Local Stakeholders Celebrate Alpine Lakes and Illabot Creek Designations

A commemorative digital block print of the Alpine Lakes Additions courtesy of Roy Hughes.

On December 19, 2014, President Barak Obama signed into law legislation adding more than 22,000 acres of underrepresented low-elevation forest to the Alpine Lakes Wilderness and designating nearly 40 miles of the Middle Fork Snoqualmie and Pratt Rivers under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. In the same omnibus legislation a separate bill to designate 14 miles of Illabot Creek as a Wild and Scenic River also became law. This Alpine Lakes Additions protect clean water, native trout and world-class outdoor recreational opportunities in the closest mountain valley to the greater Seattle metropolitan area. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Congressman Dave Reichert (R-WA08) and Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (D-WA01) introduced and passed legislation through both the House and Senate.  Washington Wild led a coalition of conservation and recreation groups who worked to develop local support for the legislation which garnered endorsements from more than 70 local elected officials, more than 100 outdoor local businesses in the Snoqualmie River Valley and nearly 150 other local stakeholders. Read the Illabot Alpine Lakes NDAA President Signature Joint Press Release.