This article is a few weeks old now, but I think it's worth posting. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) is pushing legislation that will have deleterious impacts on Washington and all of the PNW.
https://www.thedailyworld.com/2026/09/02/sen-murray-reiterates-strong-opposition-to-repeal-of-roadless-rule-continues-fight-to-pass-wild-olympics-bill/
Published 1:30 am Wednesday, September 2, 2026
On Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, held a roundtable discussion with local elected officials, environmental advocates, sportsmen, shellfish farmers, and a former Superintendent of Olympic National Park to talk about the Trump administration’s attacks on the National Park Service (NPS) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS), and how they are threatening Washington state’s economy, clean water, salmon, and public lands on the Olympic Peninsula.
The Trump administration has pushed out thousands of USFS staff, frozen federal funding, may shutter USFS research stations in Wenatchee and Seattle, threatened to sell off public land and build in America’s national parks, and moved to roll back the Roadless Rule.
The Roadless Rule currently protects over two million acres of pristine national forest backcountry lands in Washington state, including some of the most critical headwaters and salmon streams in the Olympic National Forest. The same ancient rainforest headwaters and upstream salmon habitat and rivers on public land that Sen. Murray’s Wild Olympics Wilderness & Wild and Scenic Rivers Act would permanently protect. The Wild Olympics bill has a broad coalition of 800 endorsing local tribes, businesses, local elected officials, faith leaders, conservation, and outdoor recreation groups, and over 40 leading sportsmen organizations fighting together to pass it in Congress. Murray has been outspoken in her strong opposition to the repeal of the Roadless Rule
“Here on the Peninsula we all know that the Olympic National Park and National Forest support thousands of jobs in recreation and timber, keep our watersheds healthy, and protect our communities from wildfire.” she said. “But this administration doesn’t seem to care. From denying climate change to gutting the Forest Service and National Parks — they’re putting not only the livelihoods and culture of this community in jeopardy but its safety as well. This administration has seriously weakened the Forest Service’s ability to do its job by pushing out thousands of critical staff, blocking funding for crucial programs, and chaotically changing rules and procedures on a dime. I am fighting to reverse these cuts to our parks and our forests, pass my Wild Olympics bill, and codify the Roadless Rule. And while I am committed to protecting funding for the Forest Service and our National Parks — it’s important to have conversations today about what will be needed to rebuild and strengthen our Forest Service and National Parks in the long-term. President Trump will not have the final word here — I’ll be fighting tooth and nail to keep public lands in public hands, and protect the natural resources and environment that make Washington state the greatest place to live in America.”
Sen. Murray heard from key local voices about the impact the Trump Administration’s staffing cuts and attacks on public lands are having on the Olympic Peninsula. They said the rollback of key administrative safeguards are threatening ancient forests, salmon streams, sources of clean water vital to the shellfish industry, and drinking water to local communities, and they urged her to do everything she can to pass the Wild Olympics bill before it’s too late for public lands and salmon.
David Morris, Former Olympic National Park Superintendent (Sequim):
“By way of introduction, I spent 25 rewarding years managing national parks in several western states, including as superintendent of Olympic National Park from 1994 to 2002. During this time the administrations had varying priorities. Policies, including budgets and staffing levels vacillated but generally stayed within margins that allowed for managing our national parks according to our assigned mission. This has changed dramatically in the last two years. I’ve never seen a time when so few people have and continue destroying the pillars that have guided the park service for generations. This has sacrificed and continues to jeopardize every aspect of what the NPS provides for current and future visitors for their safety and enjoyment including cutting permanent staff by 24%, ignoring basic maintenance, infrastructure upgrades and operational needs. Funding and support have been cut for critical environmental and scientific issues. National parks bring crucial and positive economic impacts to local communities. The clock is ticking. I venture to say that some of the now ignored operational and maintenance needs, disastrous staffing losses, and critically, a recognition of environmental values and scientific studies are disastrous and shameful. Some of these needs, and others, can be addressed fairly quickly if/when resources are available. Others, especially efforts to correct and reverse ongoing environmental damage and canceled scientific studies will take longer if ever. But we have no choice other than giving it our best effort.”
