Wild Sky Includes 106,000+ Mount Baker – Snoqualmie Forest Acres
Creation of Wild Sky Wilderness Area finally wins approval in U.S. House
The Wild Sky Wilderness is a 106,577-acre (431 km²) wilderness area in the western Cascade Range of Washington state. The wilderness is within the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest north of the U.S. Highway 2 towns of Index and Skykomish. The wilderness flanks, but does not include, the North Fork Skykomish River and the Beckler River. The Henry M. Jackson Wilderness is adjacent to the east and northeast.
The Wild Sky Wilderness is significant because it is the first new federally-designated wilderness in Washington since 1984. Also, unlike many other wilderness areas in the Cascades, Wild Sky protects significant amounts of high biological productivity low-elevation forest.
WHAT THE BILL MEANS
Under Larsen’s bill, 106,577 acres in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest would receive the highest level of protection afforded federal property.
It would be off limits to vehicles, including bicycles and snowmobiles, as well as to logging, mining and other commercial uses. Wheelchairs would be allowed, and the proposal calls for a 2-mile former logging road to be converted to a wheelchair-accessible trail.
Road construction would be prohibited except in emergencies, such as fires. The goal is to preserve the land so that the 2.4 million people who live within two hours of the valley can experience views and vistas that greeted the first settlers.
106,577 acres in the Mount Baker- Snoqualmie National Forest would receive the highest level of protection afforded federal property.
For a detailed Wild Sky article click this Seattle P I link
To read this blog author (Larry Cragun) on theSeattle P I Real Estate Professionals Blog, click here.
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