Wild Sky Wilderness

[Grumpy]

As copied from the PNW4WDA forum - This area is over in Snohomish County near Gold Bar. If anyone knows of the Reiter area - this was part of it up top! I hoped I would have never seen this day - I gotta say that because I have not lived in the area for 3 years - that I lost track till I heard a blurb on the news. Yet, another reminder to never say, someone else will write that letter or I do it next time. If hyou do have a moment right now - take ACTION on this or anything else - EVERYTIME, or you too may or will lose your favorite wheeling area! this should have NOT ever have gotten this far! Pam
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Here is the latest information and final action item we can do with regards to Wild Sky Wilderness. As you read the previous posts it gives to some history of the bill and information that has been acquired over the past six years.
The following is a combined effort from the IAD and WA. St. Directors offices - "we need to ask President Bush to veto Section 101 of S.2739 - Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008." Some items you might want to include in your letter would be:

) Creation of the Wild Sky Wilderness should have been done as a separate bill not attached to a Natural Resouirces Act that included over sixty proposals. This was a massive bill that extended federal immigration and labor laws (Western Island of Marinans); granted a delegate in the House with limited voting powers (Guam - Puerto Rico ); to creating Heritage Areas on the east coast (Illinois and New York). Because this bill included popular projects across the nation - it found strong support for passage.

) In the early stages while acquiring information - the Forest Service testified that 90,000 acres of the 106,000 proposed would be appropriate for wilderness - however, 16,000 are problematic. With human intervention, these acres have been previously harvested, roads and bridges constructed, and contain mining activities.

) It has been six years since active public participatition took place - citizens given opporunity to submit their input, but the question now is: Does the land designation have the support from the local community; and will the NW Forest Plan be amended to address HR822 which removed 14% of land identified for timber harvest (matrix lands) and designated them as wilderness?

) Legislation to designate new wilderness should reflect the intent of the 1964 Wilderness Act and should not contain special exceptions. It seems each designation comes with a different interpretation and lowers the bar on what constitutes wilderness protection and dilutes the meaning of the Act.

) Washington State has 9 million acres of public land and 2.2 million acres of those lands are in "Wilderness." More wilderness is not needed.

) Under the 1964 Wilderness Act, wilderness designations are the most strigent protection for federal/public lands. They generally prohibit roads or permanent structures as well as mining, logging and most vehicular and mechanized (Mountain Bike) traffic. The proposed wilderness area includes 27 miles of existing roads; to remove the roads and culverts will cost $6 million alone; the cost to the taxpayers of this designation will be $19 million plus.

) We do support keeping our public lands open for all to enjoy.

Contact information:
President Bush <comments@whitehouse .gov> or (202)456-1111.

Please note - It is states on the website - "due to the large volume of e-mail received, the White House can not respond to every message."

If you have any question or need clarification - please feel free to contact myself at <arlenebrooks@ comcast.net> or the IAD officers Don & Carol Jensen <iad1 or iad 2@pnw4wda.org>.

Please take time and let your voice be heard on the new wilderness designation - Veto Section 101 of Senate Bill 2739.

Thanks, Don, Carol and Arlene

[Grumpy]

Wild Sky Passes House, Final Stop before President's Desk





For Immediate Release: Tuesday, April 29, 2008




(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) led the Wild Sky Wilderness bill to passage in the U.S. House of Representatives, the final stop before the bill can be sent to the President who is expected to sign it into law. The Wild Sky bill, legislation to preserve more than 106,000 acres of wild land in Snohomish County, passed the House today by a vote of 291 to 117 as part of the bipartisan Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008. On April 10, Wild Sky passed the Senate under the leadership of U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA).

“We’ve reached the end of a long hike. There have been many twists and turns along the way, and let me tell you – it’s a beautiful view from here,â€

[Grumpy]

Bush signs Wild Sky wilderness bill in Washington state
By MATTHEW DALY
WASHINGTON Nearly six years after it was first introduced, a bill to create a Wild Sky Wilderness northeast of Seattle has become law.

President Bush signed a bill Thursday making Wild Sky the first new wilderness area in Washington state in nearly a quarter-century.