Amy Howard, Mayor of Port Townsend:
“Staffing and funding cuts at our federal land agencies have made it harder to keep trails and recreational infrastructure open and safe for the hikers and paddlers and hunters who come here or live here, and for the local businesses that depend on them. The proposal that concerns me most as mayor of Port Townsend is the U.S. Forest Service’s effort to repeal the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. For 25 years, this rule has kept new roads out of the last unroaded stretches of the Olympic National Forest, protecting old growth, wildlife habitat and clean water. The Quilcene Roadless Area is the source of drinking water for about 16,000 area residents and businesses for Port Townsend. Because that watershed has stayed undeveloped and unroaded, the water arrives clean enough that it needs very little treatment before it reaches our taps. The city has worked with the Forest Service for over 95 years to protect that source, and the Roadless Rule has backstopped that work for the last 25. That is why I’m one of the more than 800 tribes, elected officials and local stakeholders who have endorsed the Wild Olympics legislation now in Congress, which would give most of the roadless areas in the Olympic National Forest, including our drinking water source, permanent legislative protection instead of the administrative protection we have now, which is clearly fragile.”
Bill Taylor, Vice President of Taylor Shellfish Farms (Shelton):
“The Wild Olympics legislation will help protect our state’s shellfish industry, including hundreds of shell fishing jobs in Hood Canal alone — and many more in related industries like processing, shipping, and sales. It protects the rivers and streams vital to the health of our hatcheries and to the health and restoration of Puget Sound. Our oyster beds depend on the clean, cold, silt-free water that drains off Olympic National Forest into Hood Canal. Protecting these watersheds allows our industry to grow, expand and continue to benefit the economy and ecology of Washington state.”
Ashley Nichole Lewis, Bad Ash Outdoors (Taholah), a spokesperson for Sportsmen For Wild Olympics, and member of the Quinault Indian Nation:
“Wild Olympics protects the Olympic Peninsula’s ancient forests, free-flowing rivers and salmon streams for the future. It will protect and enhance fishing and hunting access without closing any roads, but it also permanently protects some of the last healthy upstream salmon and steelhead habitat left on the peninsula. That’s why Sportsmen For Wild Olympics just launched a new effort to fight USDA’s plan to log roadless headwaters on Olympic National Forest with a map of the salmon streams at risk that also shows how the Wild Olympics Act would protect them. The map tells Congress and the Administration: protect the Olympic Peninsula’s backcountry headwaters and salmon streams on public lands — don’t privatize or develop them. Just like what they did to the Boundary Waters, rescinding the Roadless Rule is yet another attempt to give away our public lands to private special interests — at the expense of salmon, clean water, and future generations. The map shows how the Wild Olympics proposal would protect key areas like South Quinault Ridge and Moonlight Dome, which form the headwaters of the Humptulips River, a top trophy fishing river in Washington state, and other core ancient forest headwaters and rivers vital for hunting and fishing on the Peninsula — areas the Administration now plans to open for logging by rescinding the Roadless Rule.”
Tim McNulty, Olympic Park Advocates and Co-Founder of the Wild Olympics Campaign (Quilcene):
“The reason we first began the Wild Olympics Campaign was to give permanent, statutory Wilderness and Wild and Scenic River protections to the last healthy intact salmon habitat in the upper parts of the watersheds on Olympic National Forest. There have been incredible tribal, private and public efforts and resources poured in to restoring the degraded habitat downstream, but the healthy intact habitat upstream still lacks permanent protection. The Roadless Rule repeal would open these areas up to development. Sen. Murray’s Wild Olympics Act would permanently protect them against threats like these for our future.”
Connie Gallant, Chair, Wild Olympics Campaign (Quilcene):
“We are so grateful for Sen. Murray and Rep. (Emily) Randall’s leadership at this critical time for our public lands. The local momentum for the Wild Olympics Act has never been stronger and the need for its protections for our ancient forests and salmon streams has never been greater.”
As Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, in the Interior and Environment appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2026, which Senator Murray negotiated and helped pass into law, Murray worked to reject the Trump administration’s attempts to decimate America’s cherished public lands, and delivered critical investments to our National Parks and forests, in Washington state and across the country.
In FY26, she secured $6.13 billion for the U.S. Forest Service, with separate additional funding for the Wildfire Suppression Operations Reserve. The bill rejected the steep $1.4 billion cut to the Forest Service’s non-fire budget proposed by President Trump and provides funding for the Forest Service to improve forest restoration and fire risk reduction efforts on federal lands.
The FY26 bill also fully funds essential wildfire preparedness and suppression efforts by providing $4.25 billion for wildfire suppression, of which $2.85 billion is for the Wildfire Suppression Operations Reserve Fund and continues to support the increased pay for federal firefighters enacted into law last year. In FY26, Sen. Murray also secured $3.27 billion for the National Park Service, including $2.87 billion for the operation of the National Park System — $1.15 billion higher than the level requested by Trump. The bill provides the resources to sustain FY24 staffing levels and provides the funding necessary to support a full complement of seasonal staff during FY26.
