Ski Resort on Adams...UPDATE!!

[Kitergal]

The following message and map-photo showing the proposed location of this resort on Mount Adams were prepared by Darryl Lloyd.

Attached is a photo and graphics to show the approximate extent of the proposed resort. Feel free to forward.

Please let Darryl know if you'd like a 6x9 high-res print, or digital file to reproduce.

 

Yesterday's Oregonian had the article below about the proposal.

 

Yakama tribe gets proposal for Mount Adams ski resort

Mt. Hood Meadows outlines an 11,000-acre project that would include a casino, housing, golf courses and cultural museum

 

Thursday, September 23, 2004

MARK LARABEE

Mt. Hood Meadows Development Corp. is proposing a destination resort on tribal land on Mount Adams in rural south-central Washington that would have 10 ski lifts and three 18-hole golf courses.

 

As presented to the Yakama Indian Nation, the 10,000-member tribe that owns the land, the resort would encompass 11,000 acres near Bird Creek Meadows. It's a popular area now used by campers, climbers, backcountry skiers and hikers.

 

Meadows' proposal includes eight chairlifts, a gondola and a tram that would take skiers as high as 11,100 feet above sea level from 5,400 feet -- the biggest vertical rise for any ski area in North or South America. It also proposes three golf courses, a spa, a casino and 2,500 housing units -- a mix of hotel rooms, condominiums and single-family homes. There also would be ski lodge and golf clubhouse buildings, plus a small village with restaurants and shops.

 

Meadows has struggled to build destination resorts at Government Camp and Cooper Spur on Mount Hood.

 

Dave Riley, Meadows general manager, said the project also would include the Yakama Nation Institute of Learning, which is envisioned as an interpretive center for classes and a museum to highlight the tribe's history and culture. He said everything from the building design to food would incorporate Yakama culture.

 

Although acknowledging opposition from environmental groups, Riley said Meadows will use cutting-edge building practices that focus on sustainability and environmental ethics.

 

"It's clear that if this resort is developed, the Yakama Nation will insist that it will be the most environmentally sensitive development in the history of resorts," Riley said. "At the end of the day, they are going to do what they think is right for their resources and their people."

 

At 12,276 feet, Mount Adams is the second-highest peak in Washington after 14,411-foot Mount Rainier. Its massive girth makes it the second-largest Cascade volcano in volume behind 14,162-foot Mount Shasta in California. But Adams is far from major towns, and a resort there would require significant road improvements to handle traffic, Riley said.

 

 

Ownership dispute

 

 

The mountain is not without controversy. For nearly five decades, the Yakama tribe battled with the U.S. government over its ownership. The tribe said boundary lines were incorrectly drawn after a surveying error. President Richard Nixon ended the dispute in 1972 when he signed over half the mountain to the tribe.

 

Tribal leaders acknowledge that such an aggressive development would drastically change the character of the mountain they hold sacred.

 

"Our understanding, even in a contemporary setting, is that if it was not for Mount Adams, the watershed would not be there to provide the nourishment for our timber, and all the food and medicine for our people," said Jerry Maninick, Yakama tribal chairman. "That's part of the commitment the mountain made to the Creator for all of eternity. Her task would be to take care of us and provide for us."

 

Maninick said some tribal members think the resort proposal fits within that cultural belief. He agrees with Riley that the resort would be a financial boon for the economically struggling tribe. Today, tribal members rely on forest products, a small casino in Toppenish, a juice company, a land-holding company and farms for income.

 

 

Benefits for Yakamas

 

 

Riley said the proposal would be a partnership in which the tribe would own the land while Meadows would build and run the resort. Tribal members would get jobs and a share of the profits, he said.

 

Maninick said the tribal council has formed a committee to look at whether such a development is feasible and in its best economic and cultural interest.

 

Meadows has not yet released its proposal to the public. But similar proposals in the past have gone nowhere, and the tribe shut down a small ski resort on the land after it regained ownership.

 

So far, Maninick said tribal members seem to be split over the idea. Eventually, all voting members will be asked to weigh in -- a vote Maninick expects to come by year's end. Maninick said the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs also would review the proposal and take testimony.

