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Outstanding hiking and camping opportunities abound in the Wild Sky country, catering to an outdoor-minded urban population. Excellent hunting and fishing opportunities also can be found in the Wild Sky country. Streams in the lowland valleys offer some of the best remaining salmon, steelhead and bull trout spawning habitat in the Puget Sound Basin. The Forest is home to deer, bald eagles, spotted owls, pine marten, mountain goats, wolverines and cougars.

The greatest threat to the Wild Sky country is potential logging and roadbuilding. The The Bush administration's reversal of the Roadless Conservation Rule makes 80 percent of the roadless region in the Wild Sky now vulnerable to commercial logging operations. The Skykomish basin is a "rain on snow" region prone to flooding.

Logging would increase run off, threaten downstream communities with flooding, create siltation problems for fisheries and negatively impact drinking water quality. Being close to a state route and not far from an urban core in Seattle, the region is also experiencing, like many forests along the West Coast, a large increase in ORV use and abuse.

A wide range of local communities, conservationists, sportsmen, people of faith and small businesses have indicated their desire to permanently protect these 106,000 acres of wild forests. Sierra Club and this coalition are working to bring together local mayors and county commissioners to expand the support for promoting wilderness recreation, hunting and fishing opportunities and safer, healthier communities.

To help us protect Washington's Wild Sky country, please contact Roger Singer at roger.singer@sierraclub.org or 206-378-0114 x321.