Environmental groups have scored a win in the long-running battle over a controversial resort proposed on Wolf Creek Pass.
On Friday, Senior U.S. District Judge Richard P. Matsch rejected a land exchange that was intended to provide key access for the so-called Village at Wolf Creek. The exchange was to connect a private inholding within the Rio Grande National Forest to U.S. Highway 160. The developers – the Leavell-McCombs Joint Venture – want to build a commercial and residential resort that could accommodate up to 10,000 visitors. But four environmental groups filed suit over the Forest Service’s 2015 approval of the land swap, and the judge ruled Friday that the agency had not followed regulations under the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA.