Tulalips object to Stevens Pass bike plan

Published 12:56 pm Monday, June 7, 2010

The Tulalip Tribes have filed an appeal against a plan for a large mountain bike park at Stevens Pass.

The plan was approved in April by the U.S. Forest Service. The tribes contend the government should not have approved the bike park without studying it as part of a longer term plan by Stevens Pass to nearly double its ski area.

“A piecemeal approach to review of development plans at Stevens Pass fails to comply with (federal law) because it does not serve to protect treaty rights, the environment, and other potential impacts to parties such as state and county governments and the taxpayer,” tribal chairman Mel Sheldon said in a written statement.

The bike park involves building five trails of varying difficulty about 800 feet above the pass. The $925,000 trail system would cover seven miles on existing ski runs in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. Riders would be able to take their bikes on chair lifts to the park.

A review of the bike park plan found that it would not have a significant effect on the environment. Forest Service officials have said the long-term plan wasn’t considered as part of the review of the bike trails because Stevens has not submitted an official proposal for that plan.

Under the long-term plan, Stevens Pass would grow from its current 588 acres to 938 over 10 to 20 years.

Other environmental groups have opposed the bike park on the same grounds as cited by the Tulalip Tribes. A mountain bike group recently praised the plan as providing a recreational opportunity while protecting the environment by encouraging riders to use a sanctioned area as opposed to building unauthorized trails.

Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439; sheets@heraldnet.com.