Vast expanses of undeveloped federal lands make up much of the Cascade mountain range. Among these areas are some of the most picturesque tracts of wilderness in the lower 48 states. Under the Wilderness Act of 1964, more than 4 million acres of federal lands in Washington are designated as wilderness areas and protected from any development and human encroachment. The wilderness designation is used to prohibit virtually all human activity, particularly the operation of machines used in logging, mining and road building.
Supporters of what is called the Wild Sky Wilderness Area have proposed adding more than 100,000 acres of federal land in the Skykomish River basin north of U.S. 2 to existing federally protected wilderness. This popular recreation area offers many environmental, recreational and economic benefits to the region, and it certainly deserves special protection, but officially listing the full 106,000 acres as wilderness may not be the best way to secure the legal protection it needs.
Proponents of federal wilderness designation have advocated for the Wild Sky proposal, in one form or another, for more than 30 years. In 1973, the Forest Service conducted its first study of existing roadless regions to determine if they should be included in the newly designated system of wilderness areas. This study, called the Roadless Area Review and Evaluation (RARE), recommended that most of the lands in the current Wild Sky proposal not be designated as wilderness.
Advocacy groups appealed the RARE study’s conclusions. The result was a more thorough federal examination of roadless areas based on a broader definition of what qualifies as “wilderness.” This follow-up study, labeled RARE II, was completed in 1979. Under the more flexible definition the Wild Sky region still failed to qualify for the wilderness designation. Because of existing roads and visible evidence of past mining and timber harvests, federal officials judged the area did not meet the basic legal criteria established under the Wilderness Act of 1964, because past human activity means the area is no longer “wilderness.”
One problem with the wilderness designation is that even the simplest mechanical aids would be prohibited. That means the Forest Service might find it too expensive to maintain and rebuild damaged trail systems with hand tools alone. Already many of our national parks and wilderness areas are saddled with millions of dollars of overdue trail and facility maintenance projects. And as the popularity of outdoor recreation continues to grow, the cost of maintaining facilities and upgrading more popular destinations will only continue to increase. Even if Wild Sky achieved a federal designation as wilderness, the area could end up in worse shape than it is now.
There is another approach that would protect the Wild Sky area without running afoul of the obstacles posed by the Wilderness Act. Designation instead as a national recreation area would protect the Wild Sky area from almost all human development; only the occasional use of light machinery for trail and facility maintenance and forest health activities would be allowed. This approach avoids the blunt instrument of wilderness designation, but still preserves this popular and wild recreation area for future generations.
Designation as a national recreation area provides protection from development and commercial logging, but is better suited than the wilderness designation to the public’s continued use of the area. The recreation designation bars road construction, mining and timber harvesting, but allows public access to hiking, rafting, kayaking, mountain climbing, backcountry camping, horseback packing, wildlife watching and cross-country skiing.
As federal lawmakers consider the Wild Sky Wilderness proposal, they don’t face an extreme choice between allowing mining and timber operations or protecting the natural beauty of the area. Instead they could adopt a designation that protects the area and gives federal scientists and land managers the flexibility to manage 106,000 acres of practically untouched land for the benefit of present and future generations. With designation as a national recreation area, federal managers could better address the needs of the Wild Sky forest while ensuring environmental amenities are protected for future generations.
Eric Montague is director of the Center for Environmental Policy at the Washington Policy Center.
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