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Kittitas County December 2016 Comprehensive Plan <br />guidelines allow for adaptability; as new information from research and monitoring of other <br />projects becomes available, adjustments will be made to the adopted guidelines. <br />3. The Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust project. The Greenway is a coalition of people <br />representing land owners and managers, foresters, business representatives, recreation <br />groups, environmentalists, and government agencies. All major land owners and managers <br />along I-90 are represented. Through the efforts of the Greenway Trust, Interstate 90 was <br />designated a National Scenic Byway in 1998. <br /> <br />This coalition of diverse interests has formed a network of critical alliances that, year by <br />year, is implementing its plan to protect more of the scenic and recreational landscape <br />along I-90. Since 1991, over 50,000 acres of forest, open space and historic lands have been <br />purchased or exchanged into public ownership for Greenway purposes, including <br />permanent forestry, parks and wildlife habitat. <br /> <br />Although the Mountains to Sound effort has not yet directly affected planning for lands <br />within the planning area, their efforts to ensure a scenic corridor, in which the Pass is a <br />significant feature, is one important element in the success of the Pass as a residential and <br />resort community. Likewise, maintenance and enhancement of the scenic quality of the Pass <br />will continue to be an essential part of the success of the Greenway project. <br />4. The Summit at Snoqualmie Master Plan. Under Booth Creek Holdings, the ski area has <br />completed a comprehensive Master Plan, which will substantially improve the overall <br />quality of outdoor skiing experience offered to its customer base. <br /> <br />The components of the Master Plan involve the replacement of existing older chair lifts with <br />new modem lift technology, the improved integration of the Summit West, Summit Central, <br />and Summit East resorts by the cutting of new trails and improved base area transit service, <br />and substantial upgrades of base area facilities, skier support services, restaurants and <br />specialty retail shops. Parking and circulation among the base areas of the mountains will be <br />improved. <br /> <br />The Summit Ski Areas produced a combined 503,000 skier visits during the 1998/99 season, <br />or roughly 30 percent of all visits recorded at Washington ski areas. An additional 50,000 <br />visits were generated for the Nordic and tubing areas. This total of alpine visitation ranks the <br />Summit as the largest ski area in the State of Washington, second only to Mt. Bachelor in <br />the Washington/Oregon/Idaho region. It ranks within the upper five percent of ski areas of <br />the United States. <br /> <br />It has been estimated by the ski areas that, by the 2004/05 ski season, annual skier visits will <br />grow to 548,000, and Nordic and tubing visits will expand to 75,000 visits, with substantial <br />increases in non-ski “other” winter visits, as well. Design peak-capacity of the four areas will <br />increase from approximately 10,000 skiers at one time (SAOT) currently to 15,070 SAOT <br />after the planned improvements are completed. <br />