Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2023}}

{{short description|Proposed United States legislation}}

The Northern Rocky Mountains ecosystem in the United States is known by ecologists, biologists, and naturalists as one of the last areas of the contiguous United States that is relatively undeveloped enough and large enough to support a functioning ecosystem.{{Citation needed|date=March 2010}} The Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act is designed to protect this ecosystem and the many threatened and endangered species such as grizzly bears (threatened), bull trout (threatened), sockeye salmon (endangered only in Snake River Evolutionary Significant Unit, secure elsewhere), and Canadian lynx (threatened only in lower U.S. 48 states, secure elsewhere), while creating jobs that restore old roads and clear cuts. The Alliance for the Wild Rockies based in Helena, Montana has been campaigning for the legislation for two decades with the help of numerous Congresspersons, celebrities, and grassroots groups such as the Sierra Club and the Wilderness Society. The legislation has been introduced and discussed in Congress five times since 1993, most recently in November 2011 with 34 co-sponsors by December 2012.

Details of the legislation

The legislation would affect roadless areas in five states, including {{convert|9500000|acre|km2}} in Idaho, 7 million in Montana, 5 million in Wyoming, 750,000 in eastern Oregon and 500,000 in eastern Washington. The total includes {{convert|3|e6acre|km2}} in Yellowstone, Glacier and Grand Teton national parks. The NREPA does not affect private land.{{cite web|url=http://maloney.house.gov/index.php?option=com_issues&task=view_issue&issue=314&Itemid=35|title=Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act|last=Maloney|first=Carolyn B.|work=Issues and Legislation|publisher=Official Website of the United States House of Representatives|accessdate=16 February 2010|location=Washington, D.C.}}

The legislation will:

Designate more than {{convert|24|e6acre|km2}} of America's premier roadless lands as wilderness,
Connect natural, biological corridors, ensuring the continued existence of native plants and animals,
Keep water available for ranchers and farmers downstream until later in the season when it is most needed,
Allow for historic uses such as hunting, fishing and firewood gathering,
Create over 2,300 green jobs and a more sustainable economic base in the region,
Save taxpayers $245 million over a 10-year period through the elimination of federally subsidized lumber harvests, mining and oil/gas production, and grazing allotments on federally owned land.{{cite web|url=http://maloney.house.gov/index.php?option=com_issues&task=view_issue&issue=314&Itemid=35|title=Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act|last=Maloney|first=Carolyn B.|work=Issues and Legislation|publisher=Official Website of the United States House of Representatives|accessdate=16 February 2010|location=Washington, D.C.}}

Congressional Action

class="wikitable"

!Congress

!Short title

!Bill number(s)

!Date introduced

!Sponsor(s)

!# of cosponsors

!Latest status

|Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act of 1992

|{{USBill|102|HR|5944}}

|September 15, 1992

|Peter H. Kostmayer

(D-PA)

|4

|Died in committee

|Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act of 1993

|{{USBill|103|HR|2638}}

|July 14, 1993

|Carolyn Maloney

(D-NY)

|63

|Died in committee

|Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act of 1995

|{{USBill|104|HR|852}}

|February 7, 1995

|Carolyn Maloney

(D-NY)

|47

|Died in committee

|Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act of 1997

|{{USBill|105|HR|1425}}

|April 23, 1997

(R-CT)

|71

|Died in committee

|Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act of 1999

|{{USBill|106|HR|488}}

|February 2, 1999

(R-CT)

|110

|Died in committee

|Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act of 2001

|{{USBill|107|HR|488}}

|February 6, 2001

(R-CT)

|153

|Died in committee

|rowspan=13|Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act

|{{USBill|108|HR|1105}}

|March 5, 2003

(R-CT)

|185

|Died in committee

|{{USBill|110|HR|1975}}

|April 20, 2007

|Carolyn Maloney

(D-NY)

|139

|Died in committee

|{{USBill|111|HR|980}}

|February 11, 2009

|Carolyn Maloney

(D-NY)

|104

|Died in committee

|{{USBill|112|HR|3334}}

|November 3, 2011

|Carolyn Maloney

(D-NY)

|34

|Died in committee

|{{USBill|113|HR|1187}}

|March 14, 2013

|Carolyn Maloney

(D-NY)

|31

|Died in committee

rowspan=2|114th Congress

|{{USBill|114|HR|996}}

|February 13, 2015

|Carolyn Maloney

(D-NY)

|37

|Died in committee

{{USBill|114|S|3022}}

|June 6, 2016

|Sheldon Whitehouse

(D-RI)

