Sponsor
Patty Murray
Senator · D-WA
Senator · D-WA
The bill secures substantial new wilderness and river protections and clarifies management while protecting tribal and existing private rights, at the trade-off of restricting resource uses and development, adding administrative costs, and creating some uncertainty and compliance costs for local communities, utilities, and landowners.
Residents, visitors, and nearby communities gain long-term protection for large swaths of public land (~126,554 acres) and numerous river miles, preserving habitat, scenery, and public access for recreation.
Communities and businesses near the protected lands and rivers are likely to see increased recreation and tourism (fishing, boating, hiking), supporting local economies.
Authorizes forest health measures (fire, insect, disease control) and supports river restoration and species-recovery projects, helping protect nearby communities and native fish populations (e.g., salmon).
Local industries and users that rely on motorized access, mineral leasing, or commercial operations will face restrictions or loss of access on protected lands, reducing economic opportunities in affected communities.
New permitting, licensing, and project-authorization requirements (including on utilities and water users) can raise costs and slow infrastructure or water-resource projects.
Nearby landowners and some users will have reduced flexibility for development, resource use, or motorized access because of new boundaries and designation-related restrictions.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Designates ~126,554 acres in Olympic National Forest as wilderness, ~5,346 acres as potential wilderness, and adds multiple Washington river segments to the Wild and Scenic Rivers System, while preserving existing private, state, and tribal rights.
Official title: Designate and expand wilderness areas in Olympic National Forest in the State of Washington, and to designate certain rivers in Olympic National Forest and Olympic National Park as wild and scenic rivers, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 13, 2025 by Patty Murray · Last progress May 13, 2025
Designates about 126,554 acres of Forest Service land in Olympic National Forest as new wilderness and adds roughly 5,346 acres as potential wilderness to be converted once nonconforming uses end. It also adds multiple river segments in Washington (including the Elwha, Dungeness, Big Quilcene, Dosewallips, Duckabush, Hamma Hamma, and South Fork Skokomish) to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, assigns administration responsibilities to the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior as appropriate, and preserves existing private rights, State DNR land management, and Indian treaty-reserved hunting, fishing, gathering, and cultural rights.