/^ 



270 



prevailing lease rates on State or private land, we do believe that it is another 

 indication that both GRFS and H.R. 1527 will achieve "fair market value." 



Comparison to land holding costs 



Another valid means of determining fair market value is to compare the aimual 

 rental fee to what it would cost a ski area to finance a mortgage if it owned the land 

 itself. Such a comparison is logical because most ski areas in the United States do 

 own their own land and compete directly with areas located on National Forest land. 

 If this approach is utilized on either a nationwide or local basis, both GRFS and the 

 proposed new formula look very favorable to the United States. 



TTie average cost of undeveloped mountain real estate in the west, where most 

 National Forest ski areas are located, can run from below $200 to as high as $1,500 

 per acre, depending on factors such as elevation, access, proximity to established 

 communities, etc. An example of the lower end of the spectrum with which the 

 Committee may be familiar is the Cherokee Park project in Colorado, where the 

 Administration purchased 18,000+ acres of mountainous land north of Rocky 

 Mountain National Park at a cost of $139 per acre. Numerous other examples 

 abound. Even in the Mining Districts around Aspen, Colorado, which has one of 

 the hottest real estate markets in the nation, high elevation lands of the type 

 generally developed for skiing, rarely exceed $1,300 per acre. 



Perhaps even more on point, in 1990 the Forest Service completed an appraisal of 

 the land value for a proposed ski area in Idaho called Valbois. That appraisal, 

 which is the most current western example we could find, valued the 2,800 acres of 

 National Forest land at $632 per acre. Incidentally, Valbois is located in a heavily 

 traveled recreation corridor, borders a reservoir, and is within approximately 1 1/2 

 hours drive of Idaho's major population center in Boise, so land values are 

 somewhat typical of many major ski areas. 



Sno.engineering is also familiar with the following recent sales of land in or 

 adjacent to existing or proposed ski areas: 



