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14 December 2021 Case Study on Developing a Comprehensive Voluntary Environmental Performance and Process Standard for Alpine Resorts Using Four Business Management Principles
Bryan C. Foster
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Abstract

In 2018, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort (JHMR) in Teton Village, WY, USA, discontinued its International Standards Organization 14001 environmental management system. JHMR needed a replacement voluntary environmental program (VEP) that would empower resort employees to directly mitigate climate change, reduce waste and pollution, minimize water use, and restore biodiversity, along with improving building, education, and purchasing. I developed the Model for Alpine Resort Sustainability (MARS) based on 2 research objectives of improving existing industry-specific VEPs and empowering employees to directly mitigate resort environmental impacts through their work. MARS involves 4 business management principles: (1) use ski industry-specific criteria to drive accountability comprehensively across 25 resort departments; (2) quantify greenhouse gas emissions, using both absolute and intensity or normalized bases, and apply quantification to solid waste production and water consumption; (3) employ modern management techniques and software to focus on action over documentation; and (4) strategically align with the core business objective of alpine resorts to provide profitable outdoor recreation by decreasing costs and increasing revenues. MARS provides the most comprehensive, research-based accounting to date of alpine resort environmental impacts and mitigation indicators. MARS could be applied to larger resorts receptive to change.

© 2021 Foster. This open access article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Please credit the authors and the full source.
Bryan C. Foster "Case Study on Developing a Comprehensive Voluntary Environmental Performance and Process Standard for Alpine Resorts Using Four Business Management Principles," Mountain Research and Development 41(3), D1-D11, (14 December 2021). https://doi.org/10.1659/MRD-JOURNAL-D-20-00078.1
Received: 16 December 2020; Accepted: 20 October 2021; Published: 14 December 2021
KEYWORDS
alpine resorts
Climate Challenge
environmental management systems (EMSs)
ski areas
Sustainable Slopes
sustainable tourism
voluntary environmental programs (VEPs)
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