By REBEKAH DENN
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Some residents suggest tourism is the key to the city's future, given its backdrop of snowy mountain peaks and its strategic spot as a gateway to the outdoors.

There are more than 360 miles of trails in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest east of town, and most visitors pass through Granite Falls on the way.

Day-trippers head to the Big Four Ice Caves a half-hour away, or hike into the ghost town of Monte Cristo. Others drive the length of the Mountain Loop Highway, a national scenic byway and a link to the north Cascades. The Verlot Ranger Station near the entrance to the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie forest shows a connect-the-dots wealth of campgrounds and trails.

Visitors also enjoy snowshoeing and cross-country skiing in the winter, says forestry technician Diane Boyd.

Some Granite Falls residents take advantage of the nearby wilderness for fishing, hunting and camping. Others say the same splendor is right in their backgrounds, particularly for those who live on the ferny banks of the Stillaguamish River.

"I feel really lucky," says resident Lyndia Mitchell, who moved from Seattle to her home by the river 15 years ago. Mitchell, who works at the town pharmacy, says giving up the conveniences of city life was a small price to pay for the beauty and friendships of the small town.

Though Granite Falls is a gateway to the outdoors, the reverse is also true. Trucks loaded with gravel, sand and lumber relentlessly rumble through the streets.

The town and Snohomish County have talked for years about building a bypass road to route the trucks around town and neutralize the noise.

The idea gained new life after a controversial proposal to build a new sand and gravel quarry in unincorporated land nearby. It would add an estimated 620 trucks each weekday to the roads.

The CSR Associated company hopes to use the 2-square-mile site east of town to replace its existing mine in Everett, which is approaching the end of its useful life. Supporters say it will bring jobs to Granite Falls and tax dollars to the region. The company says it will set aside more than half the land as an undeveloped buffer and mitigate the impacts on the rest.

But many residents object to the extra trucks, and others say a quarry would inevitably blight the environmentally sensitive land between the salmon-spawning river and the scenic highway.

The Stillaguamish Citizens Alliance, an environmental group focused on the Granite Falls area, has opposed the quarry for the past several years. The county hearing examiner recently denied the company's application and the company has appealed the decision to the Snohomish County Council.

The alliance has also worked for other environmental causes in the area, says member Steve Manske. Its successes include preserving 40 acres of old-growth trees from logging and helping start up a new park in nearby Robe Canyon.

The group has some 450 members -- many from the region, but others who joined up from around the world after visiting Granite Falls and hoping to preserve what they saw, Manske says.

"Everyone who comes out here is amazed at the beauty of the area," he says.