 

The resort proposal is drawing critics outside the tribe.

 

"We will fight the Meadows proposal with everything that we have," said Brent C. Foster, a Hood River attorney with the Gifford-Pinchot Task Force, an environmental group focused on reducing clear-cutting and road density, and preserving wildlife habitat. "This is incredibly important habitat, and the idea of putting thousands of luxury vacation units up there is an outrage, to put it mildly."

 

 

Opposition on Hood

 

 

Meadows' proposal to build a similar resort on Mount Hood's Cooper Spur continues to have fierce opposition from environmental groups and some Hood River Valley residents who rely on the watershed for drinking and irrigation. The ski company and opponents are in mediation over the plan.

 

Riley reluctantly acknowledges the political fight ahead. He said many people will try to tell the Yakama Nation what to do.

 

"Central Oregon has 25 golf courses," Riley said. "Some people think that's a great thing in terms of quality of life, and others would say Central Oregon would be better off it if didn't have any. This is the Yakama Nation's decision, not the Sierra Club's."

 

Maninick said although he's undecided, he's intrigued by the long-term economic prosperity the resort promises. Even so, he said, the tribe might not be ready to take such a drastic step.

 

"One of the areas our people have difficulty in is economics," he said. "It's almost always difficult for us to adjust ourselves to the contemporary setting. It's a high-risk area for our people, and they're a little gun-shy."

 

Mark Larabee: 503-294-7664; marklarabee@news.oregonian.com

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

The first report of it appeared in the Yakima Herald-Republic on 9/13.

 

Destination or Desecration?

By PHILIP FEROLITO

YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

 

Despite having the potential of bringing in millions of dollars, putting a resort offering one of the highest ski lifts in the country on Mount Adams would be a desecration to Mother Earth, some tribal members say.

 

Recently, Mount Hood Meadows Development Corp., which owns Mount Hood Ski Resort in northern Oregon, approached the Yakama Nation with a proposal to construct a massive four-season resort, which would put 11 ski lifts reaching the 11,100-foot level on the south side of the mountain. It would also include three 18-hole golf courses, a mid-sloped restaurant, casino, night club, and 2,500 lodging units.

 

The corporation is calling the project an "eco-resort," meaning it would incorporate the Yakama heritage in theme and design and offer a summer camp for tribal youth with year-round educational courses on Yakama culture, said Dave Riley, vice president of Mount Hood Meadows.

 

"Because of our local experience, we understand and appreciate northwest tribal interests and rights, and the importance of the Treaty of 1855," Riley added.

 

Developers pitch such ski resort and other outdoor recreation projects to the nation every few years, but the tribe isn't rushing into anything, said Yakama Nation tribal Secretary Davis Washines, who goes by his traditional name Yallowash.

 

The full tribal council has yet to hear the proposal, and it would have to be approved at General Council, where voting tribal members decide on major decisions and elect the 14-member tribal council, which oversees daily operations of the Yakama Nation.

 

But the idea of putting any kind of development on the mountain located in the closed section of the Yakama reservation has some tribal members up in arms, said Regina Jerry, assistant minister of the White Swan Shaker Church.

 

"I feel that that would be a terrible violation of our people if they open that up," said Jerry. "(Tribal leaders) were sworn to an oath to protect the things that are sacred to our people."

 

The closed area consists of more than 600,000 acres of wildlife and natural habitat stretching from Ahtanum Ridge to below Satus Pass, and reaching to Mount Adams. There, only enrolled Yakama tribal members are allowed to practice sacred food gatherings, such as berry picking, root digging, and hunting and fishing. Outsiders need tribal permission to enter and must be accompanied by a tribal member.

 

Guarded by four main gates, the tribe closed the reservation during the 1950s to protect wildlife and the natural habitat. The only structures there are a fire and ranger station and Camp Chaparral, which consists of a few living dorms and a dining hall.

 

"That's the last place we can go and camp and try to get back to our traditional ways," Jerry said.

