MYTH By attracting thousands of skiers, ski areas create a terrible impact on forests.

FACT There is an impact, but it’s concentrated. Less than 1/10th of 1 percent of U.S. Forest Service land, for example, is devoted to skiing. By contrast, a relative handful of backcountry users-mountain bikers, offroaders, hikers, horseback riders and campers-can cause a very wide impact and create far-flung management challenges for public resource agencies.