Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife takes Chelan County, businesses to court over land use permit

MALAGA — The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is taking Malaga-based development company, Ravenwing Ranch LLC, Columbia River LLC and subsequently, Chelan County, to court over a proposed resort land use decision.

A preliminary hearing is slated in Chelan County Superior Court Jan. 30.

WDFW is suing the businesses and county over a conditional use permit for gravel mining and citing an “inadequate environmental analysis” by the county. According to court documents, the county granted the developer a conditional use permit to mine talus, loose rocks, within 400 acres of the proposed resort that was previously designated to remain open space in its native condition.

The initial permit for the resort was issued in 2006 with no proposed mining activity from “natural talus formations” on site. In 2018, a habitat management and mitigation plan provided by Ravenwing Ranch did not include mitigation for mining activity, according to court documents. The new gravel permit is stated to be “factually and legally incorrect,” and is urged to be reversed in court documents.

Chelan County hearing examiner, Andrew Kottkamp, signed off on the new conditional permit September 2023. A public hearing on the permit was in August 2023.

WDFW flagged talus slopes at the proposed project location and that work in talus should be avoided in the permit application in July 2023. The new gravel permit signed off on by the county allows the developer to mine 8,000 to 11,000 cubic yards of gravel to use for the proposed resort.

“Talus slopes provide a habitat for a variety of native wildlife and avian species. They are an extremely sensitive habitat feature and are hard to recreate through mitigation,” read a comment letter submitted by WDFW in July 2023. “The undeveloped area within this parcel potentially qualifies as a Fish and Wildlife Conservation Area.”

Separately, Chelan County PUD is in a tentative purchase sale agreement with Ravenwing Ranch for almost 5,000 acres of property on a plateau in the Colockum Road area. The PUD is under a 90-day due diligence period to investigate the property with $5,000 of earnest money put down by the PUD. The PUD didn’t specifically disclose the property’s future use, but earmarked it as part of a 50-year visioning plan.