CONSERVATION COMMUNITY, OR CONSERVATION CALAMITY?

Royal Gorge LLC's grandiose schemes threaten Donner Summit

By Kathryn Gray

The new owners of Royal Gorge Cross Country Ski Resort are submitting plans to Placer County seeking approval of a massive condominium, time-share, and housing development involving the fragile Van Norden Meadow up at Donner Summit, Serene Lakes, and the Royal Gorge Cross Country Ski area.  

Todd Foster and Kirk Syme, the new owners, are marketing their proposed development as a "conservation community".  Jason Rainey, of South Yuba River Citizens League, more aptly characterized their rash plan as a "conservation calamity".  Many homeowners and conservation activists agree that this development, if approved, will cause extreme environmental damage to the Donner  Summit area,  Serene Lakes, the South  Yuba River, and the North Fork of the American River.  Sensitive wetlands will be harmed, and the impact will undoubtedly be felt in the Onion Creek Experimental Forest preserve.

Misters Foster and Syme propose to develop, not far from the venerable and well loved Sugar Bowl Resort,  four camp-themed areas.  Summit residents, however, are not happy campers about these camps, as they view them as artificial packaging wrapped around 900 residential units, mostly time-shares and condominiums.

Ski Camp, Summit Camp, Lake Camp, and Wilderness Camp- the names are all artfully crafted to evoke memories of the childhood summer camp you may have yearned to visit.  The reality is harsher.  Ski Camp involves carving into the hill below Razorback Ridge, removing old growth trees, and putting in 30 or more condominium blocks.  Cross Country ski trails will be sacrificed for new, mediocre downhill ski trails and ski lifts.   Ski Camp will be placed in the watershed of Serene Lakes, which not only will compromise the quality of the lakes' drinking water but also will lead to flooding risks. These alpine lakes will suffer further damage if the developers are permitted to dredge the lakes' perimeters to increase water storage capacity. To meet the development's projected water needs, the lakes will be drawn down by well over 4.5 feet, leaving the eyesore of 20 to 100 feet of mud ringing the lakes in late season.

Van Norden Meadow, where Misters Foster and Syme propose to build a new (flat) cross country "Summit Camp", as they are demolishing the present Summit Camp in order  to accommodate two artificial lakes and housing, is one of the most threatened pieces of real estate in California.  Van Norden Meadow, called Summit Valley by those coming West on the arduous Emigrant Trail,  is  part of the headwaters of the South  Yuba River,  which in its lower reaches supports wild Chinook Salmon and Steelhead Trout,  both listed species on State and Federal Endangered Species Acts.  Van Norden meadow, an ecotone,  provides priceless feeding, nesting, and passage areas for many species.  The development of HWY 80, and the transcontinental railway lines impeded seasonal passage of animals.  Van Norden Meadow has up until now  offered these animals a lifeline. That lifeline soon could be a thing of the past.

Lake Camp, and Wilderness Camp are shudder-inducing nightmares.  Lake Camp proposes small, artificial  lakes blasted into hard granite plateau, interfering with natural spring drainage into the South Fork of the Yuba River.  Wilderness camp seeks to outdo Lake Camp in sheer awfulness, by  threatening the wild, scenic areas above the North Fork of the American River.  Lakes that aren't lakes and wilderness tamed: does California really need more of this phoniness  manufactured for the sole purpose of selling  time-shares, condos, and second homes?  

Donner Summit already has a real conservation community.  South Yuba River Citizens League, Sierra Watch, Sierra Club, residents, and other ad hoc groups are forming strong alliances to fight Todd Foster's and Kirk Syme's theme park condominium development.  Real conservationists seek to protect imperiled areas; developers masquerading as conservationists seek to build parking lots.

Kathryn Gray, a Serene Lakes homeowner, suggests you visit  www.saveserenelakes.org and www.savedonnersummit.org to find more information about the impact of the proposed development  to Donner Summit.