The U.S. House of Representatives voted Wednesday 401-8 to pass legislation renaming the Olympic National Park Wilderness to the Daniel J. Evans Wilderness in honor of the former governor and senator.

“This is a fitting honor for a very honorable man,” said Quinault Indian Nation President Fawn Sharp. “He has been someone who has understood the wisdom of working with Tribes on a government-to-government basis and supporting our treaty rights and sovereignty. Having his name associated with this great wilderness area will serve as an important reminder of his values and leadership qualities for many generations to come.”

Senate bill 3028, an amendment to the Washington Park Wilderness Act of 1988 sponsored by Senator Maria Cantwell, was unanimously passed by the U.S. Senate July 14. With the House passage Wednesday, it now goes on to President Obama for final approval.

In September, the Quinault Indian Nation Council passed a resolution and wrote to key members of Congress and supporting the proposal. In that letter, dated Sept. 20, Sharp wrote, “We believe it would serve history well to forever remember the achievements of this great man in connection with Washington’s largest wilderness area.”

Senator Evans sponsored the Washington Park Wilderness Act of 1988 to establish permanent wilderness areas in Olympic National Park, the North Cascades National Park, and Mount Rainier National Park. In total, more than 1.7 million acres were established as wilderness. He served as governor from 1965 to 1977 and was an influential force in Congress from 1983-1989. The University of Washington’s School of Public Affairs was named after him in 1999, and along with Bill Gates, Bill Clapp, Bill Ruckelshaus and others, founded the Initiative for Global Development in 2003. The nonprofit group is now headquartered in Washington, D.C., and “engages and harnesses the power of the private sector to create sustainable growth and alleviate poverty in Africa.” He was also seriously considered for the Republican vice presidential nomination in 1968 and 1976. In delivering the keynote speech at the 1968 Republican National Convention in Miami Beach, Fla., he refused to endorse Richard Nixon for the nomination and remained a supporter of the ultimately unsuccessful candidacy of Nelson Rockefeller.

The Olympic National Park Wilderness Area covers 876,447 acres, which comprises 95 percent of the park’s total size, and is home to Roosevelt elk and the highest peak in the Olympic Mountains, Mt. Olympus. It hosts close to 40,000 overnight visitors every year.