Big_MARK
09-16-2004, 07:06 AM
Right here (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002036908_wildsky16.html)
Wild Sky compromise offered by Nethercutt
By Alex Fryer
Seattle Times Washington bureau
U.S. Rep. George Nethercutt, R-Spokane, introduced a bill yesterday to extend wilderness protection to a swath of Snohomish County known as Wild Sky, leaving out 13,300 acres of lowland forests in an effort to placate GOP leaders.
Nethercutt called his bill a compromise necessary to win the approval of a powerful Republican House committee chairman who has objected to previous Wild Sky proposals.
Congressional Democrats, including Rep. Rick Larsen of Lake Stevens, whose district includes the proposed Wild Sky Wilderness Area, quickly blasted Nethercutt's proposal.
In a joint statement, Larsen and Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Bainbridge Island, expressed "exasperation" with Nethercutt's bill, which they say "undercuts years of bipartisan efforts to designate Wild Sky Wilderness."
Larsen and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., previously devised a plan to protect 106,000 acres near Index by designating it wilderness, which would outlaw mining, logging and most vehicle traffic.
Murray twice pushed that Wild Sky bill through the U.S. Senate, but it then stalled in the House Resource Committee chaired by Richard Pombo, R-Calif.
Pombo has objected to Wild Sky because some of the acreage had previously been logged and mined, making it less than pristine and, Pombo argues, not eligible for wilderness protection under federal law.
Nethercutt's plan extends wilderness protection to 92,700 acres. But he seeks to create a 13,300-acre Backcountry Wilderness Management Area, which might allow some development.
Although the bill prohibits any mining or commercial logging on any of the land, it is unclear what other uses would be prohibited on the 13,300 acres. Under the bill, the Forest Service has three years to come up with a management plan.
"I know there is a campaign to criticize anything that is not the Murray bill," Nethercutt said. "But her proposal is dead in the House, and I think it is wrong not to act to preserve this area."
The bill's Democratic boosters said if the choice was between Nethercutt's bill and nothing, they would opt for nothing.
Said Larsen: "Congressman Nethercutt should focus his energy on the Wild Sky Wilderness Act that provides solid, tried and tested protections under the law — not on a hollow, undefined, low-ball proposal."
Alex Fryer: 206-464-8124 or afryer@seattletimes.com
Wild Sky compromise offered by Nethercutt
By Alex Fryer
Seattle Times Washington bureau
U.S. Rep. George Nethercutt, R-Spokane, introduced a bill yesterday to extend wilderness protection to a swath of Snohomish County known as Wild Sky, leaving out 13,300 acres of lowland forests in an effort to placate GOP leaders.
Nethercutt called his bill a compromise necessary to win the approval of a powerful Republican House committee chairman who has objected to previous Wild Sky proposals.
Congressional Democrats, including Rep. Rick Larsen of Lake Stevens, whose district includes the proposed Wild Sky Wilderness Area, quickly blasted Nethercutt's proposal.
In a joint statement, Larsen and Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Bainbridge Island, expressed "exasperation" with Nethercutt's bill, which they say "undercuts years of bipartisan efforts to designate Wild Sky Wilderness."
Larsen and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., previously devised a plan to protect 106,000 acres near Index by designating it wilderness, which would outlaw mining, logging and most vehicle traffic.
Murray twice pushed that Wild Sky bill through the U.S. Senate, but it then stalled in the House Resource Committee chaired by Richard Pombo, R-Calif.
Pombo has objected to Wild Sky because some of the acreage had previously been logged and mined, making it less than pristine and, Pombo argues, not eligible for wilderness protection under federal law.
Nethercutt's plan extends wilderness protection to 92,700 acres. But he seeks to create a 13,300-acre Backcountry Wilderness Management Area, which might allow some development.
Although the bill prohibits any mining or commercial logging on any of the land, it is unclear what other uses would be prohibited on the 13,300 acres. Under the bill, the Forest Service has three years to come up with a management plan.
"I know there is a campaign to criticize anything that is not the Murray bill," Nethercutt said. "But her proposal is dead in the House, and I think it is wrong not to act to preserve this area."
The bill's Democratic boosters said if the choice was between Nethercutt's bill and nothing, they would opt for nothing.
Said Larsen: "Congressman Nethercutt should focus his energy on the Wild Sky Wilderness Act that provides solid, tried and tested protections under the law — not on a hollow, undefined, low-ball proposal."
Alex Fryer: 206-464-8124 or afryer@seattletimes.com