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sno.engineenng 



Sno. engineering. Inc 603 444 4811 



13 School Street FAX 444 0414 



Littleton. NN 

 03561 



Testimony of Timothy H. Beck, Sno.engineering, Inc. 



concerning H.R. 1527 



before 



National Parks, Forests and Land Subcomittee 



July 25, 1995 



Mr. Chairmen and Members of the Subcommittee: 



My name is Timothy Beck and I am the President of Sno.engineering Inc., 

 headquartered in Littleton, New Hampshire. We also have offices in Bellevue, 

 Washington; Frisco, Colorado; Whistler, British Columbia; and Tokyo, Japan. Since 

 our inception in 1958, we have worked on over 1,000 projects involving all phases 

 of ski area development including feasibility, mountain and land planning, 

 environmental permitting, appraisals, construction and operation consulting. We are 

 the largest mountain resort planning firm in North America and we have significant 

 expertise in mountain appraisals. 



I appear before you today to address issues relating to whether the ski area fee 

 formula contained in H.R. 1527 and/or the existing Graduated Rate Fee System 

 achieves a fair market value rental return to the United States. 



This question is complicated by the fact that ski areas are a relatively unique use of 

 the public lands. Unlike many other uses such as mining, oil and gas development, 

 timber harvest and livestock grazing, the ski industry does not extract a renewable 

 or non-renewable commodity from the land. Instead, what the ski industry does is 

 essentially lease raw, undeveloped land, install all improvements on the land, and 

 then use those improvements to attract business and provide recreational and mixed 

 use opportunities to the public. 



While National Parks and other high visitation Federal lands attract the public 

 because of pre-existing values, ski areas attract the public largely-because of the 

 private capital which is invested on the mountain. In short, it is not the commodity 

 provided by the government (land) that draws the public to ski areas, but rather the 

 quality of the lifts, trails, snowmaking, ski schools and other facilities which the ski 

 area places on the land entirely at its own expense. 



Itie Resort Planners 



93-983 0-95-10 



