Republican lawmaker tours Wild Sky site 

06:55 PM PDT on Thursday, August 18, 2005

Associated Press

SULTAN, Wash. - California Rep. Richard Pombo, a Republican lawmaker who has opposed a bill to create a Wild Sky Wilderness area in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, got a firsthand look at the territory during a helicopter tour Thursday.

The 106,000-acre area is at the center of a debate over the designation of public lands. A measure proposed by Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., would designate the land, about 40 miles northeast of Seattle on the west slope of the Cascades, as wilderness, the government's highest level of protection.

The Senate has approved the Wild Sky proposal three times in the past four years, but it has been repeatedly blocked from a vote on the House floor, mostly due to Pombo's opposition.

Pombo, chairman of the House Resources Committee, has argued that some of the land continues to be used by people and therefore does not meet the criteria set by the Wilderness Act of 1964. He said wilderness protection should extend only to lands untouched by humans.

Pombo indicated the tour hadn't changed his opinion.

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During his half-hour flight, he said he spotted many old logging roads, bridges and areas still heavily used by outdoor enthusiasts - there's about 13,000 acres of area marked by human activity.

"There's a lot of camping... even right now," he said just minutes after stepping from one of two helicopters that shuttled Pombo and Wild Sky opponents Jeff Sax, a Republican Snohomish County Council member, and apple grower Ed Husmann.

Husmann hosted a barbecue fundraiser at his apple farm Thursday afternoon for the Snohomish County GOP. His farm is next to the land proposed for designation.

The area includes habitat for bears, bald eagles and other wildlife, as well as streams, hiking trails and camp sites. By designating it as wilderness, the measure would block development or other economic activity.

Pombo killed a proposed Wild Sky bill last year. He did, however, support a compromise plan that would have protected nearly 93,000 acres as wilderness, while designating 13,300 acres for backcountry management, a less restrictive federal designation allowing off-road vehicles.

Pombo sympathized with people's desire to protect the area, but said many fail to realize that a wilderness designation "basically locks it up and the only way you can get in is on foot."

Pombo rejected a suggestion that he's opposed to designating any areas as wilderness.

"There are areas that deserve to be protected. There are other areas that deserve to be protected but that we need to have public access to," Pombo said while speaking to the crowd attending the fundraiser.

Larsen appreciates that Pombo looked at the area, spokesman Jeff Bjornstad said during a telephone interview, and looks forward to further discussion with the chairman to move forward on his bill.

"Congressman Larsen is willing to sit down and address the chairman's concerns and pass Wild Sky," Bjornstad said. "Without Pombo's support, Wild Sky will not happen."