Photo Credit: people.tribe
Back in July we reported on a federal bill that was introduced to help expand summer uses at ski resorts. Remember? It was the same bill that also technically outlawed snowboarding on public lands. Well, after being on the table for several years the bill has finally cleared the U.S. House of Representatives.
The bill is known as H.R. 765, aka, the Ski Area Recreational Opportunity Enhancement Act of 2011. What the bill does is it amends the the National Forest Ski Area Permit Act of 1986 to legally allow activities beyond skiing to take place on ski resorts, during the off-season, that are also managed as public lands. These other uses are pretty obvious and have been happening for some time at ski reorts during the summer, but to make sure it’s actually a focus and an “allowable” thing, activities like concerts, mountain coasters, zip lines, alpine slides and mountain biking will now be legal.
U.S. Representative Mark Udall, a democrat from Colorado has been leading the charge. He recently shared, “My bill would help the mountain communities create jobs and boost their economies while creating more recreational opportunities for Coloradans to visit the mountains.” “It’s time for the Senate to follow the House’s lead and pass my bill on the floor.”
The whole issues stems back to ski resorts actually being allowed to permit such off-season activities like those discussed above. These uses are not clearly defined by what’s included in the 1986 law….either is snowboarding!
Now it goes to the U.S. Senate for consideration, but really one of the bigger questions has yet to be fully answered: is snowboarding legal yet on public lands or what? According to the old law it is not, and since this bill still must pass the Senate, that technically means snowboarding on public lands “remains” illegal!!! If you can think of a more appropriate word than ridiculous, please fire away!!!!
Photo Credit: llstudents.org