I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 822

To enhance ecosystem protection and the range of outdoor opportunities 

protected by law 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 13, 2003

Mr. LARSEN of Washington (for himself, Mr. DICKS, Ms. DUNN, Mr. SMITH

of Washington, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. BAIRD, and Mr. INSLEE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources 

A BILL

To enhance ecosystem protection and the range of outdoor 

opportunities protected by law 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,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 Act of 2003’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Americans cherish the continued existence 

4 of diverse wilderness ecosystems and wildlife found 

5 on their Federal lands and share a strong sense of 

6 moral responsibility to protect their wilderness herit7 age as an enduring resource to cherish, protect, and 

8 bequeath undisturbed to future generations of Amer9 icans. 

10 (2) The values an area of wilderness offer to 

11 this and future generations of Americans are greatly 

12 enhanced to the degree that the area is diverse in to13 pography, elevation, life zones and ecosystems, and 

14 to the extent that it offers a wide range of outdoor 

15 recreational and educational opportunities accessible 

16 in all seasons of the year. 

17 (3) Large blocks of wildlands embracing a wide 

18 range of ecosystems and topography, including low19 elevation forests, have seldom remained undisturbed 

20 due to many decades of development. 

21 (4) Certain wildlands on the western slope of 

22 the Cascade Range in the Skykomish River valley of 

23 the State of Washington offer an outstanding rep24 resentation of the original character of the forested 

25 landscape, ranging from high alpine meadows and 

26 extremely rugged peaks to low-elevation mature and 
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1 old-growth forests, including groves with some of the 

2 largest and most spectacular trees in Washington, 

3 with diameters of eight feet and larger. 

4 (5) These diverse, thickly forested mountain 

5 slopes and valleys of mature and old-growth trees in 

6 the Skykomish River valley harbor nearly the full 

7 complement of the original wildlife and fish species 

8 found by settlers of the 19th century, including 

9 mountain goats, bald eagles, black bear, pine 

10 marten, black-tailed deer, as well as rare and endan11 gered wildlife such as northern spotted owls and gos12 hawks, Chinook and Coho salmon, and steelhead and 

13 bull trout. 

14 (6) An ecologically and topographically diverse 

15 wilderness area in the Skykomish River valley acces16 sible in all seasons of the year will be enjoyable to 

17 users of various kinds, such as hikers, horse riders, 

18 hunters, anglers, and educational groups, but also to 

19 the many who cherish clean water and clean air, fish 

20 and wildlife (including endangered species such as 

21 wild salmon), and pristine mountain and riverside 

22 scenery. 

23 (b) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—Congress hereby de24 clares that it is the policy of the United States—
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1 (1) to better serve the diverse wilderness and 

2 environmental education needs of the people of the 

3 State of Washington and its burgeoning metropoli4 tan regions by granting wilderness protection to cer5 tain lower elevation wildlands in the Skykomish 

6 River valley of the State of Washington; and 

7 (2) to protect additional lands adjacent to the 

8 Henry M. Jackson Wilderness designated by section 

9 3(8) of the Washington State Wilderness Act of 

10 1984 (Public Law 98–339; 98 Stat. 300), in further 

11 tribute to the ecologically enlightened vision of the 

12 distinguished Senator from the State of Washington 

13 and former Chairman of the Committee on Energy 

14 and Natural Resources of the Senate. 

15 SEC. 3. ADDITION TO NATIONAL WILDERNESS PRESERVA16 TION SYSTEM, STATE OF WASHINGTON. 

17 (a) WILD SKY WILDERNESS.—Certain Federal lands 

18 in the State of Washington comprising approximately 

19 106,000 acres, as generally depicted on the map entitled 

20 ‘‘Wild Sky Wilderness Proposal, Map #1’’ and dated Jan21 uary 7, 2003, are hereby designated as wilderness and, 

22 therefore, as a component of the National Wilderness 

23 Preservation System. The Federal lands designated as wil24 derness by this subsection shall be known as the Wild Sky 

25 Wilderness. 
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1 (b) MAPS AND LEGAL DESCRIPTIONS.—As soon as 

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

3 Secretary of Agriculture shall file a map and a legal de4 scription for the Wild Sky Wilderness 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 description shall have the same force and 

8 effect as if included in this Act, except that the Secretary 

9 of Agriculture may correct clerical and typographical er10 rors in the legal description and map. The map and legal 

11 description shall be on file and available for public inspec12 tion in the office of the Chief of the Forest Service, De13 partment of Agriculture. 

