The Wild Olympics Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act recently passed the House and U.S. Senator Patty Murray has introduced a companion bill in the Senate. Wild Olympics would designate more than 126,000 acres of public land as wilderness and 19 rivers and their major tributaries on the Olympic Peninsula as wild and scenic rivers.
Here is a detailed list of what the act does and the associated benefits.
In a nutshell, Wild Olympics does the following. (Pay particular attention to number three.)
- Creates 126,661 acres of new Wilderness in Olympic National Forest.
- Creates 19 new Wild and Scenic Rivers
- Won’t impact timber jobs because it protects almost exclusively areas already off-limits to logging under current national forest management rules.
Seeing the forest through the trees.
Despite being a multi-year public process including extensive local community input from Tribes, conservation groups, timber communities, business leaders, shellfish growers, farmers, local elected officials, hunters, anglers, mountain bikers, hikers, federal & state land managers & the general public, the City Council of Forks passed a resolution 4-1 opposing Wild Olympics.
Wild Olympics will create new economic opportunities while protecting existing timber jobs while protecting the Olympic Peninsula’s ancient forests, free-flowing rivers and stunning scenery for future generations. The City of Forks should join the other 806 individuals/organizations that support The Wild Olympics.
If it’s protecting what is basically already protected, then what’s the point. As a 4th generation Forks area resident, I can honestly say that for once our city council listened to the people.
We don’t come to your back yard and tell you how to manage your neighborhood, and we would appreciate the same.
It’s hard enough to make a living in West clallam county, and this bill will only make it harder