We don’t have 24 square miles to lose. Twenty-four square miles is nearly equivalent to 16,000 acres, which is the expansion we’re talking about.

For reasons I can only speculate, Silverton Mountain’s heli-ski operators somehow think it’s acceptable to share terrain with backcountry skiers, Nordic skiers, snowshoe folk and people whose dogs think they deserve a good winter walk with a view like we do.

What could possible go wrong? Do I need to answer that?

Silverton Mountain’s co-owner, Aaron Brill, was quoted as saying “the town of Silverton is overwhelmingly in support of this project” (Herald, Nov. 23). How can that be? The Bureau of Land Management received 230 letters during the scoping period in July 2015, and strangely, only 35 of those were in support of the proposal, though many of those were form letters.

So is this how Brill knows that the town of Silverton is overwhelming in support of this proposal? Or does he think that if he says it, people will believe it? I know that works in a lot of arenas, but it also requires that people not think for themselves. I think the readers of this newspaper are of a different breed; they don’t believe everything they read.

Brill also said, “We’re essentially giving up terrain where people would hear noise, and moving to an area that sees a lot less use.” Boy! He’ll say whatever he needs to, won’t he? What I think he intended to say was: We want to leave a remote area which hasn’t generated one bit of user conflict, and in exchange, and we want to fly to areas that are heavily used by several user groups. And incidentally, we need to use explosives to make the terrain above you and your demanding dog safe for our clients. I wish this was an exaggeration.

One last note: Is it safe to assume that if Silverton Mountain’s heli-ski operation is “absolutely critical to have” then this must also indicate a success with the operation, which currently operates in areas that are appropriately far away? Must be good skiing.

The public comment period ends Monday. Submit a letter, “with substance” to: blm_co_gfo_nepa_comments@blm.gov

Jared Boyd

Silverton