II 

Calendar No. 41 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 152 

[Report No. 109–28] 

To enhance ecosystem protection and the range of outdoor opportunities 

protected by statute in the Skykomish River valley of the State of 

Washington by designating certain lower-elevation Federal lands as wilderness, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 25, 2005 

Mrs. MURRAY (for herself and Ms. CANTWELL) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

MARCH 10, 2005 

Reported by Mr. DOMENICI, with amendments 

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To enhance ecosystem protection and the range of outdoor 

opportunities protected by statute in the Skykomish 

River valley of the State of Washington by designating 

certain lower-elevation Federal lands as wilderness, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
2 

•S 152 RS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wild Sky Wilderness 

3 Act of 2005’’. 

4 SEC. 2. ADDITIONS TO THE NATIONAL WILDERNESS PRES5 ERVATION SYSTEM. 

6 (a) ADDITIONS.—The following Federal lands in the 

7 State of Washington are hereby designated as wilderness 

8 and, therefore, as components of the National Wilderness 

9 Preservation System: certain lands which comprise ap10 proximately 106,000 acres, as generally depicted on a map 

11 entitled ‘‘Wild Sky Wilderness Proposal’’, ‘‘Map #1’’, and 

12 dated January 7, 2003, which shall be known as the Wild 

13 Sky Wilderness. as the ‘‘Wild Sky Wilderness’’. 

14 (b) MAPS AND LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.—As soon as 

15 practicable after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

16 Secretary of Agriculture shall file a map and a legal de17 scription for the wilderness area designated under this Act 

18 with the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of 

19 the United States Senate and the Committee on Resources 

20 of the United States House of Representatives. The map 

21 and description shall have the same force and effect as 

22 if included in this Act, except that the Secretary of Agri23 culture may correct clerical and typographical errors in 

24 the legal description and map. The map and legal descrip25 tion shall be on file and available for public inspection in 
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•S 152 RS

1 the office of the Chief of the Forest Service, Department 

2 of Agriculture. 

3 SEC. 3. ADMINISTRATION PROVISIONS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.— 

5 (1) Subject to valid existing rights, lands des6 ignated as wilderness by this Act shall be managed 

7 by the Secretary of Agriculture in accordance with 

8 the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) and 

9 this Act, except that, with respect to any wilderness 

10 areas designated by this Act, any reference in the 

11 Wilderness Act to the effective date of the Wilder12 ness Act shall be deemed to be a reference to the 

13 date of enactment of this Act. 

14 (2) To fulfill the purposes of this Act and the 

15 Wilderness Act and to achieve administrative effi16 ciencies, the Secretary of Agriculture may manage 

17 the area designated by this Act as a comprehensive 

18 part of the larger complex of adjacent and nearby 

19 wilderness areas. 

20 (b) NEW TRAILS.— 

21 (1) The Secretary of Agriculture shall consult 

22 with interested parties and shall establish a trail 

23 plan for Forest Service lands in order to develop: de24 velop— 
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•S 152 RS

1 (A) a system of hiking and equestrian 

2 trails within the wilderness designated by this 

3 Act in a manner consistent with the Wilderness 

4 Act, Public Law 88–577 (16 U.S.C. 1131 et 

5 seq.); and 

6 (B) a system of trails adjacent to or to 

7 provide access to the wilderness designated by 

8 this Act. 

9 (2) Within two years after the date of enact10 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Agriculture shall 

11 complete a report on the implementation of the trail 

12 plan required under this Act. This report shall in13 clude the identification of priority trail trails for de14 velopment. 

15 (c) REPEATER SITE.—Within the Wild Sky Wilder16 ness, the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to use heli17 copter access to construct and maintain a joint Forest 

18 Service and Snohomish County telecommunications re19 peater site, in compliance with a Forest Service approved 

20 communications site plan, for the purposes of improving 

21 communications for safety, health, and emergency serv22 ices. 

23 (d) FLOAT PLANE ACCESS.—As provided by section 

24 4(d)(1) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(d)(1)), the 

25 use of floatplanes on Lake Isabel, where such use has al-
5 

•S 152 RS

1 ready become established, shall be permitted to continue 

2 subject to such reasonable restrictions as the Secretary of 

3 Agriculture determines to be desirable. 

4 (e) EVERGREEN MOUNTAIN LOOKOUT.—The des5 ignation under this Act shall not preclude the operation 

6 and maintenance of the existing Evergreen Mountain 

7 Lookout in the same manner and degree in which the op8 eration and maintenance of such lookout was occurring 

9 as of the date of enactment of this Act. 

10 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION FOR LAND ACQUISITION. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture is 

12 authorized to acquire lands and interests therein, by pur13 chase, donation, or exchange, and shall give priority con14 sideration to those lands identified as ‘‘Priority Acquisi15 tion Lands’’ on the map described in section 2(a)(1). The 

16 boundaries of the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest 

17 and the Wild Sky Wilderness shall be adjusted to encom18 pass any lands acquired pursuant to this section. 

19 (b) ACCESS.—Consistent with section 5(a) of the Wil20 derness Act (Public Law 88–577; 16 U.S.C. 1134(a)), the 

21 Secretary of Agriculture shall ensure adequate access to 

22 private inholdings within the Wild Sky Wilderness. 

23 (c) APPRAISAL.—Valuation of private lands shall be 

24 determined without reference to any restrictions on access 
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•S 152 RS

1 or use which arise out of designation as a wilderness area 

2 as a result of this Act. 

3 SEC. 5. LAND EXCHANGES. 

4 The Secretary of Agriculture shall exchange lands 

5 and interests in lands, as generally depicted on a map enti6 tled Chelan County Public Utility District Exchange and 

7 map entitled ‘‘Chelan County Public Utility District Ex8 change’’ and dated May 22, 2002, with the Chelan County 

9 Public Utility District in accordance with the following 

10 provisions: 

11 (1) If the Chelan County Public Utility District, 

12 within ninety days after the date of enactment of 

13 this Act, offers to the Secretary of Agriculture ap14 proximately 371.8 acres within the Mt. Baker15 Snoqualmie National Forest in the State of Wash16 ington, the Secretary shall accept such lands. 

17 (2) Upon acceptance of title by the Secretary of 

18 Agriculture to such lands and interests therein, the 

19 Secretary of Agriculture shall convey to the Chelan 

20 County Public Utility District a permanent ease21 ment, including helicopter access, consistent with 

22 such levels as used as of date of enactment, to main23 tain an existing telemetry site to monitor snow pack 

24 on 1.82 acres on the Wenatchee National Forest in 

25 the State of Washington. 
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•S 152 RS

1 (3) The exchange directed by this Act shall be 

2 consummated if Chelan County Public Utility Dis3 trict conveys title acceptable to the Secretary and 

4 provided there is no hazardous material on the site, 

5 which is objectionable to the Secretary. 

6 (4) In the event Chelan County Public Utility 

7 District determines there is no longer a need to 

8 maintain a telemetry site to monitor the snow pack 

9 for calculating expected runoff into the Lake Chelan 

10 hydroelectric project and the hydroelectric projects 

11 in the Columbia River Basin, the Secretary shall be 

12 notified in writing and the easement shall be extin13 guished and all rights conveyed by this exchange 

14 shall revert to the United States. 
Calendar No. 41 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 152 

[Report No. 109–28] 

A BILL 

To enhance ecosystem protection and the range of 

poses. Federal lands as wilderness, and for other purington by designating certain lower-elevation Skykomish River valley of the State of Washoutdoor opportunities protected by statute in the 

MARCH 10, 2005 

Reported with amendments