Bad news. There is a thinly veiled attempt by one man to dominate all the resources on Red Mountain Pass. David Dow of Grand Junction has applied to San Juan County to build five single-family houses on five mining claims surrounding the St. Paul Lodge. He is obviously unsatisfied with the three huts he maintains in the immediate vicinity.
This de-facto sub-division (resort?) will forever change the McMillan and U.S. Basin recreational resource. Furthermore, the surface disturbance in the construction of five dwellings (i.e. roads, drives, septic systems, and foundations) is too much for the delicate substrate at timberline.
I am also concerned about the degradation of the water resources that the Red Mountain Task Force and the Animas River Stakeholders Group have been working so hard to improve for decades.
The San Juan County commissioners could vote to approve Dow’s request at their meeting on Nov. 10. Please contact them opposing this scheme or attend the hearing at the San Juan County Courthouse for this devastating proposal. Please note the county is viewing this request as if it were for an individual home building application, which it is not. As one commissioner already stated, it is a subdivision, but I am fearful his plea was falling on deaf ears.
Chris George, Sr.
Durango
Editor’s note: George is the proprietor of St. Paul Lodge on Red Mountain Pass.
