Stevens Pass in the Washington Cascades was just named one of the greenest ski areas in the U.S.
Flickr/Henry Alva
Washington's Stevens Pass is one of the greenest ski resorts in the land.
That's the verdict of the National Ski Areas Association, which gave the resort in Washington's Cascades a 2012 Golden Eagle Award for Environmental Excellence. The two other resorts to receive the honor this year are in Maine and Colorado.
Stevens Pass was deemed the greenest medium-sized resort of the year by virtue of its energy conservation and greenhouse gas reduction efforts. For five years Stevens Pass has used renewable energy credits and carbon offsets to compensate for all of its electricity and propane consumption.
Stevens Pass has paid for an amount of electricity from wind power that -- if generated instead by fossil fuel-burning plants -- would emit 16,182 tons of carbon dioxide. That's equivalent to taking 2,878 cars off the road for a year, according the ski association's announcement.
A Stevens Pass official said reducing its carbon footprint is just one of the things the ski area has done to help the environment.
“Our company-wide focus on sustainability includes many progressive programs, and we are especially pleased to receive this national acknowledgement,” said Ross Freeman, Environment & Sustainability Manager for Stevens Pass.
Central Oregon's Mt. Bachelor resort is the Northwest's only other Golden Eagle award, netting the honor for environmental stewardship in 1994 -- the first year it was given out.