Bipartisan politics has apparently worked its way into the Wild Sky Wilderness legislation. Dare we even bother to ask once more for a bill that has backing on both sides of the aisle and the OK from a senior Bush administration official to finally pass?
Retiring Rep. Jennifer Dunn has thrown her support behind the bill; she’s a co-sponsor of the legislation that is the work of Rep. Rick Larsen and Sen. Patty Murray. At different times the past two years the bill looked so close to passing. Then politics got in the way.
Great ideas with the support of politicians and the majority of citizens die quick deaths each year in this Washington and the "other" Washington. But Wild Sky has been around for more than two years. It started in September 2001 as an invite by Rep. Larsen and Sen. Murray to a "wilderness workshop" at the Monroe High School cafeteria. It has passed the Senate twice but is stuck in the House Resources Committee.
It would help if the rest of our state’s Republican delegation would offer its support, but that’s where the partisan politics comes into play. It’s election year and Rep. George Nethercutt is running against Sen. Murray in the upcoming Senate race. Nethercutt’s people say the race has nothing to do with the fact Nethercutt hasn’t decided whether he supports the bill, and that he’s still studying the issue. And another Republican congressman from California is now referring to the bill’s wilderness designation as an "extreme" measure.
That’s a far cry from last June when Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey complimented our state’s delegation for "its collaborative approach and local involvement that resulted in bipartisan support of the bill."
This legislation is the result of community input. If it passes, Wild Sky will be the first new wilderness area in this state in 20 years. It will set aside 106,000 acres of forest land in east Snohomish County and part of King County that will be protected while remaining available to the public for many types of outdoor activities.
This is an important environmental bill for our state and one that has the backing and praise of Republicans and Democrats. Plenty of information has been made available. Members of our state’s delegation should have finished studying this issue a long time ago.
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