Summit-at-Snoqualmie Development Plans

AAI recently received the following in a letter. This came a short time ago, but the newspapers of record, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the Wenatchee World have made this information public. Those who are interested in commenting on this proposal only have a short time left to do so.

Dear interested Citizen or Agency:

Enclosed for your review are the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and the Record of Decision (ROD) for The Summit-at-Snoqualmie Master Development Plan proposal.

Ski area operator Ski Lifts, Inc. is seeking approval of a new Master Development Plan and authorization of site-specific implementation of the Plan. The environmental analysis for the FEIS was conducted by the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie and Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forests through a third party contractor, SE Group.

The Selected Alternative includes the realignment or replacement of 11 chairlifts and construction of nine new chairlifts. It also includes night lighting on 25 new trails, 9.8 acres of added parking, a mountain-top restaurant at Summit East, and a SUP adjustment of 17.01 acres to incorporate Hyak Creek and the cross-country hut at Grand Junction into the special use permit (SUP) area.

The public comments received during the DEIS comment period were used in combination with additional research and anylisis to update and finalize the FEIS and assist the Forest Service in refining and selecting the appropriate alternative for this decision. Based on public comments received, additional analysis of several key issues was conducted, which resulted in modifications to the DEIS Preferred Alternative and clarification of some componenets and effects of alternatives in the FEIS.

The FEIS and ROD are available electronically for viewing or downloading on the Forest's website at http://www.fs.fed.us/r6mbs/projects/summit-at-snoqualmie. If you had specifically requested the FEIS and ROD as a CD or hard copy, the documents are enclosed in your preferred format. Copies of the FEIS and ROD are avaliable as a CD or hard copy upon request.

The Notice of Availability is expected to be published in the Federal Register on November 21, 2008. The ROD is subject to appeal only by individuals or organizations who submitted comments during the comment period pursuant to Forest Service regulations at 36 CFR 215.6. The notice of appeal must be postmarked, hand-delivered, or faxed to the Regional Forester, or sent electronically to appeals-pacificnorthwest-regional-office@fs.fed.us and within 45 days of the date of publication of notice in The Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the Wenatchee World (the newspapers of record). Specific filing information is on pp. 50-51 of the ROD.

For further information regarding this proposal, you may contact winter sports specialist Sean Wetterberg at the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest by phone (425)783-6022, fax:(425)783-0214 or email: swetterberg@fs.fed.us. I appreciate your interest in this project.

Sincerely,

Y. Robert Iwatmoto
Forest Supervisor