By MICHAEL ALTHERRThe mountainous environment surrounding the Los Alamos townsite truly makes our community a unique and special place to live. Pajarito Mountain, standing tall and visible from most of the county, is the crown jewel. It would be unusual to find someone who has not wandered the flanks of Pajarito Mountain in summer or winter.
Now that crown jewel is up for sale for the bargain price of $1.25 million. That’s 750 acres at a price of $1,700/acre with the lodge and out buildings, equipment and cellular infrastructure thrown in for free! For comparison, the value that the community places on our surrounding natural environment was recognized by a $4.3 million investment in the Los Alamos Nature Center.
Understanding how we got here can be found in the history of the Pajaritio Ski Area on the Ski Pajarito website (skipajarito.com/history.php) and in the background information provided to the members of the ski club (link), prior to the motion to be voted upon at 6:30 p.m. this Thursday at the ski lodge.
While I believe that Pajarito Recreation LLC, a Texas business entity and the proposed buyer, has been a good steward of the mountain in the past couple of years, who can say what type of landlord they will be. Furthermore, at the last Ski Club informational meeting it was made clear that all elements of the proposed contract, included in the background in formation remain negotiable, and there will be no additional opportunity to vote on the final contract following Thursday night’s vote.
Finally, it should be noted that even the current non binding agreement to continue to provide recreational access to the mountain can be abrogated at the discretion of the owner. Historically, access to the Mountain has been a local community decision, regulated by the Ski Club and the operator.
I can think of no greater investment in our community than maintaining local control of the crown jewel of our local environment. Please let your County Councilors know how you feel about turning over this resource to outside interests. If you are a member of the Ski Club, please join me at the Special Meeting this Thursday in voting No on this motion.
