Your comments are needed BY MAY 14 as the Forest Service attempts to grant new owners of Holland Lake Lodge a 20-year permit to occupy public lands - without first revealing what they intend to do there!
Please register your comments by May 14 via the FS comment form at https://cara.fs2c.usda.gov/Public/CommentInput?Project=67937 .
If that form is not working, simply email your comments to Ranger Chris Dowling at Christopher.Dowling@usda.gov .
Please consider making the following points and any of your own:
1. The new owners have said they need to expand the business in order to make a profit. Don't issue the permit applicant a 20-year permit until it releases a Master Development Plan and it has undergone agency and public review and comment!
2. Do not try to pass the new owner's permit off as simply a “renewal” of the previous owner's 2017 permit. Under the previous owner's permit the Lodge fell into disrepair, the business became unprofitable, and the sewer and sewage lagoon failed.
3. Show the public the new owner's 2025 Operating Plan. You instead showed us the previous owner's Operating Plan, which is irrelevant.
4. You have acknowledged that the Lodge cannot provide full services until the sewage lagoon, which is leaking, is repaired. The repair, sizing and potential replacement of the sewage system must be a part of this permit process, not left up to taxpayers later.
5. Quit trying to shield the applicant and future plans from public scrutiny. Lay all the cards out on the table, THEN ask the public what it thinks as you prepare an Environmental Assessment in order to determine if a more intensive Environmental Impact Statement is needed to address significant impacts.
6. You cannot use a Categorical Exclusion from preparing an Environmental Assessment to break these connected and cumulative actions down into smaller baby steps. The people who revere this area do not want to be displaced along with the fish and wildlife as an expanding Lodge provides its wealthy clients “a range of recreation opportunities in forest settings consistent with visitor expectations!”
For the details and sources that back up these bullet points, see our recent comment letter here.
To read the Forest Service's version of what it is up to, visit its project page here.
Thank you for taking a few moments by May 14 to let the Forest Service know what you think of this proposal.
Fish, wildlife and people are counting on you!
