Pukes Kill Wild Sky Wilderness Bill In House - Seattle PI

[hatrack]

WASHINGTON -- "A popular drive to create Washington state's first new wilderness area in 20 years collapsed yesterday after a House committee refused to consider a compromise offered by Rep. George Nethercutt, touching off a fierce exchange of accusations and sharply differing accounts of who is to blame. The daylong barrage commenced minutes after Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo, R-Calif., withdrew legislation sponsored by Nethercutt to create the 106,000-acre Wild Sky Wilderness and Backcountry area. Pombo said he acted after being told that the Washington delegation couldn't resolve differences over competing bills.

The demise of the Wild Sky legislation -- at least for this year -- dashed once-promising prospects for providing the highest level of federal protection for 106,000 acres in the Skykomish River Valley northeast of Seattle and exposed raw relations within the delegation.

At the center of the skirmish were two forces. One is the effort, originally championed by Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., to preserve the land. The other is election-year politics, fueled by Democrats who are convinced that Nethercutt is trying to exploit the issue to help him win the Senate seat held by incumbent Patty Murray.

EDIT

Nethercutt's bill, Larsen said, would not protect enough land and was riddled with loopholes. Those objections caused Pombo to withdraw the bill. "It's pretty clear to me I've got two good legs to stand on, and I'm not about to sell the district down the Skykomish River to get a bill that people don't want," Larsen said. He and other Democrats suggested that Nethercutt became interested in the issue this year only after he decided to run for Senate and that he might not grasp all the issue's complexities."

EDIT

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/192087_wildsky23.html

[RobertSeattle]

1. Has Bush signed into law any Wilderness Areas?

Might be a great Kerry campaign point - "In my first 4 years we will sign at least one major wilderness area into law..."

[Lord_StarFyre]

2. Yeah, Bush has signed a few

...

The Let's Turn Iraq into a Terrorist Wilderness Bill
The Let's Make Middle Class Neighborhoods into a Wilderness Bill
and my favorite
No Wilderness left behind for Oil Drilling and Clear Cutting Bill

[RobertSeattle]

3. Good comeback - thanks!

[Redneck Socialist]

4. Surprisingly enough he has

In 2002 he signed a bill to designate some areas in Nevada.

http://www.nevadawilderness.org/20years.htm

That doesn't change the fact that he has possibly the worst environmental record ever though.