Hypocrisy at its highest
Dear Editor:
This letter addresses two controversies within Delta County. The first one is the ongoing disagreement concerning the Bear Ranch Land Exchange.
Most of the disagreement comes from those who use the "Bear Ranch Cadillac access road maintained by Bear Ranch. These users do not want to give up that easy access and instead use the seasonal access road.
At the same time, these same people support the Roadless Rule, wilderness acts, etc. and that puzzles me — you'd think the supporters of these "road rules" would want to close off that Bear Ranch Cadillac access and happily use the seasonal road! Right?
The people who use the Bear Ranch Cadillac access road travel to one of the prettiest pristine ecosystems in Colorado and ignore the fact that using the seasonal road will reduce user impact on this ecosystem. They stand for one ideology and act out another.
The second controversy in Delta County is this: Which industry produces the most pollution? The DCI's "Letters to the Editor" section reads all "hail and brimstone" on the coal and oil industry as the worst polluters in the entire universe.
That is fallacy. The #1 polluter of ALL managed lands is ski areas. The carbon footprint of a ski area is HUGE. From stream water depletion to complete ecosystem obliteration, ski areas are #1. Clearing of trees, changing of wildlife and vegetation habitats, and oh, here's a good one — altering watersheds. Transportation for skiers to get there, maintenance of the mountain & facilities (mowing, snowmaking, trail grooming, heated buildings), and unlike oil rigs or coal mines, these ski area ecosystems can never be reclaimed. NEVER.
So the next time you are riding on a coal-fired electric ski-lift wearing your petroleum based skis/boards and looking out at the beautiful but obliterated ecosystem through your polycarbonate, polarized, TLT carbonic sunglasses, remember — you are #1.
It's all hypocrisy at its highest.
Cynthia Hansen
Delta