No More Logging Our Wild Sky

Congratulations are in order today for Patty Murray and Rick Larson, as a federal bill they both sponsored, aiming to declare Wild Sky Wilderness near Seattle a protected area is getting signed by our fearless leader, George W. Bush.

So says the Times:

The House gave final approval to the bill last month. It designates 167 square miles in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest north of Sultan, Wash., as federal wilderness, the government's highest level of protection.

Wild Sky, sponsored by Sen. Patty Murray and Rep. Rick Larsen, both D-Wash., is the first new federally designated wilderness in Washington since 1984.

Basically, it means that not even a chainsaw will be allowed in the new wilderness area, much less traffic, logging, mining, and all that jazz. Also lumped into the bill with the Wild Sky Wilderness is the granting of monument status to a WWII memorial in the works on Bainbridge Island honoring those who were sent to Japanese internment camps. So thanks to Senator Murray and Representative Larsen for saving us a little piece of heaven and giving those folks their due.

The gorgeous Cascade Mountains, thanks to Seattlest Flickr user B.K. Dewey