In the News

THE historic Green Mountain fire lookout should remain exactly where it was built 81 years ago — atop 6,500-foot Green Mountain, in the Glacier Peak Wilderness east of Darrington, Snohomish County.

The big-view lookout, on the National Register of Historic Places, has been a destination for thousands of hikers for decades. It slowly crumbled under the weight of many winters, so the Forest Service rebuilt it in 2009.

That prompted a lawsuit from a Montana-based environmental group that argued the reconstruction, which utilized helicopters and power tools, violated the 1964 Wilderness Act.

U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour agreed and ordered the Forest Service to take the lookout off the mountain.

U.S. Reps. Suzan DelBene, D-Medina, and Rick Larsen, D-Everett, have stepped in and introduced legislation to save the structure. It has the support of the Obama administration, historic-preservation advocates and mainstream environmental groups.

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