Aspen, Colo. • Public oversight of the ski industry has become a casualty of the battle between Vail Resorts and Alterra Mountain Co.
As the competition between the ski companies has heated up, the amount of information the U.S. Forest Service will share about ski areas' use of public lands has diminished. The Forest Service administers permits and oversees ski resorts that use public lands for their operations.
For several years, the agency publicly disclosed permit fees paid by individual ski areas, such as the 11 in the White River National Forest, which includes Pitkin, Eagle and Summit counties.