw Valley ski areas including two mid-stations, multiple towers along the alignment, and eight Gazex avalanche mitigation exploders to be installed within the Alpine Meadows Ski Area boundary.

The draft EIS/ EIR has been prepared by the U.S. Forest Service and Placer County in accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act and the California Environmental Quality Act, respectively.

Three action alternatives are analyzed in detail within the draft EIS/ EIR. A No-Action alternative has been analyzed as well.

The notice of availability initiates a 45-day public comment period for the draft EIS/ EIR, which begins on April 27, 2018. Specific information regarding the comment period can be found within the draft EIS/ EIR.

Two public meetings are scheduled during the 45-day comment period; A U.S. Forest Service open house meeting will be held on May 22, 2018, and a Placer County Planning Commission meeting will be held on May 24, 2018. The public is invited to attend both of these events; however, formal public comments will only be recorded at the May 24, 2018 planning commission meeting. Specific locations and times are listed below:

Forest Service Open House Tuesday, May 22, 2018, 3:00-7:00 p.m. Truckee Ranger District Office 10811 Stockrest Springs Rd., Truckee, CA 96161

Placer County Planning Commission Thursday, May 24, 2018, 10:00 a.m. North Tahoe Events Center 8318 North Lake Blvd., Kings Beach, CA 96143

For additional information, please contact Joe Flannery, U.S. Forest Service, Tahoe National Forest, 631 Coyote Street, Nevada City, CA, 95959, email jflannery@fs.fed.us; and/ or Heather Beckman, Placer County Planning Services Division, 775 North Lake Boulevard, Tahoe City, CA 96165, email HBeckman@placer.ca.gov.

For more information about the Tahoe National Forest, go to www.fs.usda.gov/tahoe. Join the conversation by following us on Twitter at twitter.com/Tahoe_NF and Facebook at www.facebook.com/TahoeNF.