Gondola project connecting Squaw Valley to Alpine Meadows clears major environmental hurdle
Squaw Valley and Alpine Meadow have reached an agreement with a local environmental protection group, clearing the way for construction of a base-to-base gondola between the two Tahoe-area ski resorts as the conservationists have agreed to drop a lawsuit filed against the project last year.
Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows, the twin resort properties, formally announced the agreement with the Granite Chief Wilderness Protection League in a news release Wednesday morning.
Granite Chief Wilderness sued Placer County last September after the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the project last July. That lawsuit, also against the U.S. Forest Service, had been filed under the California Environmental Quality Act, and “challenged the adequacy of the environmental analysis and the County Board of Supervisor’s decision to approve the project,” Wednesday’s statement said.
The environmental league had been particularly concerned about protections to the habitat of the Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog, an endangered species.
In the agreement, detailed in Wednesday’s joint news release, Squaw Alpine pledged to conserve about 27 acres of the resorts’ combined 6,000 acres of private property as a potential habitat for the yellow-legged frog; agreed to funding that includes study and habitat restoration for the species; and accepted operational limits intended to cut down on noise pollution and other impacts, including a closing date for the gondola of no later than April 30 each year.
“We are very happy to have worked collaboratively with the League to address their concerns so that resources could be directed to environmentally beneficial purposes, rather than funding an extended lawsuit,” Ron Cohen, president and chief operating officer of Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows, said in a prepared statement. “We are eager to get going on this game-changing transportation project. We thank the League for its productive approach to resolving the dispute.”
Squaw Alpine spokeswoman Liesl Hepburn said in an emailed statement that there is not yet an estimated start date for construction on the gondola. But the agreement with Granite Chief Wilderness, which comes weeks after the Tahoe National Forest gave its official approval of the project, represents the passing of one the last major hurdles holding up the project.
According to a fact sheet, the planned gondola will feature cabins holding eight passengers with a terminal at each base, two “mid-stations,” 33 lift towers and the ability to transport 1,400 riders an hour. The 2.2-mile gondola ride would take about 16 minutes to convey guests from the bottom of Squaw Valley to the bottom of Alpine Meadows, according to resort officials.
The gondola project, which has been in the works by the resort properties and county officials for years, is expected to take about 2½ months to complete from the start of construction, the fact sheet says.
This story was originally published February 5, 2020 at 9:14 AM.
