HB3369, titled the Wild Olympics Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, would designate and expand a large set of wilderness areas in and around Olympic National Forest in Washington State and would add multiple river segments in Olympic National Forest and Olympic National Park to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. The bill creates several new wilderness areas, including Lost Creek, Rugged Ridge, Alckee Creek, Gates of the Elwha, Green Mountain, Moonlight Dome, South Quinault Ridge, Sams River, and Canoe Creek, and it also expands existing wilderness areas such as Buckhorn, The Brothers, Mount Skokomish, Wonder Mountain, and Colonel Bob. In total, the wilderness designations cover roughly 126,554 acres, with an additional 5,346 acres identified as potential wilderness that would become full wilderness once nonconforming uses end.
The river provisions amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate numerous river segments as wild, scenic, or recreational, including segments of the Elwha, Dungeness, Big Quilcene, Dosewallips, Duckabush, Hamma Hamma, South Fork Skokomish, Satsop, Wynoochee, Humptulips, Quinault, Queets, Hoh, Bogachiel, South Fork Calawah, Sol Duc, and Lyre Rivers, along with tributaries such as the Gray Wolf, Sams, Matheny Creek, Sitkum, North Fork Sol Duc, and South Fork Hoh. The bill also directs federal land managers to update forest management plans to reflect the new designations, allows restoration activities aimed at habitat recovery and ecological function, and withdraws affected federal lands from mining, mineral leasing, and related public land disposal laws, subject to valid existing rights.
The bill’s impact on state and federal law is substantial for land and water management in the Olympic Peninsula region. It would place new federal wilderness protections on designated Forest Service lands, constrain future development and extractive uses within those areas, and require administration under the Wilderness Act and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. It also preserves existing private rights, state-managed lands, and tribal treaty rights, while allowing cooperative management agreements for certain recreational river segments shared with the State of Washington.
Because no committee transcript or vote history was provided, there is no recorded legislative debate or roll-call sentiment to summarize. Based on the bill text alone, the measure appears to be framed as a conservation and restoration proposal, with explicit protections for wilderness character, river values, endangered species recovery, and tribal rights. Any opposition would likely center on land-use restrictions, access, and resource-development limitations, but those concerns are not documented in the materials provided.
Notable points of contention in the text are limited, but the bill anticipates them by stating that it creates no buffer zones, does not alter existing private rights, and does not affect Washington Department of Natural Resources land management authority. It also includes a potential wilderness mechanism to delay full designation until nonconforming uses end, suggesting sensitivity to existing uses and local management concerns.
HB3369 would amend federal land and water law by adding new wilderness designations under the Wilderness Act and new wild, scenic, and recreational river segments under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act for the Olympic National Forest and Olympic National Park region. It would withdraw the affected federal lands from mining, mineral leasing, and other forms of public land disposal, require updated National Forest management plans, and preserve valid existing rights, state land authority, and tribal treaty rights. The bill would therefore significantly increase federal conservation protections and limit future extractive or development uses on the designated lands and waterways.
No committee discussion transcripts or votes were provided, so there is no documented legislative sentiment from debate or floor action. The bill text itself reflects a strongly pro-conservation posture, emphasizing wilderness preservation, river protection, ecological restoration, and species recovery. It also includes provisions designed to reassure stakeholders by preserving existing rights, avoiding buffer zones, and allowing certain cooperative management arrangements, which suggests an effort to balance conservation goals with local and existing uses.
The main potential points of contention are the land-use restrictions created by wilderness and wild-and-scenic designations, especially the withdrawal of federal lands from mining, mineral leasing, and other development-related laws. Stakeholders concerned about access, timber, recreation, or resource use may view the bill as limiting future economic activity, while conservation supporters are likely to favor the added protections. The bill addresses some likely objections by preserving valid existing rights, protecting state-managed lands, and explicitly safeguarding tribal treaty rights, but no specific opposing arguments are documented in the provided materials.