From Alice@skinh.org

One of the most alluring attributes of New Hampshire ski areas is the beautiful environment in which they are located. Surrounded by beautiful mountains and lakes, it's logical that ski resorts want to be environmentally-friendly and encourage sustainable practices. Over the past several years many of New Hampshire's ski areas have begun to embrace and implement policies that will help to ensure these places are here for future generations to enjoy.

How you can help the environment during your visit to a Ski NH resort!
What ski areas are doing behind-the-scenes

As a guest at a NH ski resort, there are many ways you help ski areas protect and create a better environment for future skiers & snowboarders.

The two easiest are:
1) turning off your vehicle's engine when you're in the drop zone, and
2) recycling what's left from your snacks and meals

ANTI-IDLING INITIATIVES

One of the most effective ways for ski areas to help combat the rise in greenhouse gases is to reduce the amount of time stationary engines and vehicles idle by encouraging guests to participate in anti-idling initiatives. So turn off your engine when you're dropping off family, friends and equipment in the ski area drop zone! If you idle for more than 10 seconds, you're wasting energy - plus idling is against the law in NH!

DANBURY, NH - Trails blanketed with packed snow wind down Ragged Mountain, flanked on either side by rows of tall, green evergreen and pine trees. From above, you can barely see the base lodge where skiers gather before and after a day on the slopes. And the tracts of land near the base of the mountain - 18 golf holes - blend into the landscape.

The new owners of Ragged Mountain Resort would like to keep it that way. Despite their plans to spend millions of dollars on revamping the golf course, renovating and expanding the resort buildings and developing hundreds of slopeside homes, they plan to work with some of the top land planners and conservationists in the country to do it in an environmentally responsible way.They also hope to become the first property in New Hampshire certified by Audubon International's Signature Program, which will guide the resort's land planners through the design and construction phase of the expansion and help them protect the mountain's wildlife, habitat and natural resources.

Gerald Jackson, one of the three principals of the company that bought the resort last year, said participating in the program is "just good business.""It's totally compatible with our vision, which is to take good care of the land and to promote biodiversity and ecosystem management and to restore whatever damage has been done in the past," Jackson said.Utah-based RMR Pacific LLC purchased Ragged Mountain in May after the previous owners narrowly avoided bankruptcy and foreclosure. The resort needed a lot of work, but Jackson and his partners had a lot of experience revamping and building ski resorts throughout the Northwest. They brought in a ski industry veteran, Bob Fries, to take over as resort president, and they sank $2 million into long overdue maintenance last summer.

As they prepared to head into the planning of the first major phase of the project - redesigning the 18-hole golf course - they decided to turn to Audubon International for guidance.The group is not affiliated with the National Audubon Society, which focuses on bird conservation, but rather is a land stewardship program that promotes sustainability. (The group is one of several that has branched off from the original Audubon Society.)Audubon International works with any type of land conservation group to protect properties of all types and sizes, including backyards, business properties, schools, golf courses and any type of land that is targeted for development.