I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5083 

To designate certain lower-elevation Federal lands in the Skykomish River 

valley of the State of Washington as wilderness, to designate a portion 

of such lands for management as a backcountry wilderness management 

area, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 15, 2004 

Mr. NETHERCUTT (for himself, Mrs. JOHNSON of Connecticut, and Ms. 

DUNN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Resources 

A BILL 

To designate certain lower-elevation Federal lands in the 

Skykomish River valley of the State of Washington as 

wilderness, to designate a portion of such lands for management as a backcountry wilderness management area, 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 and Backcountry Wilderness Management Area Act of 

6 2004’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. ADDITION OF WILD SKY WILDERNESS TO NATIONAL 

2 WILDERNESS PRESERVATION SYSTEM. 

3 (a) DESIGNATION.—Certain Federal lands in the 

4 State of Washington comprising approximately 92,722 

5 acres, as generally depicted on the map entitled ‘‘Wild Sky 

6 Wilderness and Backcountry Wilderness Management 

7 Area Proposal’’ and dated September 2004, are hereby 

8 designated as wilderness and, therefore, as a component 

9 of the National Wilderness Preservation System. The Fed10 eral lands designated as wilderness by this subsection shall 

11 be known as the Wild Sky Wilderness. 

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

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

14 the Secretary of Agriculture shall file a map and a legal 

15 description for the Wild Sky Wilderness with the Com16 mittee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate 

17 and the Committee on Resources of the House of Rep18 resentatives. The map and legal description shall have the 

19 same force and effect as if included in this Act, except 

20 that the Secretary of Agriculture may correct clerical and 

21 typographical errors in the legal description and map. The 

22 map and legal description shall be on file and available 

23 for public inspection in the office of the Chief of the Forest 

24 Service. 

25 (c) ADMINISTRATION.—Subject to valid existing 

26 rights, the Secretary of Agriculture shall manage the Wild 
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1 Sky Wilderness in accordance with the Wilderness Act (16 

2 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) and this Act, except that, with re3 spect to the Wild Sky Wilderness, any reference in the 

4 Wilderness Act to the effective date of the Wilderness Act 

5 shall be deemed to be a reference to the date of enactment 

6 of this Act. To fulfill the purposes of this Act and the 

7 Wilderness Act and to achieve administrative efficiencies, 

8 the Secretary may manage the Wild Sky Wilderness as 

9 a comprehensive part of the larger complex of adjacent 

10 and nearby wilderness areas. 

11 (d) MAINTENANCE AND USE OF CERTAIN STRUC12 TURES.— 

13 (1) REPEATER SITE.—Within the Wild Sky 

14 Wilderness, the Secretary of Agriculture is author15 ized to use helicopter access to construct and main16 tain a joint Forest Service and Snohomish County 

17 repeater site, in compliance with a Forest Service 

18 approved communications site plan, for the purposes 

19 of improving communication for safety, health, and 

20 emergency services. 

21 (2) EVERGREEN MOUNTAIN LOOKOUT.—The 

22 designation of the Wild Sky Wilderness shall not 

23 preclude the operation and maintenance of the Ever24 green Mountain Lookout, in the same manner and 

25 degree in which the operation and maintenance of 
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1 the lookout was occurring as of the date of enact2 ment of this Act. 

3 (e) ACCESS.— 

4 (1) PRIVATE INHOLDINGS.—Consistent with 

5 section 5(a) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 

6 1134(a)), the Secretary of Agriculture shall assure 

7 adequate access to private inholdings in the Wild 

8 Sky Wilderness. 

9 (2) FLOAT PLANE ACCESS.—As provided by 

10 section 4(d)(1) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 

11 1133(d)(1)), the use of floatplanes on Lake Isabel in 

12 the Wild Sky Wilderness, where such use was estab13 lished before the date of enactment of this Act, shall 

14 be permitted to continue subject to such reasonable 

15 restrictions as the Secretary of Agriculture deter16 mines desirable. 

