Wild Sky: Let’s try a constructive approach

Fresh from unanimous approval by the Republican-controlled Senate, the widely supported Wild Sky Wilderness act is back in the House – for the third time.

Having failed to clear that hurdle twice before, and with the cast of characters there largely unchanged, supporters of a 106,000-acre wilderness area north of Index and Skykomish can be excused for not getting their hopes too high.

The chairman of the House Resources Committee, Richard Pombo (R-Calif.) has yet to allow the bill to come to a vote. His support, obviously, is the key to making Wild Sky a reality. His primary objection is a principled one: Portions of the proposed area were once logged or mined, and as such don’t qualify as wilderness under the 1964 Wilderness Act.

Many, including the late Sen. Henry M. Jackson of Everett, who helped write the original Wilderness Act, have repudiated this “purity argument.” The Senate, in approving Wild Sky three times, has rejected it. Even the Bush administration has endorsed Wild Sky.

In this case, however, it is Pombo who must be swayed if the bill is to pass this Congress. Supporters should work to do so constructively, resisting the angry rhetoric that surfaced at times last year.

We encourage the chairman to come see Wild Sky for himself, from ground level and from the air. We can think of two very suitable tour guides: Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Everett, who is sponsoring Wild Sky in the House; and Republican Dan Evans, the former three-term governor and U.S. senator who has long championed the preservation of our state’s wild, scenic areas.

It’s one thing to stand by a “purity” principle having seen only maps of the area, where lines divide lands that have been untouched by man from those that were logged or mined generations ago. It’s quite another to fly over the area and realize that such lines don’t exist in nature.

This time around, Larsen and other House supporters have more than a year to work on the issue, allowing for plenty of constructive discussion. That should include two new GOP members of the state’s congressional delegation, Cathy McMorris – who also serves on the Resources Committee – and Dave Reichert, whose support of Wild Sky would be welcome.

In a guest commentary last year in The Herald, Evans wrote of the importance of preserving Washington’s heritage of wilderness: “Foremost, it is our duty to preserve our state’s wilderness for the Washingtonians of the future. They will expect us to do no less.”

And so the work to preserve the Wild Sky Wilderness must continue.

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 Friday, July 11

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

Schwab: Yes, your Medicaid’s gone but you can gloat over gators

What Trump is taking from the social safety net, he’s adding to the cruelty against working immigrants.

Congress’ passage of tax cuts bill marked shameful day for GOP

This July 3 was one of the most shameful days in American… Continue reading

Tell senators to keep vaccine aid by rejecting recissions bill

The Senate could vote on a Trump administration-proposed rescissions package before July… Continue reading

Too much risk, noise and annoyance with fireworks

Let’s hear it for all the “kids” who like to endanger life… Continue reading

Comment: About that Social Security email sent to retirees

It was uncharacteristically political, inaccurate about the BBB’s benefits and likely to cause mistrust of the SSA.

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.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on Friday, June 27, 2025. The sweeping measure Senate Republican leaders hope to push through has many unpopular elements that they despise. But they face a political reckoning on taxes and the scorn of the president if they fail to pass it. (Kent Nishimura/The New York Times)
Editorial: GOP should heed all-caps message on tax policy bill

Trading cuts to Medicaid and more for tax cuts for the wealthy may have consequences for Republicans.

toon
Editorial cartoons for Thursday, July 10

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

Blame Democrats’ taxes, rules for out-of-state ferry contract

Gov. Bob Ferguson should be ashamed of the hypocrisy shown by choosing… Continue reading

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.