The Wild Sky Wilderness is a

wilderness area Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

in the western Cascade Range of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

state. The wilderness is within the

Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

north of the U.S. Highway 2 towns of Index and

Skykomish Skykomish is a town in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 198 as of the 2010 census, down from an estimated peak of "several thousand" in the 1920s. Located in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, 49 miles east ...

. The wilderness flanks, but does not include, the North Fork Skykomish River and the

Beckler River The Beckler River is a tributary of the South Fork Skykomish River in the U.S. state of Washington in the United States. The Beckler River originates near Jack Pass and flows southeast about where it is joined by the Rapid River, its princip ...

. The Henry M. Jackson Wilderness is adjacent to the east and northeast. The highest point in Wild Sky Wilderness is 6,244 foot Gunn Peak. Until 2014 with the expansion of the

Alpine Lakes Wilderness The Alpine Lakes Wilderness is a large wilderness area spanning the Central Cascades of Washington state in the United States. The wilderness is located in parts of Wenatchee National Forest and Snoqualmie National Forest, and is approximately b ...

by President Obama, the Wild Sky Wilderness was significant because it was 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

productivity Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production proces ...

low-elevation

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

Legislative history

The Wild Sky Wilderness required several legislative attempts before becoming law, despite broad local support. Prior to 2007, the Wild Sky bill was blocked in committee by Representative

Richard Pombo Richard William Pombo, GOIH (born January 8, 1961) is an American lobbyist for mining and water-management companies and former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, having represented California's 11th congressional ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, who was not reelected in 2006.

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

had been receptive to the proposal. In February 2007, Senator

Patty Murray Patricia Lynn Murray (; born October 11, 1950) is an American politician and educator who is the senior United States senator from Washington since 1993. A member of the Democratic Party, Murray was in the Washington State Senate from 1988 to ...

and

Rep Rep, REP, or a variant may refer to: As a word * Rep (fabric), a ribbed woven fabric made from various materials * ''Rep'' (TV series), a 1982 British comedy series * '' The Rep'', an entertainment guide published by the ''Arizona Republic'' 1997 ...

Rick Larsen Richard Ray Larsen (born June 15, 1965) is an American politician and lobbyist serving as the United States representative for since 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, Larsen is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the House ...

introduced

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred to ...

to designate the Wild Sky as wilderness. The bill then passed the House and had been approved by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Before the bill came to the Senate floor, however, it was put on

hold Hold may refer to: Physical spaces * Hold (ship), interior cargo space * Baggage hold, cargo space on an airplane * Stronghold, a castle or other fortified place Arts, entertainment, and media * Hold (musical term), a pause, also called a Ferm ...

by Oklahoma Republican

Tom Coburn Thomas Allen Coburn (March 14, 1948 – March 28, 2020) was an American politician and physician who served as a United States senator for Oklahoma from 2005, until his resignation in 2015. A Republican, he previously served as a United St ...

, and never reached a vote. The

Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 The Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008 (; CNRA) was an act passed in the 110th United States Congress and enacted on May 8, 2008. Legislative history The bill was introduced by Senator Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, a Democrat and the ch ...

, creating the Wild Sky Wilderness, was passed by the U.S. Senate on April 10, 2008, and then passed the U.S. House of Representatives a little less than three weeks later on April 29. President Bush signed the Wilderness into law on May 8, 2008.

Private land

When the Wild Sky Wilderness was first proposed, about of private land (

inholding An inholding is privately owned land inside the boundary of a national park, national forest, state park, or similar publicly owned, protected area. In-holdings result from private ownership of lands predating the designation of the park or fores ...

s) were within its boundaries. Since 2003 the

Wilderness Land Trust The Wilderness Land Trust is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Helena, MT, whose mission is to acquire private lands (inholdings) in current and proposed wilderness areas and transfer them to the federal government so that they will be ...

and Cascade Land Conservancy have purchased about one-third of this amount. Efforts continue to acquire the remaining inholdings.

References

* Associated Press
"Nethercutt endorses Wild Sky wilderness"
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, May 15, 2004 * Goldfarb, Sam
"Wild Sky wilderness bill back in Congress"
The Seattle Times, February 7, 2007

External links

The Wild Sky Wilderness Proposal
Washington Wild (political advocacy)
Wild Sky Wilderness
U.S. Senator

(political advocacy)
The Wilderness Land Trust
{{Authority control IUCN Category Ib Protected areas of King County, Washington Protected areas of Snohomish County, Washington Wilderness areas of Washington (state) Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest

Legislative history

Private land

See also

References

External links