November 30, 2000

Skiing green

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Winter blues for environmentalists often include the guilt that goes along with enjoying winter sports. Though skiing and snowboarding are fun, it is hard to ignore the toll ski resorts take on their surroundings. Keeping the fun of winter sports and their environmental impact in mind, the SKI AREA CITIZENS COALITION has taken it upon themselves to grade western ski resorts.

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Grading ski areas’ current policies on habitat protection and expansion, the coalition is able to steer environmentally conscious snow bunnies to spend their snow dollars at worthy slopes.

Topping the list were Sundance Resort in Utah and Timberline Ski Area in Oregon. Taking the prize of least environmentally friendly with a score of 19 percent (out of 100 percent) was Copper Mountain Ski Resort in Colorado for it’s plans to dump fill into a wetland area, expand it’s skiable area, and construct housing at the base of the mountain.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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