17 (f) LAND ACQUISITION AUTHORITY.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture 

19 may acquire lands and interests therein in the Wild 

20 Sky Wilderness by purchase, donation, or exchange. 

21 The Secretary shall give priority consideration to the 

22 acquisition of those lands identified as Priority Ac23 quisition Lands on the map described in subsection 

24 (a). 
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1 (2) APPRAISAL.—Valuation of private lands 

2 shall be determined without reference to any restric3 tions on access or use that arise out of designation 

4 of the Wild Sky Wilderness or inclusion of adjacent 

5 Federal lands in the Skykomish Backcountry Wil6 derness Management Area under section 3. 

7 (3) BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT.—The boundaries 

8 of the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forests and 

9 the Wild Sky Wilderness shall be adjusted to reflect 

10 any land acquisitions or exchanges conducted under 

11 this subsection. 

12 SEC. 3. DESIGNATION OF BACKCOUNTRY WILDERNESS 

13 MANAGEMENT AREA, SKYKOMISH RIVER VAL14 LEY, WASHINGTON. 

15 (a) DESIGNATION.—Certain Federal lands in the 

16 State of Washington comprising approximately 13,278 

17 acres, as generally depicted on the map referred to in sec18 tion 2(a), are hereby designated as the Skykomish 

19 Backcountry Wilderness Management Area for the pur20 pose of conserving, protecting, and enhancing for the ben21 efit and enjoyment of present and future generations the 

22 cultural, archaeological, natural, wilderness, scientific, ge23 ological, historical, biological, wildlife, educational, and 

24 scenic resources of the Federal lands included in the man25 agement area. 
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1 (b) MAPS AND LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.—As soon as 

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

3 the Secretary of Agriculture shall file a map and a legal 

4 description for the management area with the Committee 

5 on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the 

6 Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives. 

7 The map and legal description shall have the same force 

8 and effect as if included in this Act, except that the Sec9 retary of Agriculture may correct clerical and typo10 graphical errors in the legal description and map. The 

11 map and legal description shall be on file and available 

12 for public inspection in the office of the Chief of the Forest 

13 Service. 

14 (c) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary of Agriculture 

15 shall manage the Federal lands included in the manage16 ment area to preserve their natural character and to pro17 tect and enhance water quality. 

18 (d) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—Not later than three years 

19 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

20 of Agriculture shall develop a management plan for the 

21 management area. The Secretary shall prepare the man22 agement plan in consultation with representatives of the 

23 State of Washington, the political subdivisions of the State 

24 containing the management area, and other interested 

25 persons. 
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1 (e) WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT.—The designation of 

2 the management area neither affects nor diminishes the 

3 jurisdiction of the State of Washington with respect to fish 

4 and wildlife management, including the regulation of 

5 hunting, fishing, and trapping, on Federal lands included 

6 in the management area. 

7 (f) WITHDRAWAL.—Subject to valid existing rights, 

8 the Federal lands included in the management area are 

9 withdrawn from all forms of entry, appropriation, and dis10 posal under the public land laws, location, entry, and pat11 ent under the mining laws, and operation of the mineral 

12 leasing, mineral materials, and geothermal leasing laws. 

13 (g) MOTORIZED AND MECHANIZED TRAVEL AU14 THORIZED.—Motorized and mechanized travel in the man15 agement area shall be restricted to designated trails and 

16 routes specified in the management plan required by sub17 section (d). Pending completion of the management plan, 

18 the Secretary of Agriculture may designate the trails and 

19 routes in the management area on which motorized and 

20 mechanized travel is authorized. Other trails and routes 

21 may be used for motorized and mechanized travel when22 ever the Secretary considers such use to be necessary for 

23 administrative purposes or to respond to an emergency. 
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1 (h) PROHIBITION ON COMMERCIAL TIMBER HAR2 VESTING.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall not permit 

3 the commercial harvest of timber in the management area. 

