Protect the Snowpack: Plug the Wells

The snow we depend on is disappearing. One hidden cause is right under our feet.

As Environment Committee Chair for the Far West Ski Association, and in my four decades career in snow sports, I've spent years working alongside sustainability managers, resort operators, and mountain community leaders who see the effects of climate change every season: shorter winters, unreliable snowpack, more wildfire smoke, and the rising costs of keeping our mountains viable.

We talk a lot about sustainability in the ski industry. I'm here to tell you about a climate solution most people in our world have never heard of, one that delivers immediate, permanent, measurable results in the very landscapes we depend on.

Beneath the mountain west and across the country, an estimated 3.5 million orphaned oil and gas wells sit abandoned with no owner responsible for shutting them down. They leak methane 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Methane is 80 times more potent than CO₂ over 20 years. These wells contaminate groundwater, scar landscapes, and accelerate the warming that is eroding our snowpack and reshaping our seasons.

I serve as Communications Director for the Well Done Foundation, a nonprofit that locates, measures, plugs, and restores these abandoned wells. To date, WDF has plugged more than 120 wells and eliminated over 5 million metric tons of CO₂e. No offsets. No credits. Cement in the ground, methane stopped at the source, land made whole again.

This fundraiser is my personal ask to the ski community. If you manage sustainability programs, lead resort operations, or simply love the mountains we all share, this is a direct way to fund climate action that protects snowpack, water quality, and the communities where our employees and guests live.

Every dollar raised here goes to finding and plugging orphaned wells. The work is happening right now, in the field, across the country. No new technology required. No waiting.

The ski industry knows better than anyone that the climate crisis isn't theoretical. Let's put our community behind a solution that actually works.

Well Done Foundation Founder and Chairman Curtis Shuck addressed the issue at a Far West Ski Association panel on Climate Change and the Future of Snowsports. Here is a link to that presentation: