On the far Eastern edge of the Cascade Range, near Wenatchee, Washington, lies Mission Ridge Ski Resort. Cherished by locals and known for its Sasquatch statue, a piece of a wing from a B-29, and cliff bands that command respect from any freeride enthusiast, Mission Ridge has been working on a major development project off and on since 1986. Mission Ridge Expansion is a 20-year master planned development that would add a 57-room ski lodge, 621 condos, including 80 beds for employee housing, 110,000 square feet of commercial space, and expanded parking in a new base area adjacent to the existing ski area. The project would only add 18 new ski trails on 62 acres of new terrain serviced by three new chairlifts. The tallest lift only supplies skiers with 755 feet of vertical, compared to the 2,250 feet of vertical in the current ski area. Project descriptions identify this new terrain as a much needed expansion of beginner terrain at the resort. The project would also develop cross-country skiing and snowshoe trails, and mountain biking and hiking trails for year-round recreation.
The expansion project takes place on a mix of private land, state land managed by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and federal land managed by the U.S. Forest Service. This checkerboard of land means that approvals for the project need to come from Chelan County, the State of Washington, and the Federal Government. Both the State of Washington and the Federal Government require environmental review to happen to understand the potential impacts of the project before approval can be granted. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Mission Ridge Expansion, published in September 2025, covered required aspects of both the State and Federal environmental review processes. Since the Mission Ridge Expansion is a phased development project, initial approvals must come from all of the different land managers before the initial phase can begin, but subsequent phases may only require approval from a smaller subset, depending on what that particular phase encompasses.
“Over nearly a decade of collaboration with Chelan County and agency partners, and the community, the project has already evolved substantially to proactively mitigate potential impacts, including changes to the layout of lifts, roads, and residential areas,” Matt Neubauer, General Manager of Mission Ridge, told SnowBrains in an email. “Since 2015, we’ve hosted multiple public open houses, community meetings, and site visits; provided regular project updates through our website and social media; and participated in numerous one-on-one meetings with local residents, businesses, and stakeholder groups.”
The Draft Environmental Impact Statement identified a few different findings of significant impact, including land disturbances with the potential for landslide and increased wildfire risk, along with a host of other impacts that were deemed not significant. One of the impacts that did not rise to the level of being significant was disturbances to wildlife and wildlife habitat. The Draft drew on wildlife surveys from 2024, 2020, and 2008, finding that although there would be disturbances to elk and mule deer habitat caused by the project, elk and mule deer are “highly mobile and capable of finding alternative routes between summer and winter ranges.” Elk are not classified by the Federal Government or the Washington Fish and Wildlife Department as endangered or threatened, but they are identified as an “important economic and cultural resource,” and care is taken during environmental review to investigate impacts to calving grounds, migratory routes, and wintering habitats.
Though the Draft Environmental Impact Statement found that the project area did not contain any migratory corridors or wintering habitats, the Friends of Mission Ridge, a nonprofit that has voiced concerns over the proposed development, documented a major migration route for elk and other wildlife as well as wintering elk within the project area. Friends of Mission Ridge conducted a wildlife survey with 19 trail cameras starting in August 2024 in and around the project area. The results of that survey directly contradict the findings of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement in a few key areas, including documenting the presence of wintering elk, the American pika, northern goshawk, and golden eagles in the project area.
Matt Neubauer, General Manager of Mission Ridge, told SnowBrains in an email:
“We will certainly review all comment letters submitted during the Draft EIS comment period. The analysis, which relied on Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife data and field studies, did not identify a major wildlife migration corridor through the proposed ski area expansion. However, the project does include numerous mitigation measures to protect wildlife, including maintaining forest cover, managing lighting and noise, and avoiding construction during sensitive periods.”
Some of the conclusions about impacts to wildlife in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement were based on models for identifying habitat quality using geospatial data. After plugging in changes to the landscape based on the project description, metrics like 2% of the project area changing from moderate to low quality elk habitat were used to conclude that impacts to wildlife would be minimal. These models can be useful to plan field observations or identify areas for closer study, but the Friends of Mission Ridge Study shows that direct observation can reveal quite a different story from what an armchair wildlife biologist might conclude.
Decisions on development projects involving Federal land like the Mission Ridge Expansion are required under the Environmental Protection Act to consider impacts to the environment through a process of environmental review. After a decision is made, if a group like Friends of Mission Ridge can prove in court that the environmental review did not adequately consider certain impacts, the approval for the project could be overturned while further study is conducted to address the deficiencies. Failing to identify important species in a project area or improperly estimating impacts on those species are examples of ways environmental groups try to get environmental reviews thrown out as incomplete, slowing or halting development.
The Final Environmental Impact Statement is not expected until later this year, after which Chelan County, the State of Washington, and the Forest Service can make a decision on the project. Ski area expansion is a natural part of the ski industry, but responsible development and stewardship of the land is essential to preserve natural resources for future generations. Neubauer added, “It’s quite common for ski areas to face opposition groups whenever change or growth is proposed. That’s part of the dialogue that comes with operating in a passionate and engaged mountain community.” The coming months could offer a rare chance at collaboration between a developer and a conservation group, and the Final Environmental Impact Statement and its response to public comments, including those from groups like Friends of Mission Ridge, will offer insight into what extent that collaboration may happen on this project.
Wing was from a B-24.