By Dan Schroeder
Breaking news from the Forest Service: Snow Basin has withdrawn its proposal to lead guided backcountry trips down all sides of Mt. Ogden.
This news would seem to confirm the view that this proposal was never a big deal to Snow Basin -- something they wanted to merely try out.
With all the public outcry (some perhaps justified, some not), they've apparently decided it isn't worth the hassle--at least for the time being.
Editor's Addendum: Special thanks also to Ogden District Ranger Chip Sibbernson for dialing up your blogmeister, and independently confirming Dan's above report within minutes of the submission of Dan's above article, and prior to its publication. Anyone who now believes that our local Forest Service Office isn't in the lumpencitizens' corner isn't paying proper attention to what we perceive to be the true facts. That's our current take, at least.
Update 1/6/09 7:00 a.m. MT: The Standard-Examiner chimes in this morning on this latest development, with this morning's information-rich Charlie Trentelman story:
• Snowbasin backs off backcountry guidesSnow Basin manager Denzel Rowland says "things were misconstrued," a predictable consequence, we think, for an application which was craftily intended to be processed and approved outside the public spotlight, devoid of ANY reliable public information.
The Salt lake Tribune has an instructive writeup too:
• Snowbasin withdraws backcountry-permit requestSo what say our gentle readers about all this?
