This photo of a Roosevelt Elk was taken inside a designated wilderness area

HOW WILD OLYMPICS BENEFITS SPORTSMEN

The Wild Olympics Wilderness and Wild & Scenic Rivers Act would permanently protect critical headwaters and streams for Peninsula salmon, steelhead, elk and other fish & game on Olympic National Forest. It would also protect and enhance access for sportsmen.

Here are three ways the congressional Wild Olympics legislation helps Olympic Peninsula sportsmen:

1. Permanent Protection of Critical Habitat

While elk often forage in open lands like clearcuts and river beds, elk also thrive inside remote forests and wilderness areas far from clearcuts, people, and roads. Backcountry roadless areas are especially important for calving.

These remote headwaters on Olympic National Forest are also sensitive spawning grounds for salmon, cutthroat, summer steelhead, bull trout and other species. Sadly, the dangerous "Public Land-Transfer" and

"Logging Without Laws" bills advancing in Congress & the small-hydro projects brewing in the Cascades are grim reminders that our priceless backcountry lands & salmon streams are at risk. They are threatened by small hydro power developers, private industry and their friends in congress, trying to rollback safeguards on our public lands to open these sensitive spawning grounds to small hydro development, industrial clearcutting and roadbuilding once more.

Only the full, congressionally-designated Wilderness and Wild and Scenic River safeguards in the Wild Olympics legislation would truly and permanently protect our headwaters & salmon streams from future logging, roadbuilding, dams or small hydro-power development.

Co-Founder Norrie Johnson of Johnson Guide Service (Sequim) on the Sol Duc.(Click for info)

2. Protecting & Enhancing Access

We are losing access to private lands where we used to hunt and fish. Gates are being closed and no trespassing signs are going up. Wild Olympics Wilderness and Wild and Scenic safeguards would protect and enhance hunting and fishing access on public lands without closing any roads.

3. Expanding High Buck Hunt

New wilderness areas proposed for Olympic National Forest would significantly expand the amount of territory available on the Olympic Peninsula for the early season High Buck Hunt*. (*Confirmed by WDFW)