Vail Resorts Inc.’s announcement that it would offset 100 percent of its energy use with wind power, making it the largest corporate purchaser of wind power in the nation, comes just months after receiving a “D” for its environmental practices in the Ski Area Citizens Coalition’s 2005-2006 environmental scorecard.
Among the reasons Vail received the low grade: for cutting down old-growth trees when upgrading chairlifts, pushing to expand artificial snowmaking, and opposing the Clinton Administration’s proposal to protect roadless areas.
Earlier this year, Colorado Wild and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service expressed concern that a recent expansion plan for the resort approved by the U.S. Forest Service would harm 103 acres of lynx habitat.
