Centered right here in some of the nation's most stunning and prized landscapes are two recent federal efforts: Less than an hour's drive from Sequim, work is under way to restore the Elwha River at the northern edge of Olympic National Park. Far away in the other Washington, Senator Patty Murray and Representative Norm Dicks have introduced Wild Olympics legislation aimed at protecting 126,000 acres of national forest and 19 of the Olympic Peninsula's most iconic rivers.
Introduced in June this year, the Wild Olympics bill would not only safeguard resources Peninsula residents value now but would also forestall expensive restoration efforts that might otherwise be needed in the future. The bill would protect intact and as yet unprotected upper watersheds, low-elevation forests, and river corridors, such as the Dungeness River and its tributary, Gray Wolf River.
Dropping 7,300 feet in just 35 miles, the Dungeness is one of the steepest rivers in the nation. It supports an impressive diversity of salmon, abundant wildlife, and recreation in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains. Under the Wild Olympics bill, the Dungeness would receive official designation as the "wild and scenic river" it is.
In the first new wilderness designations in Olympic National Forest in more than 30 years, the Wild Olympics bill would add more than 20,000 acres of low-elevation forests and salmon streams to the Buckhorn Wilderness, including now vulnerable old growth on Three O'clock Ridge and next to the lower Gray Wolf River, a popular destination for hiking, horseback riding, and other pursuits. Popular trails include the Ned Hill and Lower Gray Wolf trails.
The proposed wilderness would protect headwaters feeding the Dungeness River streams and tributaries that supply the city of Sequim with clean, safe drinking water.
Safeguarding these landscapes today is like washing your hands or getting your annual flu shot to keep from catching the flu tomorrow.
Protection now would maintain the region's natural beauty and prevent the loss of valuable natural resources-resources that would cost millions of dollars to restore if they were to be lost because we left them vulnerable.
And this assumes that restoring lost resources and their benefits would even be possible. When the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams went up nearly a century ago, few realized how much the region would lose in natural bounty and human livelihoods.
Now, some $325 million and tremendous effort are being expended to restore the Elwha to its wild and scenic state.
The Wild Olympics bill makes good sense for economic, scientific, and community reasons. It is much easier, more effective, and less costly to protect intact watersheds and centuries-old forests than to restore damaged ones.
By taking the opportunity to protect our last best places today, not only do we avoid high restoration costs later, but we protect the Olympic Peninsula's unparalleled natural resources and the quality of life residents and visitors count on.
Jim Karr is a professor emeritus of ecology with the University of Washington, Seattle. He specializes in water resources, tropical ecology, ornithology, and environmental policy and lives in Sequim.
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