The House gave final approval to the bill last month. It designates 167 square miles in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest north of Sultan, Wash., as federal wilderness, the government's highest level of protection.


Wild Sky, sponsored by Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Rick Larsen, both D-Wash., is the first new federally designated wilderness in Washington since 1984.

"Reaching the end of the trail never felt so good," said Larsen. "Today marks the summit of a long journey made possible by many committed people and years of community input. Together, we not only created a new wilderness bill, but a new model for creating wilderness in the future."

Murray said Wild Sky "has always brought diverse people together to do what's right for our environment and our future. I can't wait to lace up my tennis shoes and take those first steps into Washington's first new wilderness area in 24 years."

The bill signed Thursday also designates a site on Bainbridge Island, Wash., where hundreds of Japanese-Americans were forced from their homes on the way to internment camps during World War II as a national historic site.

It also designates a recreation trail in Oregon's Willamette National Forest in honor of former Rep. Jim Weaver, D-Ore.

Wild Sky, first introduced in 2002, covers approximately 106,000 acres of low-elevation forest on the west slope of the Cascades. The wilderness designation will block development and other economic activity in a sprawling area north of U.S. Highway 2 that includes habitat for bears, bald eagles and other wildlife, as well as streams, hiking trails and other recreation.

Murray, who has championed the measure for nearly nine years, said it was "an example of wilderness done the right way," with support from a range of local groups and elected officials.

Wild Sky, named for the Skykomish River, is 90 minutes from Seattle and offers millions of people access to rolling hills, rushing rivers and low-elevation forests, supporters say. The area now will be preserved for generations to come, they said.

Environmentalists hailed the bill-signing and praised Larsen and Murray for their work.

"We've waited a long time for this day, and oh, what a great day it is," said Jon Owen of the Campaign for America's Wilderness. "After a long struggle, Sen. Murray and Congressman Larsen have brought Wild Sky home for all of us, protected for all time. For Americans of all walks of life, of different viewpoints and different interests, Wild Sky is truly our common ground."

[Grumpy]

One barrier remains to full Wild Sky access

As Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Rick Larsen gazed in awe Friday at the magnificent Wild Sky Wilderness Area they and others had worked so long and hard to create, they did so from a distance. Unfortunately, many Puget Sound residents hoping to visit the nation's newest wilderness probably won't get much closer for the next few years.

Part of the main access road to Wild Sky, the Index-Galena Road, was washed out in the Election Day flooding of November 2006. Reopening it will be a major project. The North Fork of the Skykomish River has taken over what once was roadway, forcing the road to be relocated around the washout areas. Design, environmental work and construction could take six years, Snohomish County Public Works Director Steve Thomsen estimates. Steep, rugged terrain makes the project particularly challenging, he said.

In the meantime, getting to the main entrance of Wild Sky requires taking a 40-mile detour up the Beckler River Road east of Skykomish, and over Jack Pass, which is often impassable during the winter. That could be enough of an inconvenience to keep most city-dwelling day hikers from venturing into Wild Sky for now.

Much of the $12 million to $14 million needed to rebuild the Index-Galena Road was secured through emergency federal highway dollars the county sought shortly after the flood, Thomsen said. If more is needed to see the project through, Murray said she stands ready to help as chair of the Senate subcommittee that writes the nation's transportation budget. The county should keep that in mind, and do whatever else it can to speed the completion of this project so the full vision of a Wild Sky Wilderness that's accessible to all can be realized.

That, after all, is what makes Wild Sky unique. The main entrance to the 106,000-acre area contains low-elevation terrain where visitors can look in wonder at the sheer granite cliffs, steep wooded ridges and clean rushing rivers and creeks that will forever be protected from mechanized intrusion. People of nearly any physical ability, including those in wheelchairs, will be able to take in its pristine beauty. Many of them will spend money in nearby communities, which is partly why local business owners overwhelmingly supported the Wild Sky legislation.

But until the Index-Galena Road is rebuilt, at least some of that benefit will be on hold. The sooner the main route into Wild Sky is opened, the better.

[Grumpy]

12-14 million!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????????????