Stratton Mountain Earns Environmental Award

Stratton Mountain's environmental initiatives
were recognized again this year with the prestigious Silver Eagle Award
presented by Mountain Sports Media, publishers of SKI and SKIING
magazines.
The Awards were established in 1993 to recognize and encourage
environmental achievements. A record of 32 resorts participated in the
2004 Golden Eagle Awards. The entries were judged by a panel of
environmental and industry experts.
Stratton earned the 2004 Silver Eagle Award, its fourth since 1996, for
Excellence in Fish and Wildlife Protection.
Stratton was recognized for sponsorship of wildlife studies and
educational programs as well as for Conservation Easements presented to
the State of Vermont. These seven distinct areas, on 1,200 acres, were
identified in the exhaustive planning process that resulted in Vermont's
first fully approved mountain resort Master Plan (1999). These
conservation areas include whitetail deer wintering grounds and feeding
areas, bear travel corridors and feeding areas and Bicknell's thrush
habitat.
While the state typically requires two acres of land be offered as
mitigation for each acre affected by development, Stratton's Conservation
Easements "up the ante for future development by moving the ratio closer
to 18-to-1," according to state officials. "The Stratton Master Plan,
based on cluster rather than sprawl development, supports the resort's
economic viability while permanently protecting nearly a third of the
resort property for use by important wildlife species."