Do not touch that lookout

Thanks to an insensible lawsuit, the Green Mountain fire lookout in the Glacier Peak Wilderness is a verb. “Green Mountained,” enviro absurdity visited upon the (mostly) innocent.

A cascade of events, culminating in a 2012 ruling by the U.S. District Court in Seattle to remove the historic structure, does violence to taxpayers, to common sense and to conservationists who understand the legislative history of the 1964 National Wilderness Act.

As The Herald’s Gale Fiege reports, the U.S. Forest Service’s court-compelled scoping report recommends the use of a helicopter to relocate the lookout to Circle Mountain in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. The back story is instructive: Restoration of the Civilian Conservation Corps-era gem in 2002 technically violated the Wilderness Act because workers used motorized equipment. Sanctioning a rule-bending Forest Service seems appropriate. Instead, the Court’s remedy — tear it down — stood logic on its head, a solution in search of a problem. The latest strategy is to employ a chopper in violation of the Wilderness Act to uphold the Wilderness Act. (Beware: Restore by the helicopter, die by the helicopter.)

U.S. Reps. Rick Larsen and Suzan DelBene are having none of it. Along with Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, they have introduced legislation to put the kibosh on removal. In a letter to Rep. Doc Hastings, Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, Larsen and DelBene observe, “Moving the lookout would be an unnecessary and costly expense, putting further financial burden on an agency already contending with challenging budget constraints. “

Congressional sources say the price will far exceed the $100,000 estimate. No small figure in the sequester era.

The cattywampus logic of political fundamentalists values means over ends, consequences be damned. A spokesman for the plaintiff, Wilderness Watch, is OK with violating the act in order to uphold it. Kevin Proescholdt, the organization’s conservation director, told Fiege, “Our focus is restoring Green Mountain to wilderness condition.” Alas, he just undermined efforts to preserve America’s last wild places.

The wilderness gospel, enshrined in the Wilderness Act, points to an area where the earth and its community of life are “untrammeled by man.” That passage, conceived by Seattle’s Polly Dyer, was never meant to blunt proposals such as, for example, the Wild Sky Wilderness, where the human hand is visible. The debate was settled in the 1970s with passage of the Eastern Wilderness Act, in a floor exchange between Sen. James Buckley and a Northwest lawmaker.

Let history and prudence prevail. Don’t touch that lookout.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Opinion

toon
Editorial cartoons for Sunday, July 13

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

Authorities search for victims among the rubble near Blue Oak RV park after catastrophic flooding on the Guadalupe River in Kerrville, Texas, on Sunday, July 6, 2025. The half-mile stretch occupied by two campgrounds appears to have been one of the deadliest spots along the Guadalupe River in Central Texas during last week’s flash floods. (Jordan Vonderhaar/The New York Times)
Editorial: Tragic Texas floods can prompt reforms for FEMA

The federal agency has an important support role to play, but Congress must reassess and improve it.

FILE — The sun sets over power lines in rural Ward County, Texas on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. Republicans plan to terminate billions of dollars in clean energy tax credits. Experts say that will mean more greenhouse gas emissions and more dangerous heat. (Paul Ratje/The New York Times)
Commentary: Bill will deliver dirtier energy at a higher price

Cuts to clean energy policy in the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ will stifle our energy transition and cost us more.

Tufekci: ‘Garbage in, garbage out’ behind AI’s Nazi meltdown

That Elon Musk’s Grok chatbot defaulted to internet hate speech is concerning. Our acceptance is scarier.

Everett mayoral candidate had a role in budget problems

A mayoral candidate in Everett is being dishonest, blaming his opponent for… Continue reading

Social Security email was a false and partisan use of agency

I was appalled to get a spam email from the Social Security… Continue reading

Thanks for help with driver’s license renewal

I am writing to say that I was able to obtain my… Continue reading

2024 Presidential Election Day Symbolic Elements.
Editorial: Retain Escamilla, Binda on Lynnwood City Council

Escamilla was appointed a year ago. Binda is serving his first term.

A Volunteers of America Western Washington crisis counselor talks with somebody on the phone Thursday, July 28, 2022, in at the VOA Behavioral Health Crisis Call Center in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Editorial: Dire results will follow end of LGBTQ+ crisis line

The Trump administration will end funding for a 988 line that serves youths in the LGBTQ+ community.

toon
Editorial: Using discourse to get to common ground

A Building Bridges panel discussion heard from lawmakers and students on disagreeing agreeably.

Comment: Reforms to involuntary committment law can save lives

Washington state should consider changes New York made to protect those who can’t protect themselves.

Comment: Medicaid reforms will keep it for those most in need

Beyond the ‘sky is falling’ claims, the BBB’s reforms to Medicaid are fair and necessary to save it.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.