More than 100 Washington religious leaders have signed a letter asking congressional leaders to approve protection of 106,000 acres of forestland and mountains in eastern Snohomish County.
The move is the latest show of support for approval of the Wild Sky Wilderness, proposed for an area in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest north of Index and U.S. 2.
“Wilderness and protecting God’s creation is something people of all faith communities can and should support,” said the Rev. John Boonstra, executive minister for the Washington Association of Churches.
He called on lawmakers to set aside political differences and approve a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives spearheaded by Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash. The same bill, introduced by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., has passed the Senate.
Murray’s opponent for the Senate, Rep. George Nethercutt, a Spokane Republican, is a late supporter of Wild Sky and unsuccessfully tried to broker a compromise that would have excluded some 13,000 acres of lowland forest. The compromise was proposed when the bill bogged down in a key House committee.
The religious leaders maintain that the original Wild Sky bill contains important lowland forests that serve as buffers along the North Fork of the Skykomish River, and contain some of the best ancient forest groves in the area.
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