 

The tribe engaged in a 49-year boundary dispute with the federal government before President Richard Nixon in 1972 returned half of Mount Adams to the Yakama Nation.

 

Today, remains of a former ski resort are still present on the mountain's south side, where Mount Hood Meadows wants to build. The tribe kicked the resort off after reclaiming the sacred mountain, said tribal council chairman Jerry Meninick.

 

The more than 12,000-foot-tall volcano is much more than a mountain to the Yakama, he says.

 

"It tells us of the many different disciplines ... reminders of our existence," he said.

 

Yakama legends describe the mountain as a living being that's responsible for taking care of the people below, said Johnson Meninick, cultural resources manager for the Yakama Nation.

 

"You can't get a queen and climb all over her and dance on her," he added.

 

The mountain, like everything else in the arms of Mother Earth, is part of an unwritten law patterned after the natural resources that the tribe has lived on for thousands of years, Johnson Meninick said.

 

"The resources don't belong to us, we belong to the resources," he added. "Resources are the giver of life."

 

However, the earning potential of such a resort — which tribal members would receive a share in its profits — has some tribal officials weighing cash against culture, Jerry Meninick said.

 

"We're talking a multimillion-dollar industry," he said. "It's something that needs to be taken very seriously."

 

But the resort would be a hard sell to the tribal membership, Meninick admits.

 

"It would be very difficult to present this to General Council and have them pass this resort," he said. "If the tribe didn't have the values on its religious beliefs, according to the feasibility (of the proposal), it probably would have been done by now."

 

Though creating more income for the tribe is important, tribal officials don't want to give the impression they're moving ahead with the proposal or ignoring the cultural aspects of Mount Adams, Yallowash said.

 

"Even myself, I get up in the morning and that mountain is the first thing I see, and I have these same concerns," he said.

 

Also, the legalities of allowing non-Indians into the closed section and getting building permits approved would require legal research since federal law supports the closure, Jerry Meninick said.

 

"Do we go back to U.S. Supreme Court and get a clarification?" Johnson Meninick asked hypothetically.

 

Questioning who would actually own the resort, Johnson Meninick noted that tremors in the area have been increasing the past five years.

 

"Who's going to be responsible for the lives that would be lost in an avalanche?" he asked. "We don't have anyone stepping forward to say, 'This is my project.'"

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Let me clear up some inacuracies in Philip Ferolito's initial news story.

 

There was never a "former ski resort" on the south side, just a little hill near Wickey Creek that had a rope tow and the 3-sided "Wickey Creek Shelter." It was put in by the USFS around 1939 and taken out during WWII. The shelter is still there, next to FS 8240 Road at 3,600 ft., and is well inside the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. I know of nothing that was halted or removed from the 21,000-acre "Tract D" area after it was returned to the Yakama Nation in 1972

 

You may be interested to know of the Tribe's continuous wilderness management on Mt Adams since 1972. The policy came from "Yakima Tribal Council Resolution T-13-71" (passed by unanimous vote on September 8, 1970), which addressed the 21,000-acre area prior to Nixon's Executive Order. It's quite lengthy, but one sentence says: "(The Tribe)... will continue to recognize the dedication of that portion included in the Mt. Adams wilderness use..."

 

The "portion" referred to is about 10,000 acres of Mount Adams Wilderness that would be placed in trust for the Yakama Tribe. President Nixon, in his Executive Order signed on May, 20, 1972, said: "I am equally pleased to note that the Yakima Tribe itself has pledged by Tribal Resolution to 'maintain existing recreation facilities for public use' and to 'recognize the dedication of that portion included in the wilderness use.' "

 

 

 

------ End of Forwarded Message

[Kitergal]

MORE!! and..no..I haven't even read through it all myself..yet!!

 

High stakes proposals

Meadows, Inc. looks for more real estate — on Mount Adams

HOOD RIVER NEWS, September 25, 2004

By CHRISTIAN KNIGHT, News staff writer

Its top chairlift would unload skiers at 11,100 feet, making it the highest ski area in North or South America.

