Bennet introduces amendment aimed at blocking Berlaimont Estates road construction

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colorado) has introduced an amendment aimed at blocking the construction of a road for Berlaimont Estates, a controversial project proposed on a 680-acre private inholding near Edwards.

The developers of Berlaimont Estates have for years sought to build a year-round paved road to facilitate the construction of 19 luxury estates on the inholding surrounded by the White River National Forest.

“With Forest Service staffing at a breaking point, this amendment ensures that limited resources are spent on Coloradans’ top priorities — like critical wildfire mitigation, forest health, and recreation management projects,” Bennet said in a news release on Wednesday.

The amendment, which would prohibit the use of federal funds to open, improve, authorize, permit or construct a year-round road on public land north of Edwards, has been introduced into the Senate Interior Appropriations Bill, according to the news release.

Bennet noted that under the Trump administration, thousands of U.S. Forest Service employees have been fired or left the agency. According to the Office of Inspector General, the Forest Service lost 6,000 employees in just the first half of last year. In Colorado, that included top officials like White River National Forest Supervisor Scott Fitzwilliams, who left through the Trump administration’s deferred resignation program, which allowed employees to voluntarily resign while continuing to get paid for months.

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“The Trump Administration has fired scores of experienced employees and let essential work to keep our communities safe and local economies fall behind,” Bennet said. “With such limited capacity, the Forest service should be laser-focused on the public good. Instead, this Administration is diverting scarce staff time to the pet projects of the very wealthy.”

The Berlaimont Estates proposed project has faced strong opposition from the community, with residents raising concerns about environmental impacts to the surrounding forest, which is designated as a critical elk and deer habitat. In addition to Forest Service approvals, the project would require approvals from Eagle County government to move forward.

The Wilderness Workshop, a conservation nonprofit focused on protecting Colorado’s public lands, filed a lawsuit after the Forest Service approved the road access in 2023. That lawsuit is ongoing.

“This amendment puts a hold on implementation of the project,” Wilderness Workshop Legal Director Peter Hart said in a statement. “Spending additional taxpayer money on a road project that may be invalidated by a federal judge wastes limited federal resources that should be focused on wildfire mitigation and other higher priorities.”

Kristin Kenney Williams, the president of Commfluent Inc., a Vail Valley-based communications firm representing the developers, in a statement said that Berlaimont Estates is “disappointed” by the amendment.

Over the past 12 years, the project has gone through a public National Environmental Policy Act process that determined that federal law requires the authorization of a road to allow Berlaimont to make “reasonable use” of its private property, Williams said. The road alignment approved by the Forest Service, as well as a required recreation trail, is expected to decrease the overall impact of dispersed recreation and improve the overall habitat value, she said.

“The White River National Forest, the entity charged with managing those federal lands, determined that a road that allows Berlaimont to access its private property is appropriate and must be authorized,” Williams said. “That decision is supported by decades of U.S. Forest Service practice and federal law that provides owners of private property with reasonable access across Forest Service lands to their private property. Numerous federal courts have upheld similar actions by the Forest Service.”

In statements, U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, state Sen. Dylan Roberts, state Rep. Meghan Lukens and the mayors of Minturn and Eagle voiced support for the amendment. Local residents have also penned letters to the editor and voiced their opposition to the project at public meetings over the years.

“Critics, not just environmental groups but Eagle County residents, overwhelmingly oppose the development due to significant impacts on wildlife habitat, wildfire risk, water quality, and ecosystem fragmentation,” Minturn Mayor Earle Bidez said.

Eagle Mayor Bryan Woods said that with the Forest Service “already stretched thin,” Bennet’s amendment “ensures that limited resources go toward projects that benefit the public, not luxury enclaves.”

The Colorado Department of Natural Resources is among those that have raised concerns about the project.

“The area provides critical winter range for deer and elk and contains important habitat which should not be degraded by development,” Colorado Department of Natural Resources Executive Director Dan Gibbs said in a statement. “We appreciate Senator Bennet’s proactive approach to put a stop to this harmful project.”

Williams said Berlaimont Estates continues to move forward with its planning and looks forward to working with Bennet and local, state and federal elected officials.