raffic congestion, and poses many problems for the social and economic infrastructure of the towns it effects. Many "ski resorts are no longer the 800-pound gorilla threatening mountain valleys. Rather, the villain of rampant commercial over-development is bigger and more complex: thousands of people moving to the mountains for reasons additional to skiing. In a few towns, skiing is no longer the engine of growth, but is becoming a mere amenity like golf." (http:www.wildwilderness.org/wi/skiarea.htm) To me this is what may begin to lead to the decline of the industry. No longer will the NH ski industry offer the homely mountain feeling it always has had if trends continue the way they are.Developmental sprawl is something almost every American has witnessed in their life. If there is an attraction, whether its recreation or the weather pretty much almost anything, people will begin to show up and alter the social and economic life that is already established in the area. Along with the hoards of people that come to live or buy condos at NH ski areas comes their SUV's, their waste, and a demand for expansion among other impacts. As the mountain grows so to does the area around it. Loon Mountain is a great example, they began a process in the mid-eighties to begin an expansion that included 30 trails and 8 lifts. Now after years of litigation, and public hearings they are only asking for 6 trails and 1 lift. The impact that would be felt by the expansion originally asked for would have been tremendous, an expansion of that proportion would have brought thousands of more people to the area. Housing demands would have sky rocketed, traffic would be astronomical, and development in the loon mountain area would have been booming. Thought to wildlife habitat and pollution control would have probably been tossed aside as the corporations would have reaped the rewards of their new found tourist destination. The current expansion is more realisti...
