WASHINGTON, D.C. - A key House committee has approved Congressman Rick Larsen's bill to create the Wild Sky Wilderness in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

It would be the first new wilderness area in Washington state in more than 20 years.

“We’ve reached the pinnacle of a long hike,” Larsen said in a press release. “Getting Wild Sky legislation through the House Natural Resources Committee is like arriving at the summit of Mount Fernow. I’m looking forward to the celebration at the end of the trail.”

The Wild Sky Wilderness Act of 2006 will designate over 106,000 acres of national forest in east Snohomish County as wilderness. In the past, wilderness has consisted solely of old growth forest at higher elevations. Wild Sky protects low-elevation, old-growth forest and 25 miles of salmon streams while still making the land available and accessible for recreational use.

There are approximately 2.5 million acres of federally designated and protected wilderness in Washington state.

Larsen and Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) first introduced legislation to make Wild Sky a National Wilderness Area on May 29, 2002. In the 107th, the 108th and the 109th Congresses, the bill passed the Senate and enjoyed broad bipartisan support but failed to make it through the House.