Here's another out of state lawmaker trying to tell Washington state residents what's good for them. In spite of nearly unanimous support by this state's congressional delegation and twice passing the Senate, Richard Pombo R-CA, stated some 48 hours before his committee that he will oppose the Wild Sky Wilderness bill.
Wild Sky bill hits House roadblock
By Alex Fryer
Seattle Times Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — A powerful California lawmaker yesterday said he opposed a proposal to permanently protect a swath of Snohomish County, 48 hours before his committee was to hear testimony on the measure.
In a letter to Rep. George Nethercutt, R-Spokane, released last night, House Resources Committee Chairman Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Stockton, thanked Nethercutt for getting involved in the Wild Sky Wilderness Bill, which would protect 106,000 acres near Index. Pombo indicated he might consider other forms of federal protection, short of wilderness designation, for the land.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2001984549_wildsky21m.htmlIn The Northwest: Lawmaker running roughshod over Wild Sky bill
By JOEL CONNELLY
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER COLUMNIST
When the pew oceans Commission released a study that America's coastlines were in trouble, House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo sneered that the report was a $5.5 million "coffee-table picture book."
The Republican congressman from California, tapped to head a committee that oversees our public lands, loves to decry "radical environmentalists" and their "frivolous, politically motivated lawsuits."
Pombo is the real radical, and a beautiful corner of our state is hung up because of his intransigence.
The House Resources Committee holds a hearing tomorrow on a bill that would create a 106,000-acre Wild Sky Wilderness Area amid sharp peaks, forested valleys and salmon streams of eastern Snohomish County. It has twice passed the U.S. Senate on unanimous votes.
Pombo has said, however, that the legislation is dead on arrival at his committee.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/connelly/182917_joel21.html