Just four days after the close of Eldora’s winter season, officials were given cause to celebrate Thursday with the announcement by the U.S. Forest Service that it had approved the resort’s request to expand the ski area, adding 62 acres of new terrain in an area known as the Jolly Jug.

The project includes five new ski trails on Roosevelt National Forest land, amounting to approximately 27 acres of trails; 35 acres of tree and gladed skiing, as well as either a four- or six-person high-speed lift, plus additional snow-making capabilities.

“It’s pretty exciting stuff. It’s been a long time coming,” Eldora general manager Brent Tregaskis said, by phone from California.

“We couldn’t be happier the way it worked out, working with the county, the Sierra Club, the Middle Boulder Creek Coalition, et cetera, that we have been able to finally come to a conclusion on a really important lift for Eldora’s future.”

Thursday’s announcement closes the book on a five-year process that saw Eldora step forward with ambitious expansion plans, some of which have now been realized, but with other initiatives that sparked opposition on multiple fronts. The sometimes contentious process lasted long enough to encompass a change in resort ownership, management, and even its name — with the resort going from “Eldora Mountain Resort” to simply “Eldora” a year ago.

Most notably, Eldora has abandoned plans for improvements on the north side of the resort, which environmental activists had opposed on the grounds that they could imperil the Middle Boulder Creek watershed, including a critical wildlife migration corridor.

A Forest Service news release stated that “Through the statement of principles, the parties agreed Eldora would not pursue the more controversial Placer and Moose Glades projects identified in its 2011 Master Development Plan. The parties also agreed on moving forward with expansion into the Jolly Jug terrain so long as the Jenny Creek Nordic Trail was relocated to avoid conflicts with new alpine ski trails.”

“We’ve agreed with the community to not pursue the proposed Placer Lift. That was supposed to be a six-pack, as well,” Tregaskis confirmed. “It would have been some good expert terrain, but this other (newly approved) terrain is needed more than more expert terrain. We think this is more valuable to Eldora, and to our clientele, I think, the family market and who we really are.”

There is not yet a construction schedule for the new lift, which will be serving the southeast side of the mountain. The lift will move 3,000 skiers an hour, and cover 1,000 feet of vertical terrain. The runs it will serve, Tregaskis said, are “light-blue,” providing an intermediate step between beginner slopes and expert-level skiing.

“It won’t be called the Jolly Jug lift almost for sure,” Tregaskis said. “We’ll put that out to our public and our customers, and have a naming contest and have some fun with it.”

The Forest Service announcement followed its completion of a supplemental information report that determined no further agency analysis is required, and it has issued a new official “record of decision” on the resort’s expansion plans. The decision will not be subject to a public objection process.

“Eldora is an important amenity to the local community and has been part of Boulder County’s recreation tradition for more than half a century,” Forest Supervisor Monte Williams said in a statement. “This decision will provide expanded opportunities for the public to enjoy downhill skiing within an hour of Denver and will allow Eldora to compete and endure in the recreation industry into the future.”

Thursday’s announcement was welcome news to Boulder attorney Mike Chiropolos, who has represented the Middle Boulder Creek Coalition and the Sierra Club on Eldora expansion issues.

“On the heels of Earth Day, protection of Middle Boulder Creek and Colorado wildlife is cause for community-wide celebration,” he said by email.

“Special recognition goes to all the citizens who fought for Boulder’s namesake creek where it flows out of Indian Peaks Wilderness. Credit for listening goes to Ned, Boulder County, the Resort, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and the Forest Service. This agreement should be looked to by the ski industry and the Forest Service nationwide. Climate threats to winter recreation reinforce the importance of protecting our best riparian habitat and migration corridors.

Dave Hallock, chair of the Middle Boulder Creek coalition and a resident of the town of Eldora since 1979, applauded the spirit of compromise represented by the resolution, and noted that opposition to Eldora’s original full expansion plans “grew from something small, but we were able to kind of put up a united front, as far as making people understand that that stretch of Middle Boulder Creek that they wanted to drop down into had some important ecological values.

“I think this might be a good model for other communities and ski areas to look at, as far as trying to find a compromise solution, and it really took finding a new owner of the ski area. That made a lot of difference,” Hallock said. “We just had to hold firm and kind of string the thing out, and then luck came our way when Powdr bought it. They recognized our values and we ended up reaching an agreement with them.

“Working out the details took a long time,” Hallock added, “but Powdr has been very good to work with, and we hope they stay there for a long time.”