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More wilderness a priority for Murray

Senator prepares legislation that could put her at odds with Bush

By JOEL CONNELLY

Friday, January 5, 2001

Legislation to designate new wilderness areas in Washington is a top priority for Sen. Patty Murray as the 107th Congress gets under way.

But pushing for more wilderness could embroil Murray in battles with timber and recreational-vehicle interests, and possibly with a new president who says he wants more logging in Northwest national forests.

Murray said she is exploring a bill that would preserve still-wild national forest lands, particularly in places such as the Snoqualmie and Skykomish river basins that are accessible from Puget Sound-area population centers (see graphic, 47K).

"We have a lot of public lands that should be treated as our legacy for future generations," Murray said in an interview.

Any wilderness legislation is certain to revive new conflicts between environmentalists and the loggers, local officials and recreational vehicle users who have traditionally fought against such designations.

"Is there no end, Senator Murray, to the greed of those who would lock people off federal lands?" asked Chuck Cushman, head of the American Land Rights Association.

But environmental groups are bullish, hoping to get Congress to include areas left out of the 1984 Washington wilderness bill. The legislation protected 1 million acres of land but drew boundaries that excluded low-elevation forests from several wilderness areas.

"We can get stuff done. I don't plan to spend the Bush years on the defensive," said Mitch Friedman, director of the Bellingham-based Northwest Ecosystem Alliance.

Congress has designated more than 3 million acres of Washington land under provisions of the Wilderness Act. The 1964 law defines wilderness areas as lands untrammeled by man from which roads, motorized vehicles and resource extraction are prohibited.

The protected lands include much of Olympic and North Cascades national parks, 23 national forest wilderness areas and one small tract of Bureau of Land Management holdings northeast of the Tri-Cities.

Murray was instrumental last year in getting President Clinton to designate a 200,000-acre Hanford Reach National Monument along the lone undammed stretch of Columbia River in Eastern Washington.

Republicans, led by then-Sen. Slade Gorton and Rep. Doc Hastings, denounced the national monument as usurping local control.

As Republican presidential nominee, George W. Bush denounced Clinton's designation of national monuments. He also blasted a Clinton administration policy that has blocked road building on more than 60 million acres of roadless land in the West.

"We're going to look at a reasonable amount of board feet to be harvested out of Northwestern timbers," Bush said in an interview in June. He also said the Clinton administration "has virtually shut down the ability of a lot of people to use public lands."

Murray will no longer have a political ally in the White House, but can expect a friendlier climate in the Senate. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., upset Gorton in November with heavy support from environmental groups.

'I am sure, if Slade Gorton were still around, she'd be reluctant even to introduce the bill," Cushman said.

Cantwell said she has not talked to Murray about a wilderness bill, but is sympathetic to the concept. "I think it is something we should look into doing," she said.

Cantwell is likely to win a seat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which would consider any wilderness bill.

Creating new wilderness areas in Western Washington is likely to encounter less opposition than areas in other parts of the state.

But some of the highest priorities of conservation groups are in places such as the Kettle Range of northeast Washington, where rural residents have chafed at environmentalists' demands. Hastings and fellow Rep. George Nethercutt, R-Wash., have tended to oppose measures that restrict access and resource extraction on federal lands.

"There is a great need to protect areas over there," said Rick McGuire of the Alpine Lakes Protection Society.

Several areas in Western Washington are prime candidates for inclusion in any Murray wilderness legislation. These include:

·  North Fork, Skykomish River: A large block of roadless lands in eastern Snohomish County, including the wilderness valley of West Cady Creek and prominent peaks such as Mounts Merchant and Gunn, was left out of the 1984 wilderness bill.

·  Middle Fork Snoqualmie River and Pratt River: Although headwaters of the Snoqualmie's middle fork were put in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area, undeveloped areas downstream and the tributary Pratt River valley have not received formal protection.

·  Dark Divide: Situated between Mount St. Helens and Mount Adams, Dark Divide is an island of ridges and timbered valleys in the otherwise heavily logged Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

One key player in any wilderness bill is sure to be Rep. Jennifer Dunn, R-Wash. Dunn is a Bush adviser, and her congressional district includes mountain valleys of eastern King and Pierce counties.

An aide said Dunn will withhold comment until Murray introduces a bill. Historically, members of Congress have been major players in deciding the fate of wilderness areas proposed for their districts.