4 (i) LAND ACQUISITION AUTHORITY.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture 

6 may acquire lands and interests therein in the man7 agement area by purchase, donation, or exchange. 

8 The Secretary shall give priority consideration to the 

9 acquisition of those lands identified as Priority Ac10 quisition Lands on the map described in section 

11 2(a). 

12 (2) APPRAISAL.—Valuation of private lands 

13 shall be determined without reference to any restric14 tions on access or use that arise out of inclusion of 

15 adjacent Federal lands in the management area or 

16 designation of the Wild Sky Wilderness. 

17 (3) BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT.—The boundaries 

18 of the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forests and 

19 the management area shall be adjusted to reflect 

20 any land acquisitions or exchanges conducted under 

21 this subsection. 

22 SEC. 4. DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF TRAIL 

23 PLAN. 

24 (a) TRAIL PLAN REQUIRED.—The Secretary of Agri25 culture shall establish, in consultation with interested par-
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1 ties, a trail plan for National Forest System lands de2 scribed in this paragraph in order to develop the following: 

3 (1) A system of hiking and equestrian trails in 

4 the Wild Sky Wilderness in a manner consistent 

5 with section 2 and the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 

6 1131 et seq.). 

7 (2) A system of hiking and equestrian trails in 

8 the Backcountry Wilderness Management Area in a 

9 manner consistent with section 3. 

10 (3) A system of trails adjacent to the Wild Sky 

11 Wilderness or the Backcountry Wilderness Manage12 ment Area to provide access to such areas. 

13 (b) IMPLEMENTATION REPORT.—Within two years 

14 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

15 of Agriculture shall submit to Congress a report on the 

16 implementation of the trail plan. The report shall include 

17 the identification of those trails regarding which develop18 ment is a priority. 

19 SEC. 5. LAND EXCHANGES, CHELAN COUNTY PUBLIC UTIL20 ITY DISTRICT, WASHINGTON. 

21 (a) LAND EXCHANGES REQUIRED.—In accordance 

22 with this section, the Secretary of Agriculture shall carry 

23 out a land exchange with the Chelan County Public Utility 

24 District in the State of Washington to exchange lands and 

25 interests in lands, as generally depicted on the map enti-
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1 tled ‘‘Chelan County Public Utility District Exchange’’ 

2 and dated May 22, 2002. 

3 (b) ACCEPTANCE OF LANDS.—If, within 90 days 

4 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Chelan County 

5 Public Utility District offers to the Secretary of Agri6 culture approximately 371.8 acres of lands held by the 

7 Utility District in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National 

8 Forests in the State of Washington, the Secretary shall 

9 accept such lands if the title is acceptable to the Secretary 

10 and there is no hazardous material on such lands, which 

11 is objectionable to the Secretary. 

12 (c) CONVEYANCE OF EASEMENT.—Upon acceptance 

13 of title by the Secretary of Agriculture under subsection 

14 (b), the Secretary shall convey to the Chelan County Pub15 lic Utility District a permanent easement, including heli16 copter access, consistent with such levels as used as of 

17 the date of enactment of this Act, to maintain an existing 

18 snowtel site on 1.82 acres of Federal land in the 

19 Wenatchee National Forest in the State of Washington. 

20 (d) REVERSION.—As a condition on the conveyance 

21 under subsection (c), the Chelan County Public Utility 

22 District shall notify the Secretary of Agriculture if the 

23 Utility District determines that there is no longer a need 

24 to maintain a snowtel site on the lands subject to the ease25 ment conveyed under subsection (c) to monitor the snow 
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1 pack for calculating expected runoff into the Lake Chelan 

2 hydroelectric project and the hydroelectric projects in the 

3 Columbia River Basin. Upon receipt of such notice, the 

4 easement shall be extinguished and all rights conveyed 

5 under such subsection shall revert to the United States. 

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