The Broomfield-based ski resort and hotel company (NYSE: MTN) said its announcement was "concurrent with its announcement of its leadership role in the Hayman Restoration Partnership," a program also announced Monday to help restore forest lands burned in the 2002 Hayman fire southwest of Denver. Vail Resorts will contribute funds to that effort.

In 2006, August 2006, Vail Resorts said it would purchase the equivalent of 152,000 megawatt-hours of wind energy per year, which it said at the time would make it one of the largest wind power buyers in the country.

The company arranged to buy credits from wind-power broker Renewable Choice Energy Inc. of Boulder in lieu of direct connection to wind-power generators, since wind farms couldn't physically deliver wind-powered electricity directly to Vail properties. Buying the credits meant that electricity used by Vail Resorts was replaced on the power grid with wind power.

At the time, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Vail Resorts would be cutting some 211 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions a year.

"Our company is very proud of the leadership stance we took on alternative energy and climate change in August of 2006," Vail Resorts Chairman and CEO Rob Katz said in a statement Monday. "We are very pleased to see all of the progress that has followed us both in terms of new corporate commitments to clean energy and the political progress our country has made on climate change.

"As a company, we remain committed to addressing climate change and are focused on energy conservation across our company. However, going forward, we intend to channel our efforts on more comprehensive projects, which help protect the climate and also offer habitat and watershed benefits to local communities, such as the Hayman Restoration Project," Katz said.