Earlier this month, the Del Norte Prospector, South Fork Tines and Center Post Dispatch carried an article titled, “Woman battles to save primitive resort” (July 1).

The story concerned Ms. Charlotte Trego, 30-Mile Resort and the Rio Grande National Forest.

Unfortunately, the reporter never contacted the Forest Service and the story contained many inaccuracies.

The upper Rio Grande is spectacular country and I am very proud to be an employee of the Rio Grande NF and help manage it for the public.

For those readers who have never been there, the Thirty Mile Resort lies approximately 30 miles “upriver” from Creede just below the Rio Grande Reservoir. It abuts the Weminuche Wilderness and is one of two small resorts permitted on the Divide Ranger District (the other is Little Squaw Resort, located along the river about 1 1/2 miles below Thirty Mile Resort).

The article written by Ms. James asserts the permit was revoked for the permittee’s failure to switch from on site hydroelectric power to power supplied by SLVREC. This was never a requirement and had absolutely nothing to do with the permit revocation. Rather, the authorization was revoked for on-going health and safety concerns. Ms. Trego was given years to correct these issues. It was after many attempts to work with the holder that the Forest Supervisor made the decision to revoke her authorization.

The following is the short story.

In August 2005, a fire started in one of the storage buildings at 30-Mile Resort.

Both Forest Service fire and law enforcement personnel investigated the fire and the ensuing report suspected that the condition of electrical system — faulty old wiring — may have caused the fire.

The following summer the resort was shut down to the public pending the requirement that the permittee have a certified electrician inspect the resort electrical system.

The state inspector “red-tagged” the resort after an inspection for numerous violations and the resort continued to be closed to the public until the problems were corrected.

The permittee finally contacted an electrical company out of Pueblo in the fall of 2007 to do the required work and left open trenches so the state inspector could review the work the following spring. During the summers of 2008 and 2009, the resort continued to be closed to the public as the permittee refused to fill in the trenches and clean up the broken glass and debris around the burned cabin

After failing to comply with numerous requests to accomplish these tasks and other maintenance needs, Ms. Trego’s permit was finally revoked earlier this year.

The resort’s special use authorization states, “The permittee shall maintain the improvements and premises to standards of repair, orderliness, neatness, sanitation, and safety acceptable to the forest officer in charge.”

In other words, it is my duty to ensure that a resort permitted on the district I manage is safe for public use, and there were clearly some health and safety issues that needed to be addressed at 30-Mile Resort.

The resort is built on 5-6 acres of National Forest System land. Ms. Trego owns the buildings and other physical property. We have strongly encouraged Ms. Trego to sell the buildings to an interested individual(s) who is able to operate it in compliance with terms of the special use permit.

If Ms. Trego is unable to either sell or remove the buildings by October of 2011, they become the property of the United States.

Thirty Mile Resort created happy memories for many people over the decades it was open.

It was not an easy decision to revoke Ms. Trego’s permit, but it was necessary considering the health and safety issues.

It is my hope that Ms. Trego is able to find a buyer for her buildings, the health and safety issues are resolved and that the resort opens once again. The Forest Service desires a safe high quality recreational experience on the National Forest.

Tom Malecek is the District Ranger for the Divide Ranger District.