{"id":6585,"date":"2016-10-09T08:34:40","date_gmt":"2016-10-09T15:34:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=6585"},"modified":"2018-11-11T21:49:06","modified_gmt":"2018-11-12T05:49:06","slug":"keeping-the-olympics-wild","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/hike\/keeping-the-olympics-wild","title":{"rendered":"Keeping the Olympics Wild"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fifty miles west of Seattle, Washington, lies one of the nation\u2019s most undersold bucket-list-worthy destinations in the country: the Pacific Northwest\u2019s Olympic Peninsula. This large, rectangular-shaped piece of land marks the northwesternmost part of the contiguous United States, jutting toward Canada where the Strait of Juan de Fuca mingles with the Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n

The Peninsula\u2019s emeralds and browns are made richer by the area\u2019s unsurpassable levels of precipitation. Moss wraps its way through the forest canopy, engulfing trees and the woods.\u00a0The sponge-like ground is fertile with slugs and critters (who wouldn\u2019t want to bed on such a soft forest floor?), ferns flank the hundreds and hundreds of miles of trails, salmon and steelhead run up clear rivers, cliffs peer out over wide, misty beaches, and craggy glaciers creased with snow take watch over all of it. Needless to say, this 3,600-square-mile peninsula\u201440% of which is made up of Olympic National Park<\/a> and other natural areas\u2014abounds with habitat for wildlife as well as opportunity to play in the great outdoors.<\/p>\n

\"Wild<\/p>\n

What many people don\u2019t know is that a national park isn\u2019t the highest level of protection for undeveloped land. National parks are built with society in mind: recreation and engagement are prioritized, resulting in roads, campsites, parking lots, marked trails, visitor centers and more. In contrast, an area designated as wilderness under the federal Wilderness Act of 1964 is given much more stringent protection. In a wilderness area, the land is set aside for conservation, as well as activities that largely leave the area undisrupted (think hiking, fishing, hunting, camping, rafting, kayaking). As our culture drifts towards more time over touchscreens than over trails, it\u2019s as important as ever that we protect places for people to enjoy unadulterated nature. It\u2019s an inverse ratio: the more we seep into the virtual world, the more we need to safeguard the natural world.<\/p>\n

Which is exactly what\u2019s happening on the Olympic Peninsula. Since late 2006, a handful of local organizations\u2014bolstered since 2012 by the national outdoor organization, The Conservation Alliance<\/a>, and more recently by outdoor gear leaders REI and Patagonia\u2014are stepping up their work on a campaign to place more of the peninsula\u2019s federal forest land under a Wilderness Act designation.<\/p>\n

The important thing to know about the Wild Olympics Campaign<\/a> is that the area has long been, well, wild. Logging has tapered off as a result of environmental protections and global competition. With the area long left untamed, the goal now is to assure it\u2019s kept in that state for the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to protect the ecosystem on the Olympic Peninsula\u2014old growth forests, our rivers and watersheds\u2014which will offer more recreational opportunities to visitors and residents, and in turn, benefit the local economy,\u201d says Connie Gallant, chairperson for the Wild Olympics Campaign.<\/p>\n

The Wild Olympics Expansion proposal calls for protecting 126,661 acres and 19 wild and scenic rivers or tributaries that are now part of Olympic National Forest, Olympic National Park and WA Department of Natural Resources (DNR) land. It will safe-harbor some of Washington\u2019s last unprotected wild forests in their natural states for hiking, birding, camping, horseback riding, snowshoeing and more as well as ensure that contiguous river stretches will remain free-flowing and protect critical habitats. To enable mountain biking, certain segments will be carved out of the proposed wilderness area but protected within wild and scenic river corridors.<\/p>\n

\"Wild<\/p>\n

According to campaign organizers, the proposal will not affect the remaining timber industry. Rather, it will protect rivers and streams vital to the future of Washington\u2019s shellfish industry, providing the state with an estimated $270 million in economic activity. Local outdoor recreation will be improved for visitors and residents, drinking water will be protected, and economic activity from tourism will grow.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we designate a wild place for hiking, paddling and mountain biking, we create opportunity. We create opportunity for today\u2019s outdoor enthusiasts and for generations of them to come. And when people come to visit and play in these places, they typically bring their wallets. They fuel local tourism, spending money at lodges and restaurants, with guides,\u201d says Marc Berejka, REI\u2019s Director of Community & Government Affairs, \u201cThe recreational economy can fill in some of the economic space that was created with the downturn of logging.\u201d<\/p>\n

The campaign is getting renewed and stepped-up support from Patagonia and REI, because it is oh-so-close to reaching the tipping point. Senator Patty Murray initially launched the re-designation effort several years ago along with then-Congressman Norm Dicks. With Dicks\u2019s retirement, his replacement, Congressman Derek Kilmer, has stepped into and is filling those big shoes, re-introducing with Senator Murray the legislation known as the Wild Olympics Wilderness & Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 2015. With an anticipated push on a suite of lands-related bills to close out the Obama Administration, local advocates\u2014and now national ones\u2014are angling to assure this measure is among any package Congress passes in the coming year.<\/p>\n

Help support the bill here: http:\/\/wildolympics.org\/take_action<\/a><\/u>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The campaign and other community leaders have partnered with REI and Patagonia to create a story map<\/a> highlighting some of the great places in the Wild Olympics proposal.\u00a0Go out and explore the Wild Olympics yourself.<\/p>\n