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Wild Sky Moves Forward - Washington state wilderness proposal includes land not studied for 'wildernes suitability' American Forest Resource Council News 9/20/02
The legislation is controversial in that the proposed area contains matrix lands allocated to multiple-use management under the Northwest Forest Plan, lands that were not studied for wilderness suitability as part of the Forest Plan and associated NEPA process, and lands that do not meet the "untrammeled" standard of the 1964 Wilderness Act. This controversy was noted by House Resources Committee Chairman, James Hansen (R-UT), as the legislation moved through mark-up without a hearing. In a statement from the Chairman, it was noted that, "(t)here are members of this committee that have strong concerns about this bill as it stands now. "The bill includes lands that do not have wilderness character and do not meet the intent of the Wilderness Act of 1964. This includes a lookout tower used as a recreational facility, lands with patented mining claims, and lands with recent harvest activity and open roads. "In addition there are 13,000 acres of lands identified in the Northwest Forest Plan as matrix lands to be used for adaptive management. "Designating the matrix lands as wilderness would preclude their use for adaptive management purposes. While we reluctantly agreed to move this bill through committee today, it is not ready for suspension or to be included in a package for the Senate until these issues are resolved in a manner that is supported by all our members." Subsequently, it was reported in the local press that
Congressman Larsen had acknowledged that options had to be sorted-out
to deal with the Chairman's concerns. AFRC expressed its opposition
to this legislation for these same reasons. /Will Hamilton |