seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/319381_skiarea12.html
I haven't seen details on what exactly was scaled back. The gondola to the top of Denny peak is off the plan, but I'm not sure if the scraped chair was intended for Alpental, or one of the other areas.
Snoqualmie ski area plans scaled back
Environmental concerns alter expansion
By LISA STIFFLER
P-I REPORTER
Plans to expand the ski area at Snoqualmie Pass are being scaled back in a compromise reached between the ski pass operators and environmentalists.
Local conservation groups had raised concerns about potential harm to black bears, cougars, deer and other animals that live in the area or migrate through the pass.
To get the endorsement of the conservation groups and to avoid their challenge to the plan -- which has been under development for about a decade -- the construction of a gondola and mountaintop restaurant were scrapped. The addition of a chairlift through an area of mature and old-growth forests was put on hold until scientists can fully determine how the development would affect wildlife.
Three new chairlifts would be built, and nine would be rebuilt or their paths changed, under the agreed-upon plan. The number of lifts would increase from the current 19 up to 22.
The plan still must be approved by the U.S. Forest Service, which could complete the deal by the end of the year. The upgrades and expansions would be completed over the next 10 to 15 years.
"We feel really good," said Dan Brewster, general manager with The Summit at Snoqualmie. "Obviously we had to give up some things that were pretty important to us, but it was a very good dialogue, and we're all feeling that we've been able to come up with a plan that makes sense. ...
"We very much want to be good environmental stewards of the land up here," Brewster said. The ski resort operates on publicly and privately owned land.
Before the chairlift and ski runs could be built in the old-growth forest, the resort operators, the Forest Service and the environmental groups would need to develop research plans, the research would need to be completed, and then reviewed by a science panel.
If the biologists conclude that animals can co-exist with the expansion, "we'll live with it," said Charlie Raines, director of the Sierra Club's Cascade Checkerboard Project.
The agreement announced Monday is between the Sierra Club, Conservation Northwest, Alpine Lakes Protection Society and Ski Lifts Inc., operator of The Summit.
To mitigate for damage caused by the planned expansion, the resort operators would donate about 130 acres of land to the national forest, some of which would become part of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness.
Later this summer, folks with the Stevens Pass ski resort will be proposing upgrades and expansions for their resort north of Snoqualmie.
The changes include replacing some older lifts, improving trails and adding new lifts in undeveloped terrain, said Chester Marler, director of planning for Stevens Pass.
Environmental groups have been briefed on the plan, which would span five to 10 years of development.
"Their primary concerns were in changes to wildlife habitat," Marler said.
Neither the resort nor conservation groups could say Monday if similar negotiations could speed the process with Stevens Pass.
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