 

Its 2,500-units of housing, including condominiums, houses and a hotel, would slate it the first international destination ski resort in Washington or Oregon.

 

Its casino, three 18-hole golf courses, interpretive center and village would qualify it as a year-round, eco-resort.

 

What the Yakama Nation is trying to figure out right now, however, is whether all of this, the eight chairlifts, gondola, tram and spa, would decimate one of its most powerful spiritual symbols – Mount Adams, or Pah-to.

This June, Mount Hood Meadows officials approached the Yakama Nation with a master plan to develop a mega international destination resort on the southeast side of Mount Adams.

 

That area is the western-most boundary of the Yakama’s 1.4 million-acre reservation, which stretches from Mabton to Yakima. The National Forest Service manages the western slope.

 

For skiers, the resort would offer the most vertical terrain in the country, 5,700 feet.

 

And the drive from Hood River wouldn’t be too bad – 45 minutes along improved roads, says Mount Hood Meadows General Manager Dave Riley.

 

“It’s a logical extension of where Hood River is going,” Riley said. “At the end of the day, however, it’s the Yakama Nation’s decision. What’s good for the members of the Yakama Indian Nation is what’s most important.”

 

To facilitate the Yakama, Meadows has included in its master plan a Yakama Indian Nation Learning Institute, a facility that would house classrooms, interpretive centers and summer camps for tribal youth.

 

“What we envision is a resort that reflects and interprets the culture of the Yakama Indian Nation,” Riley said.

 

The resort would also offer the Yakama a significant boost to its economy, which currently relies heavily on timber, agriculture and a casino in Toppenish, Wash.

But at what price?

 

Ernie James Teeias is a Yakama Nation tribe member from White Swan, near Toppenish. Carpal Tunnel surgery has kept him out of work at Wapato for the last month, so he’s been helping his son and grandson sell salmon at the parking lot near Char Burger, beneath the Bridge of the Gods in Cascade Locks.

 

He heard about the proposal about a month ago.

It scares him.

 

“That’s our wilderness up there,” he says. “It has a lot of religious meaning for a lot of people. I would be completely against it. Everybody (tribe members) I’ve talked to has been against it.”

 

Unlike municipal city council meetings, in which elected councilors vote and ultimately decide on issues, the Yakama decide on its issues through a direct democracy: each tribal member has one vote and the majority wins.

To open a meeting, however, at least 250 tribal members must be present.

 

“I would go back,” Teeias says. “Just to vote. But I don’t think my vote would make any difference. Cause everybody I talked to would vote against it.”

 

Teeias’ stance doesn’t necessarily represent that of the entire 10,000-member Yakama Nation. Soon after the General Council heard the proposal, it delegated a committee, which oversees Mount Adams affairs, to evaluate the proposal.

 

“The Yakama Nation doesn’t just jump into anything,” said the chairman of the Yakama Nation, Jerry Meninick. “We study all the what-ifs. We have to be sure.”

 

Before it can move on anything, Meninick said, the tribe has to explore the environmental, cultural, economic impacts, as well as the solution of a 49-year land battle between the federal government and the tribe.

In 1855, a survey incorrectly omitted 21,000 acres from the Yakama’s reservation.

 

Not until 1972 did President Richard Nixon return those 21,000 acres to the Yakama through an executive order. By then, however, Congress had passed the Wilderness Act of 1964, which had protected millions of acres of forest throughout the nation from development, including 10,000 of the most pristine acreage Nixon was returning to the Yakama.

 

The Yakama accepted the returned land with a pledge, according to Yakima Tribal Council Resolution T-13-71: “(The Tribe)... will continue to recognize the dedication of that portion included in the Mt. Adams wilderness use ...”

Simply put: Are the Yakama obligated to manage those 10,000 acres of previously classified wilderness, as wilderness?

 

“In order for the tribe to even initiate those types of plans (development on Mount Adams) we have the responsibility of seeking approval (from federal and state governments),” Meninick said. “We face an almost insurmountable amount of red tape.”

 

Mostly, however, tribal leaders are trying to figure out where a modern proposal such as this fits into a culture, which people recognize more by its tradition that its business practices.

