Environmentalists, real estate agents, shellfish business owners and business leaders are applauding the introduction by Rep. Derek Kilmer and Sen. Patty Murray of the Wild Olympics Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 2014.
But not everyone is happy about it. A coalition of timber-based businesses opposes the exclusion of so much property.
The proposed act would permanently designate 126,554 acres of existing federal lands in Olympic National Forest as wilderness and 19 Olympic Peninsula rivers and their major tributaries as wild and scenic. All would be protected. The legislation builds off legislation introduced in 2012 by Murray and former Rep. Norm Dicks.
Based on nearly three years of public input, changes were made to strengthen landowners' rights.
“This legislation is a step in the right direction to protect our most treasured places for our kids and grandkids, and I look forward to working with Representative Kilmer to pass this bill into law,” said Murray in a press release Jan. 17.
Connie Gallant, chair of the Quilcene-based Wild Olympics Coalition, called the proposal “landmark legislation (that) will protect the Olympic Peninsula’s ancient forests, free-flowing rivers and stunning scenery for all time.”
“It will safeguard critical salmon habitat and sources of clean drinking water for our local communities, protecting our unmatched quality of life on the Peninsula,” Gallant said in a press release.
Gallant noted that Kilmer is continuing the work started years ago by his predecessor, Dicks, as well as Murray.
The Wild Olympics Coalition has been endorsed by more than 470 local businesses, farms, faith leaders, local elected officials, and hunting, fishing and recreation groups.
And while that coalition has long supported the idea of protecting more land and rivers and forests, the American Forest Resource Council issued a statement Jan. 17 opposing the legislation.
“Our industry remains opposed to the Wild Olympics Wilderness legislation because it would put an additional 125,000 acres of the Olympic National Forest off-limits to responsible timber management and other activities,” Tom Partin, president of the council, said in a press release. “Most importantly it fails to address the pressing social and economic needs of rural, forested communities on the Peninsula. Over 100,000 acres of the Olympic National Forest is already designated as wilderness and is off-limits to responsible, multiple-use management, as is nearly one million acres within the Olympic National Park.”
Partin went on to note that King County has an unemployment rate of 5 percent and Grays Harbor County leads the state with an unemployment rate of more than 11 percent, with Jefferson and Clallam counties hovering around 8 percent unemployment.
Partin also said his organization is encouraged by Kilmer's proposals to increase timber harvest in the Olympic National Forests.
For full press releases from Sen. Murray, the Wild Olympics Coalition and the American Forest Resource Council, see this story on ptleader.com.
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