Developments on Green Mountain

Proposed rezoning of ski area near Encampment latest in decades long pursuit of winter recreation

Editor’s note: This is the first in a series on the Green Mountain ski area.

When Brush Creek Ranch purchased the Green Mountain Ski Area in June 2019, many residents in Encampment and Riverside assumed, or perhaps feared, the luxury resort would develop the 620-acre property.

A public notice in the June 16 Saratoga Sun seemed to confirm those assumptions with the announcement of a public hearing on July 12 for a zone change from residential to a planned unit development (PUD). Along with the zone change, the PUD included 16 residential lots , each 35 acres or more in size, which owner Bruce White would be able to either gift or sell.

Green Mountain at Brush Creek Ranch, as it is referred to in the PUD, is just the latest in developments from the all-inclusive ranch resort. In recent years, Brush Creek Ranch has developed and revealed additions to their amenities such as The Farm at Brush Creek Ranch, the Cheyenne Club and French Creek Outfitters.

It is also the latest development in a more than 30 year saga which has played out at Section 36, Township 14 North, Range 85 West.

A Lot of Potential

The potential of Green Mountain as a ski area goes back to the 1960s, when the United States Forest Service (USFS) prepared a list of potential ski mountains. Section 36 at Green Mountain was identified as having “good ski potential” according to a zoning amendment application submitted in 2001.

Nearly three decades later, in 1988, the Green Mountain Recreation Committee was formed to “study and promote ski development on Green Mountain”. The committee was composed of, among others, Michael Parrie, then of Saratoga, and Richard “Dick” Lorenz of Encampment.

While it was determined the area had “tremendous ski potential”, the economic attraction to private investors was in doubt and a one percent sales tax was proposed to fund ski development on Green Mountain along with other recreational activities in Carbon County.

The initiative failed to pass in 1990 and the Green Mountain Recreation Committee was disbanded shortly thereafter.

It wasn’t until seven years later, in 1997, the potential of a ski area on Green Mountain was picked up again. Encampment resident Pat Lynch, a former USFS employee and owner of Western Heritage Company, obtained a permit from the State of Wyoming to continue studying ski development.

Historically, Section 36 and Section 16 of every township in Wyoming was deeded to the State in 1890 upon attaining statehood for the purpose of public school revenue and Section 36 on Green Mountain was no different.

In 1998, 10 years after the formation of the former Green Mountain Recreation Committee, Lynch “concluded the feasibility of a ski development on Green Mountain depended upon the existence of privately owned base-area land” and the development of homes and other facilities.

Lynch would eventually form Green Mountain Development Company, LLC with the purpose of developing a ski area on Green Mountain.

He would purchase Section 23 in Township 17 North, Range 78 West. The 640 acre parcel, west of Centennial, would eventually be offered in a land swap with the State of Wyoming.

We’ll Trade You

The State of Wyoming was certainly not opposed to the idea of the land swap and scheduled a public hearing for January 19, 2000. The Fireman’s Hall, which once sat north of the Saratoga Volunteer Fire Department’s firehouse, served as the setting for the hearing. In between the announcement of the hearing and the hearing itself, opposition began to come forward in the form of a petition which garnered nearly 50 signatures.

In many cases, the reason for the opposition was as varied as the people who were against the land swap. The late Slim Patzer expressed his concern at the time about the State of Wyoming being the “big loser” in the swap and cited considerations which included, among other things, the Willow Creek watershed. Additionally, the potential development of Green Mountain had Patzer worried “We’ll be taxed out of our homes.”

“I see this as a degeneration of this place, the headwaters of another Vail or Jackson,” said World War II veteran Hank Werner in the January 12, 2000 Saratoga Sun. “I see no real advantage to the Valley, myself personally.”

In a letter to the editor, Rocky Greenwood, now former co-owner of Riverside Garage and Cabins, wrote “If this land swap is allowed, and the school section on Green Mountain becomes private land and is developed, it would mean the beginning of the end of this special place.” He added the swap and potential development of Green Mountain could threaten the “elbow room” enjoyed by locals and returning tourists.

While the land swap, and the ski area itself, had its detractors it also had its supporters. These included Teense Willford, former House District 47 Representative. Willford, according to a January 19, 2000 Sun article, had spoken with the State Lands Board directly on behalf of Lynch.

“It looks like a good exchange, comparable value for value,” said Willford. “I think it’s a win-win situation and I’m supporting him whether it works or not.”

Other supporters included Robert “R.G”. Finney, owner of the Spirit West Lodge in Riverside. Additionally, Bob Herring, who at the time served as mayor of Encampment, expressed “cautious optimism” about the project and Mark Rauterkus, who served on the Encampment Town Council at the time, voiced his concern about a “downward spiral” of the schools if the area did not find a way to diversify.

Swap Approved and Contested

Nearly five months after the public hearing held in Saratoga, the Wyoming Board of Land Commissioners approved the land swap on May 11, 2000. Even then, the swap was met with opposition and concerns. Chief among those was an estimate by State Forester Tom Ostermann that the Green Mountain property had $613,200 more usable timber than the private land.

Almost immediately after the approval of the land swap, those in opposition tried to contest it. Doug Boykin, who lived in Encampment at the time, was one of the more vocal residents opposed to the swap and accused the State Land Board of “giving away school assets”.

When Doug Boykin, and his father Carl, filed their appeal in the First Judicial District Court, they challenged the ruling on the ground that state statute required a value-for-value exchange. Ostermann’s estimate that Green Mountain was worth $613,200 more than the private land appeared to be central to the Boykins’ appeal with Doug claiming the valuation was off by more than $6,000.

While not included in the appeal, Boykin later cited the Wyoming Constitution in an interview with the Sun in regards to how state lands must be disposed of.

According to Article 18, Section One of the Wyoming Constitution, lands granted to the State of Wyoming for educational purposes “shall be disposed of only at a public auction to the highest responsible bidder, after having been duly appraised by the land commissioners, at not less than three-fourths the appraised value thereof, and for not less than $10 per acre”.

As the Boykins and their supporters hoped to make their case in district court, the potential development of Green Mountain moved along. Lynch, through Green Mountain Development Company, would partner with Sand Creek, the Ranch Preservation Company, LLC and a group of individual Wyoming investors—who were never named in print—to form the Grand Encampment Mountain Resort LLC (GEMR).

With the formation of GEMR, site analysis and master planning of the project began. A critical step for the group, however, was rezoning the 620-acre parcel from open range to residential.

See future editions of the Saratoga Sun for more on the Green Mountain ski area.

 

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