 

“That mountain represents a very significant spiritual side of us as a people,” Meninick said. “That right now is butting heads with the contemporary valuation of economics. The question that is directly facing the tribal council and our people, is at what cost of our traditional values do we approve such a venture?”

 

Already, a conservation group is forming under the urgency of Darryl Lloyd a photographer and climber who has spent much of his professional and recreational life on Mount Adams.

 

Lloyd formed “Friends of Pah-to” in the 1970s to discourage sloppy recreational use on Mount Adams. Now, with e-mails, maps and arrows on photos, he’s resurrecting the old coalition to prevent what he might call the sloppiest recreational use of all on Adams: development.

 

“It’s an outrage,” he said. “An absolute outrage. But it’s a delicate thing because it’s the Yakama Nation’s. We might influence them in some way by massive public outcry ... This will be the mother of all wilderness battles.”

Meadows’ Riley says he’s prepared for the same fight that has followed him through his efforts to develop Cooper Spur and Government Camp.

 

“I’m expecting the usual opposition from the usual sources to any kind of resort development,” he said. “The greater point here: there’s a tribe of 10,000 people who are exploring opportunities to improve their prosperity.”

==================

[iain]

“It’s a logical extension of where Hood River is going,” Riley said. “At the end of the day, however, it’s the Yakama Nation’s decision. What’s good for the members of the Yakama Indian Nation is what’s most important.”

 

It's crap like this transparent lie that ticks me off the most.

[AllYouCanEat]

“I’m expecting the usual opposition from the usual sources to any kind of resort development,” he said. “The greater point here: there’s a tribe of 10,000 people who are exploring opportunities to improve their prosperity.”

 

I wonder whose prosperity would be improving...the usual sources I assume .

[Gaper_Jeffy]

<another snip>

Edited October 13, 2004 by Gaper_Jeffy

[Gaper_Jeffy]

<snip> <snip>

Edited October 13, 2004 by Gaper_Jeffy

[cj001f]

Maire, how can I get a hold of Darryl Lloyd by email? I'm interested in the basis for the image you attached since he hasn't seen any propsoal from MHM.

I would guess it was faxed by someone the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Toppenish, WA. The BIA location that oversees the tribe. As the plan was presented to the tribe the BIA probably knows about. The line heading out of the circle would be the tram to the top of Pikers.

 

Is your theme song now "All we are saying is give Riley a chance" ?

[Gaper_Jeffy]

<snip>

Edited October 13, 2004 by Gaper_Jeffy

[native]

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."

 

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

Edited October 1, 2004 by native

[cj001f]

native - your links don't work

[Gaper_Jeffy]

I wonder if Riley will make a proposal to the tribe that own's the Whitewater side of Mt Jefferson?

[Kitergal]

hey guys sorry!

 

his e-mail is

DARRYL LLOYD longshadow@gorge.net

 

-m

[Stefan]

Bird Creek Meadows is one of the top 5 most beautiful meadows I have ever visited in this state.

[lancegranite]

Talked to a tribal member, he said the tribe voted down the proposed development.

[steepconcrete]

I wonder if Riley will make a proposal to the tribe that own's the Whitewater side of Mt Jefferson?

 

A few different people have talked to the Warm Springs Tribe about Jefferson. A close friends roomates dad is a lawyer for the tribe.

[skierguy]

I hike, mountain climb, backpack, am an avid downhill skier,and am of Native American decent. I have long envisioned a ski area on Mt. Adams with a tram climbing to the upper reaches of the mountain reminiscent of the Klein Matterhorn tram at Zermatt, Switzerland. Being father east than Mt. Hood, or Mt. Bachelor; Mt. Adams would have drier snow than other Cascade ski areas. The ski resort would incorporate the Yakima culture in all aspects of the resort. I agree with the Yakima Nation that it be "the most environmentally sensitive development in the history of resorts." With this in mind those behind bringing a ski area to Mt. Adams have to have every intention of doing exactly this. I wish Dave Riley and all others involved in this proposal godspeed.

