Wild Sky Wilderness Act

The Wild Sky Wilderness Act would designate approximately 106,000 acres in Northwest Washington state as a wilderness area.

The proposed legislation can be read here

The parts of the United States Code defined by the Wilderness Act of 1964 can be read here

Testimony from the June 4, 2003 hearing of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
Article in the June 5, 2003 edition of the Everett Herald
Arlene Brooks' email to Snohomish County Councilmen.
Read Wild Washington's take on the June 28 Festival
Article "Wilderness plan finds foes" in the July 23 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Editorial "Wild Sky moves one step forward" in the July 24 Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Rally Against Wild Sky Wilderness
June 28, 2003, 9:30AM - Outside Index Tavern - Index, WA
Read article about the rally and Rep. Rick Larsen's celebration in the Jun 29, 2003 edition of the Everett Herald.

Opposition Letter (Download MSWord format)

Sample Letter (Download MSWord format)

June 18, 2003

The Honorable __________________
United States House of Representatives
Washington DC 20510

Dear Representative _________________

I am writing regarding the proposed “Wild Sky” Wilderness Act, HR 822 and S391. I am oppose the “Wild Sky” Wilderness Act and am asking you to vote against it.

Suggestions for your letter:
Washington State has 9 million acres of public land and 2.2 million acres of those lands are “Wilderness.” More wilderness is not needed.

The wilderness site is in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest north of U.S. 2 and the towns of Index and Skykomish. It features high mountain areas as well as lowland forests where salmon spawn.

Created under the 1964 Wilderness Act, wilderness designations are the most stringent protection for federal lands. They generally prohibit roads or permanent structures as well as mining, logging and most vehicular traffic. The proposed wilderness area includes 27 miles of existing roads. To remove the roads and culverts would cost $6 million.

The Bush administration supports much of the bill but questions the inclusion of 16,000 acres formerly used for logging and other commercial purposes. Recommend those (16,000 acres) be designated for backcountry recreation instead of wilderness.

Snohomish County, which is already hurt by restricting logging and mining would get another blow to their economy by this proposal. The bill would make the area unreachable to the average Snohomish family and make fighting fires more difficult, if bridges and roads are closed.

Thank you for considering my input, please contact me if you have questions.

Sincerely,

Name
Address
Phone

It is a constant struggle to keep our lands open, this page contains information on Land Issues and what you can do to help.