Fixed link -- Sorry!
Full size photo (500kb) of Resort Plan
Tell me: Where would you put 36 holes of golf? Behind Little Mt Adams?
From Thursday's (9/30/04) Seattle Times:
Ron Judd / Times staff columnist
Trail Mix: A Northwest Mailbag full of bad news
Q: What's the buzz we're hearing about a new ski resort on Mount Adams?
A: It's basically just that at this point — buzz. The Yakama Tribe, which owns a huge chunk of the east side of Mount Adams, is being pitched by Mount Hood Meadows Development Corp. to build a major, 11-lift ski resort complete with 36 holes of golf, a restaurant, a casino, a spa, various shops, a night club and 2,500 hotel and condominium lodging units, The Oregonian and Yakima Herald-Republic both reported this month.
Would-be resort developers have the gall to call this planned sprawling city stretching to 11,000 feet, proposed for the gorgeous and largely unspoiled Bird Creek Meadows area, an "eco-resort."
The pitch hasn't even gone before the full Yakama Tribal Council yet, but it's already being dissed by tribal religious leaders, who call it a blatant, money-grubbing desecration of sacred tribal grounds.
"I feel that that would be a terrible violation of our people if they open that up," Regina Jerry, assistant minister of the White Swan Shaker Church, told the Herald-Republic.
Hear, hear.
We love the idea of a new Northwest four-season mountain resort as much as anyone else with skis quivering in the garage. And heaven knows the Yakamas have reasons to be tempted by the potential payout.
But get real, and keep Mount Adams wild.
To contact Ron Judd: (206) 464-8280 or rjudd@seattletimes.com