[Alasdair]

"the most environmentally sensitive development in the history of resorts."

Thats kind of like developing the most enviromenatally sensitive nuclear weapon in the history of weapons. What a crock of shit. If you want enviromental sensitivity make do with what you already have and use a well established ski area like hood.

[skykilo]

11,100 wouldn't put it close to being the highest ski area.

 

Ski Santa Fe on Sante Fe Baldy tops at 12,000, and they have APPROVED plans to build a higher lift.

[Gaper_Jeffy]

After spending the last 11 days Googling Indian volcan lore, I post this which is from the Friends of Mt Adams mailing list:

 

The Goldendale Sentinel - Opinion Page

Oct. 1, 2004

 

Rumbles of Discontent

 

The hundreds of earthquakes coming form Mt. Saint Helens could have an explanation other than fall rains and building pressurized steam.

 

Perhaps she is mad at Dave Riley, general manager of Mount Hood Meadows Ski Resort. It's possible that Loowit (St. Helens) is telling the Yakama Nation her thoughts about this guy Riley putting a giant behemoth of a resort upon her boyfriend Pahto (Mt. Adams).

 

The development proposal and earthquakes in the recent news come with eerie proximity.

 

Perhaps the fair maiden Loowit sees right through Riley's smoke and mirrors. "What we envision is a resort that reflects and interprets the culture of the Yakama Indian Nation," Riley told the Hood River News.

 

Did the history books gloss over that part about Yakama being rabid golfers or skiers? I've ridden my snowboard from the summit of Mt. Adams five times and of all the people I've run into up there none on skis or otherwise were Yakama. My understanding is they thought white men to be nuts for going up the volcanoes in the early days.

 

Maybe Loowit is shaking so much because she sees Riley's plan for what it is, a race to own the first major destination resort in the Northwest. Every resort in the Cascades is chasing the dream, to be like Colorado with giant shopping centers and hotel complexes serving skiers who get out once a year and go to full service resorts and spend hundreds of millions on everything sold around skiing. Most can't even ski the terrain at the proposed 11,000-foot height the Adams gondola would reach.

 

It's not about skiing or helping the Yakama, it's about developing real estate and golf. It's about getting rich, she said with the last 2.0 quake. Ski resorts define "capital flight" with profits going into the multinational corporation that own them and little to the locals who are then priced out of their homes, she said with another minutes later.

 

"It's a logical extension of where Hood River is going," Riley told the Media.

 

Could it be that Loowit wants Riley to know that Hood River doesn't own the natural splendor and wild areas on this side of the river? Perhaps she wants Pah-to to stay the semi-wild place that he is.

 

I've skied her too, we've talked and she knows that ski resorts don't really bring much money to the local economy. Loowit could be grabbing your attention saying the only thing to come is part-time seasonal jobs that pay minimum wage and a season pass to any ski bum willing to run the lifts or flip burgers and bed sheets for soft city-skiers looking for the Extreme experience of riding on a live volcano.

 

Not my boyfriend she is saying, don't sell him into slavery like you did Wyeast (Mt. Hood).

 

-- Greg Skinner

[empire]

This is all pretty hilarious. As if such a group of idealistic plebeians has any idea how the world of large business works, or any right to tell a man such as Dave Riley how to run his business. Personally I can't wait for lifts on Adams, nobody in Washington really seems to care about it anyway. How many signs point you to Mt. Adams from the Washington side?

[Bandit]

The State of Washington needs to have a resort like this. With the unemployment high and the timber industry down, bring it on. I can't wait for it to happen.

[Gaper_Jeffy]

Who is turning the trolls on?

 

These posts remind me of a bummer sticker I saw on an MHM vehicle once. It said in big letters "RESORT? YES" and underneath http://www.friendsofcooperspur.com/, which is a pro Cooper Spur development website.

[Bandit]

It will be competition for Whistler, B.C.

[cj001f]

It will be competition for Whistler, B.C.

[Bandit]

Don't under estimate the power of The American Indian. It will be the Yakima Indians laughing all the way to the bank when they get their resort up and running.