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Friday, February 17, 2006
Snoqualmie Summit: Before the jump
Everyone in the Seattle area has good reason to wish the Summit at Snoqualmie a healthy future as a ski and snowboard center.
The Summit's many runs offer great exercise, mountain air and fun almost right in the metropolitan area's back yard. Aside from global warming, it's hard to imagine anything yanking Snoqualmie from its place in Seattle's heart.
There's good reason to hesitate, however, about key details in a 10-year plan for the Summit's facilities being finalized by the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. A healthy future for Snoqualmie Pass requires giving as much respect to wildlife and natural habitats as to snowboarder convenience.
It's particularly alarming that stands of old-growth trees might be chopped down to facilitate snowboarders and skiers crossing from one ski center to another. That's what shuttles are for. A good deal of public and private money has gone into preserving tree stands and lands around Snoqualmie to provide wildlife corridors. More expenditures are expected. This looks like a potentially expensive step in the opposite direction, diluting the value of investments already made.
While supporting much of the plan for increased use, environmentalists also raise good questions about the need for more scientific study of the effects on wildlife of some proposals. Caution about several elements of the plan seems appropriate as the U.S. Forest Service begins studying public comments, which end Tuesday.
Tell us what's on your mind.
 | |
| Should the U.S. Forest Service approve building new ski or snowboard runs in a patch of old-growth forest at Snoqualmie Pass? | |
 18.5%Yes |
13.8% Yes, with adequate mitigation |
| 40.2% No |
26.4% No, but it's good to let the Summit at Snoqualmie grow in other ways |
| 1.2% Not sure or other |
|
| Total Votes: 341 | |
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