ICYMI: Senator Murray & Representative Randall Reintroduce Wild Olympics Bill to Permanently Protect Wild Olympics Wilderness and Rivers
***WATCH: Senator Murray’s remarks on Senate Floor***
Washington, D.C. —Today,U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, blocked an attempt on the Senate floor by Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) to pass a package of public lands bills that excluded Senator Murray’s Wild Olympics Wilderness & Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, legislation with widespread grassroots support in Washington state from a broad coalition that includes Republican and Democratic elected officials, local businesses and economic leaders, Tribes, hunters, fisherman, conservationists, outdoor industry groups, farms, loggers, and countless others. Senator Murray made clear she would be glad to consider a revised package that did include her Wild Olympics legislation.
The Wild Olympics Wilderness & Wild and Scenic Rivers Act would permanently protect more than 126,500 acres of Olympic National Forest as wilderness and 19 rivers and their major tributaries—a total of 464 river miles—as Wild and Scenic Rivers. Designed through extensive community input to conserve ancient forests and pristine rivers, protect clean water and salmon habitat, and enhance outdoor recreation, the legislation would set aside the first new wilderness on Olympic National Forest in over four decades and the first-ever protected wild and scenic rivers on the Olympic Peninsula. Senator Murray most recently reintroduced the legislation alongside Representative Emily Randall (D, WA-06) in May. The legislation has passed the House with bipartisan support several times before and passed the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last Congress for the first time in the bill’s history.
Senator Murray’s remarks, as delivered on the Senate Floor, are below:
“Mr. President, reserving the right to object, and I appreciate the senator from Utah being here tonight to offer this package. But I believe there needs to be a more bipartisan and thoughtful way to consider how we protect the future of our public lands.
“For example, the legislation that the senior senator from Utah wants to pass tonight does not include my Wild Olympics bill. Now, this is a bill that will help to preserve the wild and scenic rivers of the Olympic Peninsula, that has very strong support from Democrats and Republicans in my state.
“There is a strong nonpartisan coalition of support for this bill: from Tribes, hunters, fisherman, conservationists, and even loggers.
“And that is because my bill supports the Peninsula economy, and ensures continued access to our world-class outdoor recreation on the Olympic Peninsula, and it conserves critical habitat for salmon and water resources for our very rural communities.
“Moreover, this bill has passed the House several times now with bipartisan support. In fact, Mr. President, I have been working on this for well over a decade to build support and consensus around this bill.
“It is a carefully drafted, it’s a thoughtful piece of legislation and the grassroots support for this bill has only grown over the years. That is exactly the kind of bill which should be included in a bipartisan public lands package.
“I would invite the Senior Senator of Utah to visit the land this bill covers to help protect our Olympic National Forest. I think you would find out why I am here tonight objecting to this because it doesn’t include it. I want the senator from Utah to know, my door is always open.
“I hope in the future we can work together in drafting a public lands bill that does include legislation like my Wild Olympics bill.
“And I know I’m not alone—many of our colleagues have worked on important legislation for their respective states.
“So for now, I object, but I do, Mr. President, with my hand outstretched ready to work with the senator together on a public lands package that is comprehensive.”
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