Developers of a luxury subdivision near Vail, Colorado, got a big win when Judge Jia M. Cobb, a Biden appointee, ruled that the 1980 Alaska National Interest and Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) requires the Forest Service to provide “adequate access” for “reasonable use” of private property surrounded by the White River National Forest.
In 2008, the developers, Czech investors Petr Lukes and Jana Sobatova, acquired the private land surrounded by White River National Forest. In the ensuing years, Forest Service officials offered to purchase or trade other parcels for the land, but Lukes and Sobatova refused to negotiate.
In 2020, White River National Forest Supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams issued an environmental impact statement (EIS) approving a 2.6-mile access road to the inholding while acknowledging the project would “have adverse impacts to forest resources and wildlife.” Following release of the EIS, members of the local community filed legal objections to the decision, delaying implementation.
In 2022, Lukes and Sobatava sued the Forest Service to force a ruling on their proposal to build a paved road across the National Forest to access their private inholding, where they plan to undertake an “ultra-low density residential development” dubbed Berlaimont Estates. The Berlaimont Estates parcel consists of 680 mountaintop acres near Vail and Beaver Creek ski resorts.
In 2023, amidst a deluge of protest letters, White River National Forest Supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams approved final plans for a seasonal road across federal land to access the proposed development. The route Fitzwilliams approved relied on existing dirt roads to avoid impacts to critical wildlife habitat.
Wilderness Workshop and Rocky Mountain Wild then sued the Forest Service, seeking to overturn the White River National Forest’s approval of a 2.4-mile paved road from the valley floor up to the parcel.
Judge Cobb’s ruling cites ANILCA, which placed federal protections on 104 million acres in Alaska. In doing so, the legislation surrounded roughly 800,000 acres of private land. ANCILA accommodated those private property inholdings with a clause that requires public-land managers to provide access that is “adequate” for the owner to have “reasonable use and enjoyment” of their property.
Interpreting the words “adequate” and “reasonable” lie at the heart of the ANILCA of the controversy. The developers say a year-round paved road with a limited number of switchbacks is adequate for homeowners to reach their homes. Opponents of the plan — elected leaders in the region, wildlife and environmental groups, and 4,200 residents who signed a petition — say an existing seasonal dirt road is enough for the owners to enjoy “reasonable use” of the property.
