For Immediate Release:

Thursday, September 12, 2002

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) A key House committee has passed a proposal to preserve more than 100,000 acres of wilderness country in Snohomish County.

The "Wild Sky" Wilderness proposal sponsored by Rep. Rick Larsen and Sen. Patty Murray (both D-Wash.) has been passed out of the House Resources Committee and now awaits a vote by the full House of Representatives.

Sen. Patty Murray released the following statement:

"Congressman Larsen has done it again. First he broke a 3-year logjam to pass a pipeline safety bill, and now he has prevailed on the wilderness bill. Because of his hard work and ability to work across the aisle, Rick Larsen has achieved another important victory for Washington state families."

In the Senate, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on the Wild Sky wilderness bill in July, and is expected to mark up the proposal by the end of September.