On Snowbird Ski & Summer Resort's Web site, founder and chairman Dick Bass's biographical page starts off with a quote:
"My overarching dream for Snowbird is the creation of an environmentally sensitive, responsible year-round mountain resort which is inspired by the beauty and magnificence of this breathtaking alpine setting. ..."
Ironic isn't it, said Sierra Club Alaska activist Emily Fehrenbacher, that Bass is now a major figure in a proposal to develop a strip mine on a sensitive Alaskan river and to ship its coal to foreign power plants where she argues its burning will exacerbate global warming to the detriment of the ski industry.
"I'm here to ask Dick Bass to have that same dream for Alaska," Fehrenbacher said Thursday at a news conference and sparsely attended rally at Library Square in downtown Salt Lake City.
About 50 people, including event organizers, were in attendance for the unveiling of a Web site dedicated to convincing Bass to dump the Chuitna River coal project -- www.nobasscoal.org -- and to reallocate his resources to renewable-energy projects.
Otherwise, warned professional snowboarder Forrest Searers, Utah's famed powder days "will be no more. Our children's children won't be able to enjoy the snow as we do. I want to ride with my kids and grandkids."
Bass was not available to respond.
Snowbird spokesman Jared Ishkanian said the resort "is one of owner Dick Bass's diverse business interests, each of which operates independently. It is not appropriate for Snowbird to comment on Mister Bass' investments beyond those pertaining to our resort."
He added that resort officials are proud of their environmental record in the 38 years since Snowbird opened in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Ishkanian noted that Snowbird received a "Golden Eagle Award" in 2007 for cleaning up an old mine site in American Fork Canyon and that the resort financially supports a number of organizations that "protect the local environment and help ensure healthy recreation" in the canyon.
Clair Jones, a Sierra Club representative in Utah, said her group is not calling for a boycott of Snowbird -- although a couple of rally participants said they no longer will buy lift tickets there.
"We feel it is more effective to focus on Dick Bass, who is investing in this mine," she said.
PacRim Coal LLC initiated permitting process in 1995 with the Alaska Division of Mining, Land and Water. Environmental, permitting and engineering work continues.
The project involves 20,000-square-acre strip mine along Chuitna River, on the north side of Cook Inlet, about 45 miles west of Anchorage.
With proven reserves of 771 million tons, the mine is projected to produce 3 million to 12 million tons of coal annually.
Plan includes development of a coal export terminal on Cook Inlet, connected to the mine site by a 12 mile covered conveyor.