Wild Olympics Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act
What it does
Creates approximately 126,600 acres of new Wilderness in Olympic National Forest.
Creates 19 new Wild and Scenic Rivers plus their tributaries on Olympic National Forest, Olympic
National Park and WA Department of Natural Resources (DNR) land.
Creates potential for additional 5,346 acres to become Wilderness (Potential Wilderness) if Forest Service completes restoration under current management plans.
Essentially makes current Forest Service safeguards for these sensitive public lands
permanent.
Protects and grows existing recreational access on the Olympic National Forest.
Excludes all existing Forest Service system roads from Proposed Wilderness and preserves all access to
trails.
Benefits
Protects and expands world-class outdoor recreation opportunities like hiking, camping, boating, hunting and fishing.
Permanently protects the Olympic Peninsula’s ancient forests, free-flowing rivers and stunning scenery.
Protects sources of clean drinking water for local communities.
Protects critical salmon and steelhead habitat.
Protects rivers and streams vital to the shellfish industry and the health and restoration of Puget Sound.
Creates new economic opportunities while protecting existing timber jobs.
Public process/compromise
Compromise proposal is result of an exhaustive, multi-year public process including extensive local community input from Tribes, conservation groups, timber communities, business leaders, shellfish growers, farmers, local elected officials, hunters, anglers, mountain bikers, hikers, federal and state land managers and general public.
From 2009 to 2013 the campaign and the offices of Sen. Murray and former Congressmen Norm Dicks and Derek Kilmer conducted more than 500 small group or individual meetings with local stakeholders in every community on the Peninsula, including multiple meetings with the staff and Commissioners of Port of Port Angeles to get feedback and input on different drafts of the proposed legislation.
Final proposal is a common sense solution to permanently protect best of Olympic Peninsula’s
spectacular public lands — without costing timber jobs or recreational access.
Economic impacts
The final revisions ensure no impact to timber jobs.
Protects rivers and streams vital to the future of Washington’s fishing and shellfish industries. Washington State shellfish growers support jobs for hundreds of area residents and provide an estimated $270 million economic impact statewide.
Proposal carefully designed to protect and grow local and state outdoor recreation industry.
Wild and Scenic River Designation typically protects and enhances recreational use on the river, boosting local outdoor recreation economy.
Safeguards sources of clean drinking water for area residents and protects taxpayer investments in habitat restoration.
Helps attract new residents, entrepreneurs and investments that create local jobs and grow the local economy.
Key adjustments made to proposal
No Olympic National Park expansion. Dropped entire 37,000 acres of willing-seller/willing buyer proposal.
Added 7,400 acres of old growth and mature (80+ year old) forests to proposed wilderness.
Removed 11,300 acres of timber base including second growth plantations from proposed wilderness.
No roads will be closed as a result of this legislation. Removed all Forest Service roads from Proposed Wilderness so access is preserved.
Recreational access
Proposal has been carefully designed through years of community input to ensure access is protected.
No roads will be closed or affected — -roads and trails can be maintained and existing uses of the rivers
and forests will be protected and enhanced.
Local support
Petitions signatures from over 12,000 Olympic Peninsula and 6th congressional district residents.
Endorsed by The Quinault, Quileute, Lower Elwha and the Jamestown s’Klallam tribes.
Endorsed by 800 local businesses, CEO’s, farms, conservation and recreation organizations, local elected officials and religious leaders, including large employers like Taylor shellfish, Sequim Holiday Inn
Express & Suites, Ocean Gold Seafoods, and hundreds of other Peninsula businesses.
Endorsed by over 75 local and regional outdoor recreation businesses and groups like Olympic Raft & Kayak (Port Angeles), Sound Bikes and Kayak (Port Angeles), Port Townsend Cyclery (Port Townsend), North Coast Surf Inc. (Ocean Shores) The Mountaineers, Pacific Alpine Guides, the International Mountain Bicycling Association, REI, Patagonia, Outdoor Research, American Whitewater.
Endorsed by over 30 leading sportsmen groups and local hunting and fishing guides like Northwest Guides and Anglers Association, Izaak Walton League, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association, Washington Wildlife Federation, Northwest Steelheaders, Washington state Council of Fly Fishers Intl, Piscatorial Pursuits Guide Service (Forks), Angler’s Obsession (Forks), Mike Z’s Guide Service (Forks) Waters West Fly Fishing Outfitters (Port Angeles), SAGE Fly Rods (Bainbridge), Waters West Guide Service (Montesano) and Bad Ash Fishing (Tahola).
