Stop tree clearing and ski expansion in San Bernardino National Forest
Big Bear Mountain Resort Master Development Plan Projects
U.S. Forest Service· San Bernardino National Forest, Mountaintop Ranger DistrictU.S. Forest Service project page ↗
Forest ServiceWe track this on the agency’s own system of record, where most on-the-ground decisions live.
The groups on this fight
4 groups work California
By footprint, from the same match the STAND matchmaker runs; none is linked to this decision in our record yet. Give straight to them; nothing routes through us.
- California Wilderness Coalition
Works California: spent years building the designation campaign with Tribal nations and now defends the monument as an intervenor in federal court.
- Friends of the Desert Mountains
Works California: coachella Valley land conservancy that helped establish Sand to Snow and worked with The Wildlands Conservancy on acquisitions inside the monument footprint..
- Friends of the Inyo
Works California: runs the Eastern Sierra opposition to the gold exploration projects around the Bodie Wilderness Study Area and hosts the Bodie Hills Conservation Partnership's donation and newsletter operations..
- Los Padres ForestWatch
Works California: has led opposition to oil drilling in the Los Padres region for two decades and is fighting the plan to reopen 400,000 acres to leasing.
Every group above is on STAND for Public Lands, with its court record, its filings and who backs it.
The Forest Service plans to approve permanent ski resort expansion that requires clearing trees on public land.
What’s at risk
Trees, wildlife habitat, and undeveloped terrain in the San Bernardino National Forest face permanent loss. The project would clear forest, grade slopes, and install infrastructure to expand and connect two private ski resorts on public land.
If this goes through
Once approved, the expansion permanently alters the national forest with new lifts, trails, roads, a snowmaking pond, and a ski bridge connecting the two resorts.
Our plain-English read of the official notice ↗. Check it against the agency’s own words below.
4 holes in the agency’s own analysis
What the public could have raised, from the agency’s own document
- I oppose this action as proposed, and I ask the agency to weigh the specific harms below.
- I oppose expanding the special use permit boundaries to connect Bear Mountain and Snow Summit, which would permanently enlarge the resort's footprint on the San Bernardino National Forest.
- The plan requires clearing trees across the San Bernardino National Forest, and I urge the Forest Service to reject this logging component of the Master Development Plan.
- Installing two new lifts, snowmaking lines, a snowmaking pond, and a ski bridge will industrialize public national forest land that should remain protected for all users.
- This project includes a Forest Plan amendment, meaning it changes the foundational rules governing the San Bernardino National Forest, and I object to weakening those protections for a private resort expansion.
Show all 6 points from the document
- Say something only you can say. The law requires the agency to consider and respond to substantive comments, and specifics are what make a comment substantive.
In the agency’s own words
Expand and connect Bear Mountain and Snow Summit SUP boundaries; grade trails and terminals; tree clearing; install two lifts, ski trails, beginner pod and connector, snowmaking lines and pond, summer activities, road, and ski bridge.
The reporting behind this
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The administration went looking for a sliver of Yosemite for a private developer and finally convinced the rest of public-lands world that if Yosemite is negotiable, nothing is safe.
More actions that need you
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