Friends of Lolo Peak is a citizens' group of local residents and businesses, hikers, hunters, anglers and skiers dedicated to protecting the outstanding natural integrity, scenic values, and traditional uses of the Lolo Peak area for future generations. The group came together over shared concerns that the proposed Bitterroot Resort (a 4-season, 12,000-acre destination resort billed as the largest in North America) would permanently alter public land, local lifestyles, wildlife populations and habitat, opportunities for hunting/angling/recreation, and a sustainable water supply for the Bitterroot Valley.

Friends of Lolo Peak does not oppose the development of Tom Maclay's private land for resort activities. We focus strictly on potential impacts to the public land of the Lolo Peak area.

Please contact us at lolo_peak@yahoo.com with any questions. Download the Petition to Keep Lolo Peak Wild >>

The following list provides an example of the concerns raised by our members:

• The massive scale of the proposed resort will drastically alter local lifestyles, especially those enjoyed by rural residents of the Bitterroot Valley;
  
  
• The project demands large amounts of water for its snow making and resort community. Though some water rights are privately owned, others come from the Lolo acquifer, Carlton Lake and Little Carlton Lake;
  
  
• The project will impact water quality and native fisheries;
  
  
• The resort will increase pressure on the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness;
  
  
• The Bitterroot Resort proposes to develop 12,000 acres of public land on the Lolo and Bitterroot National Forests. This acreage includes nearly 7,000 acres of Inventoried Roadless land and the 16,000-acre Lolo Creek Inventoried Roadless Area, 920 acres of which is designated as the Carlton Ridge Research Natural Area (RNA). A RNA is described by the Forest Service as a place containing unique plant or animal communities that provide unmatched opportunities for research. The Carlton Ridge RNA contains a rare, natural hybridization of western and alpine larch - many of the trees are said to be upwards of 700 years old!;
  
  
• Resort development will decrease access to, and the quality of, hunting areas currently used by locals;
  
  
• The project exploits undeveloped public land to wring maximum real estate profit from adjacent private land, only benefiting a few;
  
  
• Resort development will decrease access to, and the quality of, recreational pursuits like hiking, horseback riding and backcountry skiing;
  
  
• The resort will price locals out of the area, may support a resort tax, and would leave residents holding the bill for infrastructure improvements needed to address sharp increases in population and traffic;
  
  
• The resort will provide few economically viable jobs, while the vast majority will be seasonal, minimum wage positions. There is no assurance that local contractors will be used in the initial development stage;
  
  
• The resort will force locally-owned ski areas out of business;
  
  
• The resort will destroy the scenic qualities of Lolo Peak, an historic landmark for Missoula and the Bitterroot Valley; and
  
  
• Development of this scale will greatly alter existing wildlife habitat, including crucial winter habitat for elk.