The U.S. Forest Service has asked a federal court to lift an injunction blocking expansion of the Mt. Ashland Ski Area in southern Oregon.
The Ashland Daily Tidings reported Wednesday that the motion, filed in U.S. District Court in Medford, says the agency has fixed violations of environmental laws in the process for approving the expansion. That includes doing more studies on how 71 acres of new ski runs could harm old-growth forest habitat for the Pacific fisher, a weasel-like animal that lives in the area slated for development.
Ron Dimitre, of the Rogue Group Sierra Club, says environmentalists will ask to leave the injunction in place, noting that the Forest Service still needs to look at issues such as climate change and economic feasibility.
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