If there are roads, it’s not wilderness

Regarding the Wednesday letter “Not all think area is managed well”: I found it very interesting that the author would actually state facts that prevent the area from becoming wilderness. “I’d like him to go to the end of the roads, peer under the brush and see the abandoned vehicles and garbage. Go into the 37 miles of closed roads … “

How many times do we have to tell the pro-Wild Sky folks that roads do not meet the definition contained in the Wilderness Act of 1964?

I don’t doubt that there is some garbage along these roads; just take a look at the shoulder the next time you drive to work. But garbage has nothing to do with poor management of this forest. There is going to be irresponsible people in every crowd, but that is no reason to close this area to the majority of users.

I recently participated with 30-plus snowmobilers and jeepers on a cleanup hike into Lake Ann, north of Cle Elum. This is a popular snowmobile use area, so we thought we would hike in and look for any garbage left behind. To our surprise we only found only a small amount of garbage and the majority of it was empty propane hiking stove canisters. Guess who left these behind? It wasn’t the motorized crowd.

If the letter writer is concerned about the garbage, then I suggest she organize a clean-up like we did at Lake Ann. She might be surprised by how many people would show up, including some from the anti-Wild Sky crowd.

Marisa Hurwitz

Mountlake Terrace