14 (c) ADMINISTRATION.—Subject to valid existing 

15 rights, the Secretary of Agriculture shall manage the Wild 

16 Sky Wilderness in accordance with the Wilderness Act (16 

17 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) and this Act, except that, with re18 spect to the Wild Sky Wilderness, any reference in the 

19 Wilderness Act to the effective date of the Wilderness Act 

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

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

22 Wilderness Act and to achieve administrative efficiencies, 

23 the Secretary may manage the Wild Sky Wilderness as

24 a comprehensive part of the larger complex of adjacent 

25 and nearby wilderness areas. 
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1 (d) NEW TRAILS.— 

2 (1) TRAIL PLAN.—The Secretary of Agriculture 

3 shall establish, in consultation with interested par4 ties, a trail plan for National Forest System lands 

5 described in this paragraph in order to develop the 

6 following: 

7 (A) A system of hiking and equestrian 

8 trails within the Wild Sky Wilderness in a man9 ner consistent with the Wilderness Act (16 

10 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.). 

11 (B) A system of trails adjacent to or to 

12 provide access to the Wild Sky Wilderness. 

13 (2) IMPLEMENTATION REPORT.—Within two 

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

15 Secretary of Agriculture shall submit to Congress a 

16 report on the implementation of the trail plan estab17 lished under paragraph (1). The report shall include 

18 the identification of priority trails for development. 

19 (e) MAINTENANCE AND USE OF CERTAIN STRUC20 TURES.—

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

22 Wilderness, the Secretary of Agriculture is author23 ized to use helicopter access to construct and main24 tain a joint Forest Service and Snohomish County 

25 repeater site, in compliance with a Forest Service 
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1 approved communications site plan, for the purposes 

2 of improving communication for safety, health, and 

3 emergency services. 

4 (2) EVERGREEN MOUNTAIN LOOKOUT.—The 

5 designation of the Wild Sky Wilderness shall not 

6 preclude the operation and maintenance of the Ever7 green Mountain Lookout, in the same manner and 

8 degree in which the operation and maintenance of 

9 the lookout was occurring as of the date of enact10 ment of this Act. 

11 (f) ACCESS.—

12 (1) PRIVATE INHOLDINGS.—Consistent with 

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

14 1134(a)), the Secretary of Agriculture shall assure 

15 adequate access to private inholdings in the Wild 

16 Sky Wilderness. 

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

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

19 1133(d)(1)), the use of floatplanes on Lake Isabel in 

20 the Wild Sky Wilderness, where such use was estab21 lished before the date of enactment of this Act, shall 

22 be permitted to continue subject to such reasonable 

23 restrictions as the Secretary of Agriculture deter24 mines desirable. 

25 (g) LAND ACQUISITION AUTHORITY.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Agriculture 

2 may acquire lands and interests therein in the Wild 

3 Sky Wilderness by purchase, donation, or exchange. 

4 The Secretary shall give priority consideration to the 

5 acquisition of those lands identified as Priority Ac6 quisition Lands on the map described in subsection 

7 (a). 

8 (2) APPRAISAL.—Valuation of private lands 

9 shall be determined without reference to any restric10 tions on access or use that arise out of designation 

11 of the Wild Sky Wilderness. 

12 (3) BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT.—The boundaries 

13 of the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forests and 

14 the Wild Sky Wilderness shall be adjusted to reflect 

15 any land acquisitions or exchanges conducted under 

16 this subsection. 

17 SEC. 4. LAND EXCHANGES, CHELAN COUNTY PUBLIC UTIL18 ITY DISTRICT, WASHINGTON. 

19 (a) LAND EXCHANGES REQUIRED.—In accordance 

20 with this section, the Secretary of Agriculture shall carry 

21 out a land exchange with the Chelan County Public Utility 

22 District in the State of Washington to exchange lands and 

23 interests in lands, as generally depicted on the map enti24 tled ‘‘Chelan County Public Utility District Exchange’’ 

25 and dated May 22, 2002. 
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1 (b) ACCEPTANCE OF LANDS.—If, within 90 days 

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

3 Public Utility District offers to the Secretary of Agri4 culture approximately 371.8 acres of lands held by the 

5 Utility District in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National 

6 Forests in the State of Washington, the Secretary shall 

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

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

9 is objectionable to the Secretary. 

10 (c) CONVEYANCE OF EASEMENT.—Upon acceptance 

11 of title by the Secretary of Agriculture under subsection 

12 (b), the Secretary shall convey to the Chelan County Pub13 lic Utility District a permanent easement, including heli14 copter access, consistent with such levels as used as of 

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

16 snowtel site on 1.82 acres of Federal land in the 

17 Wenatchee National Forest in the State of Washington. 

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

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

20 District shall notify the Secretary of Agriculture if the 

21 Utility District determines that there is no longer a need 

22 to maintain a snowtel site on the lands subject to the ease23 ment conveyed under subsection (c) to monitor the snow 

24 pack for calculating expected runoff into the Lake Chelan 

25 hydroelectric project and the hydroelectric projects in the 
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1 Columbia River Basin. Upon receipt of such notice, the 

2 easement shall be extinguished and all rights conveyed 

3 under such subsection shall revert to the United States.

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