Vast expanses of undeveloped federal lands make up much of the Cascade mountain range. Among these areas are some of the most picturesque expanses of wilderness in the lower 48 states. Under the Wilderness Act of 1964, more than four million acres of federal lands in Washington are designated as wilderness areas and protected from development and human encroachment. The wilderness designation is designed to prohibit most human activity, particularly those activities that require the use of machines like logging, mining and road building, in the nation’s wild, untouched natural areas.

Supporters of what is called the Wild Sky Wilderness Area have proposed designating more than 100,000 acres of federal land in the Skykomish River basin north of Highway 2 as federally protected wilderness. This popular recreation area offers many environmental, recreational and economic benefits to the region, and certainly deserves special protection, but the implications of a wilderness designation for the full 106,000 acres deserves a thorough review before any action is taken.

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