Washington’s River Renaissance

Tom Uniack Executive Director Wild Washington Wild protects and restores wild lands and waters in Washington State through advocacy, education and civic engagement. Wild & Scenic Rivers in WA State

• As of 2008, 200 miles of designated rivers in WA (2,000 + in OR) • 1978 Skagit System • 1986 Columbia Gorge • 2004 Upper White Salmon • WA statewide rivers proposal (2,000 miles) in late 80’s but window closed before onset of timber wars Flagship Proposal

• Wild Sky Wilderness was the first Wilderness designation in 24 years after the timber wars subsided. • Protected 106,000 acres of low elevation forests • However, no Wild & Scenic Rivers were included in the legislation.

River Resurgence • Washington Wild & Scenic River Workshop (Nov. 2008) • (Washington Wild, American Whitewater, American Rivers) • Lessons learned from Wild Sky campaign • Presented compelling case why we should be doing both Wilderness and Wild & Scenic • Long-term Commitment from WA Wild Protection for Wild Lands & Waters

• Designated 22,000 acres of wilderness additions to the existing (1976)

• Designated nearly 40 miles of the Pratt and Middle Fork Snoqualmie Rivers as Wild & Scenic The Alpine Lakes Wilderness Additions and Pratt & Middle Fork Snoqualmie Protection Act Protecting Mountain Bike Trails through Wild & Scenic River Designation

“So there is an inherent The Middle Fork Trail was excluded from proposed challenge between wanting to Wilderness but included within ensure the lands are protected the Wild and Scenic corridor but also being able to for the Middle Fork experience it through our own to preserve human powered low-impact mountain bike access. recreation. In Washington I believe (this is a) challenge that we have really been able to overcome working with Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance Executive Washington Wild.” Director Glenn Glover Focus on Watershed Protection • Safeguard sources of clean, cold water for downstream values like fish, recreation, farms and safe drinking water. • Protect the headwaters that ultimately drain into supporting recovering orca whale populations. Rivers Tell Your Conservation Story Adding Wild and Scenic Rivers to a Wilderness proposal helps connect downstream values and stakeholders to the upper watershed you want to protect First Ever Wild & Scenic Protections on Olympic Peninsula • Designate 126,661 acres of new Wilderness in . • Designate 460 miles (19 rivers) of new Wild and Scenic Rivers on the Olympic Peninsula. Wild Olympics Wilderness & Wild and Scenic Rivers Act • Two year negotiation • 94 of 108 miles of mt bike trails excluded (15,000 acres removed) • Wild and Scenic River corridors used to provide protection for excluded trails Washington Approach • Since 2005, Washington Wild has invested in working with local mountain bikers to find common ground around Wilderness campaigns – Wild Sky – Mt bikers neutral – Alpine Lakes – Mt bikers support – Wild Olympics – Mt bikers support Local Mountain Bike Endorsements

• Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance • International Mountain Bicycling Association • Bicycle Works (Bremerton) • Bike Garage (Port Angeles) • Bike Tech (Tacoma) • Bob's Bike (Port Townsend) • B.I. Cycle Shop (Bainbridge Island) • Broken Spoke (Port Townsend) • Classic Cycle (Bainbridge Island) • Mike's Bikes (Sequim) • Old Town Bicycle Inc. (Gig Harbor) • Olympic Bike & Skate (Port Orchard) • Port Townsend Cyclery (Port Townsend) • The ReCyclery (Port Townsend) • Silverdale Cyclery (Silverdale) • Sound Bikes & Kayak (Port Angeles) • Tacoma Bike (Tacoma) • Williwaw (Port Townsend) Reasons To Do Both Wilderness and Wild & Scenic

• Wild lands legislation is a big lift that takes significant capacity time. Get the most out of it! • When there are more than one element in a proposal, often neither gets the full brunt of the ideological opposition • Both designations are complementary – Wild and Scenic allows a connection between less familiar upper watersheds and the stakeholders who we want to support it – Wilderness provides the hard and fast watershed protection that Wild and Scenic cannot always provide Legislative Wild Lands & Waters Protection Campaigns in WA State Washington's River Renaissance – One Decade Later • Since 2008, Washington has designated 50 additional miles of Wild and Scenic Rivers (a 25% increase) • Pratt River (2014) • Middle Fork Snoqualmie River (2014) • Illabot Creek (2014) • An additional 460 miles of rivers are pending in Congress as part of the Wild Olympics proposal • A proposal is being developed for as much as 500 miles on the North Cascades landscape. Look out Oregon! WA Is On Your Tail

WA OR