SULTAN – Jim Zielasko grew up playing in the hills, streams and lakes that make up the proposed 106,000-acre Wild Sky Wilderness Area.

Kevin Nortz/ The Herald U.S. Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., fields questions Thursday at a Republican fundraising event after taking a helicopter tour of the proposed Wild Sky Wilderness Area.

Like others who live in the communities that surround Wild Sky, he doesn’t understand the push to further protect land he says is being protected just fine as it is – forested land with rivers and streams that are mostly untouched.

Zielasko was one of those who lined up on Thursday to meet the man who has single-handedly blocked the creation of the Wild Sky Wilderness for three years.

“All I did was thank him,” Zielasko said moments after talking to Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif.

Pombo is chairman of the House of Representatives committee that rejects or accepts proposals to create wilderness areas. He has used that position to thwart efforts by Washington’s congressional delegation to get a bill through the House that the U.S. Senate has approved three times.

Pombo took a helicopter tour of the proposed wilderness on Thursday, buzzing over lowland forest that stretches north of U.S. 2 from Gold Bar to Index to Skykomish. When his tour ended, he flew back to Ed Husmann’s apple farm, where he attended a Republican fundraiser.

“This is beautiful country,” Pombo said moments after stepping out of a helicopter. “I can see why people want to protect it.”

However, he maintained that the wilderness designation should be reserved for land that hasn’t been touched by humans.

The bill’s biggest backer in the House, Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., hopes to change Pombo’s mind.

Larsen “will sit down with him, ask him, ‘How was your trip, let’s address your concerns and get this bill passed,’ ” said Jeff Bjornstad, Larsen’s chief of staff.

Snohomish County Councilman Jeff Sax doesn’t expect Pombo to budge.

“I think (he) saw what all of us in Snohomish County have known all along,” Sax said. “It’s been managed very well, and there’s no real need for a change.”

Pombo said he’s willing to support a 93,000-acre wilderness, but believes 13,000 acres don’t meet the Wilderness Act standard that says land must be “untrammeled by man.”

“I think people have misconceptions of what wilderness is,” he said, reminding that you can’t use mechanized equipment, including cars, in wilderness areas.

Those comments earned him a standing ovation among the 300 people who attended the GOP fundraiser, including claps from Sultan City Council member Jim Flower.

“This is our back yard,” said Flower, who told Pombo that his council had passed a unanimous proclamation opposing the creation of Wild Sky. “The people in Sultan are the people using this land. We know it like the back side of our hand.”

Wild Sky’s proponents sing a different song, reminding opponents that the vast majority of roads used by the public have been taken out of the wilderness proposal.

There are only 37 miles of road in the wilderness area, and all but three miles have been closed by the U.S. Forest Service or have become unusable because of erosion.

Friends of Wild Sky spokesman Mike Town said some roads that will be closed will be available for people with disabilities, providing access for those in wheelchairs.

Back at the Sultan post office, few residents knew much about Wild Sky. About half said they don’t want government intruding any more in their lives than necessary.

“Anytime government comes in and tells you what to do with your land is not in my comfort zone,” said Trey Shelton, a Sultan resident.

The other half said they supported further protections of the landscape that led them to move to the area.

“I support more environmental protections,” said William Wakefield, owner of the Dutch Cup Motel, explaining that he would like to cater to tourists visiting the wilderness. “I would prefer that kind of tourism because it’s less invasive to the environment.”

Others were divided.

“I find myself oscillating on most things,” said Diane Driscoll, who has lived in Sultan for 21 years. “I really hate the logging and the development, but I know people need to live.”

Most people wanted to talk about U.S. 2, saying their elected officials should be figuring out how to widen the crowded road.

Sax told those gathered at the fundraiser that he also wants Congress to focus on widening U.S. 2, saying that creating the Wild Sky Wilderness would make doing that more difficult.