Group aims to unite small community

By GORDY HOLT
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Cooperation is the philosophy driving the Snoqualmie Pass Community Council, SNOPAC for short. SNOPAC was created in 1990 to develop the area's comprehensive plan, and has made a point of calling this a neighborhood, says member Jack Blanchard, a retired forestry chemist from West Seattle.

Should the sale of Ski Lifts to Booth Creek trigger yet another rise in local blood pressure, development can now be expected to move carefully, he says.

Blanchard maintains a weekend cabin on Yellowstone Trail Road, and clings to the assumption that controls on development are needed. To that end, he says, SNOPAC not only created a framework for growth, but has improved communication between the region's disparate owners.

"But I think we'll succeed," he says. "SNOPAC is a very active group. We got together in 1990 and we have stayed together, and I think that will be good for this community in the long run."