|8

|Died in committee

rowspan=2|115th Congress

|{{USBill|115|HR|2135}}

|April 25, 2017

|Carolyn Maloney

(D-NY)

|59

|Died in committee

{{USBill|115|S|936}}

|April 25, 2017

|Sheldon Whitehouse

(D-RI)

|12

|Died in committee

rowspan=2|116th Congress

|{{USBill|116|HR|1321}}

|February 22, 2019

|Carolyn Maloney

(D-NY)

|44

|Died in committee

{{USBill|116|S|827}}

|March 14, 2019

|Sheldon Whitehouse

(D-RI)

|15

|Died in committee

rowspan=2|117th Congress

|{{USBill|117|HR|1755}}

|March 10, 2021

|Carolyn Maloney

(D-NY)

|44

|Referred to committee

{{USBill|117|S|1276}}

|March 21, 2021

|Sheldon Whitehouse

(D-RI)

|11

|Referred to committee

Carolyn B. Maloney, representative from the 14th district of New York most recently introduced the bill on November 3, 2011, and it had 34 cosponsors as of December 4, 2012.{{cite web |title=H.R.3334 -- Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act |publisher=Library of Congress |url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:H.R.3334.IH: |accessdate=December 4, 2012 |archive-date=January 30, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160130140508/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:H.R.3334.IH: |url-status=dead }} Representative Maloney also introduced the legislation in February 2009, as of December 1, 2009 there were 103 co-sponsoring Congresspersons in the House of Representatives.{{cite web|url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:HR00980:@@@N|title=H.R.980 Title: To designate certain National Forest System lands and public lands under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior in the States of Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming as wilderness, wild and scenic rivers, wildland recovery areas, and biological connecting corridors, and for other purposes.|last=Rep Maloney|first=Carolyn B|orig-date=Introduced to the House of Representatives 11 February 2009|date=1 December 2009|publisher=United States Government|accessdate=18 February 2010|archive-date=30 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160130140508/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:HR00980:@@@N|url-status=dead}} The singer Carole King, a resident of Custer County, Idaho, has testified before Congress in 1994, 2007 and 2009 in support of the act.

Opposition to the Legislation

Opponents to the NREPA state that there will be a loss of extraction jobs in the northern Rockies; mining, logging, and oil/gas production as a whole account for many of the jobs in the five affected states. Economics professor Tom Power, Ph.D. from the University of Montana has found that industries based on extracting resources from the land are more prone to "boom and bust" economic cycles, creating ghost towns, and unstable living conditions, while economies that are based around wilderness areas are more sustainable and have higher than average job growth rates.{{cite web|url=http://www.cas.umt.edu/econ/documents/faculty/power_makingaCaseforWilderness.pdf|title=Making a Case for Wilderness in the Community: It's Good Business|last= Power|first=T.M.|date=February 2000|work=The Economics of Wildland Preservation: excerpt from a report prepared for the PEW Wilderness Center|publisher=University of Montana|pages=23–27|accessdate=20 February 2010|location=Helena, Montana| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20100616204733/http://www.cas.umt.edu/econ/documents/faculty/power_makingaCaseforWilderness.pdf| archivedate= 16 June 2010|url-status=dead}}

Similar Ecosystem Protection Projects

There are other wildland protection projects currently being endeavoured by citizens around the world. In North America there are four wildlife corridors that have been proposed by the Wildlands Network, each providing a highway, called a "wildway", for migrating creatures to mitigate the effects of climate change: the Pacific Wildway running from Baja to Alaska, Boreal Wildway running west–east from Alaska, through Canada, to the northeastern shores of North America, the Eastern Wildway running from Everglades in Florida to the Arctic, and the Western Wildway also called the "spine of the continent" runs from southern Mexico along the Rocky Mountains up into the Arctic.{{cite web|url=http://www.twp.org/cms/page1095.cfm |title=Conservation Programs |publisher=The Wildlands Network |accessdate=18 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100217120851/http://twp.org/cms/page1095.cfm |archivedate=February 17, 2010 }} The Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (also known as Y2Y) is a bi-national NGO that promotes the conservation of habitats and wildlife movement ability from the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem to the Arctic Circle.{{cite web|url=https://www.y2y.net/|website=www.y2y.net|access-date=2023-09-24|title=Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative}}

See also

References

Further reading

McMillion, Scott. [http://bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2007/10/09/news/25hearing.txt "U.S. House subcommittee to hear wilderness bill"] Bozeman Daily Chronicle; Monday, October 8, 2007.
Staff. [http://www.hcn.org/issues/42/1284 "Jobs for the environment"] High Country News; September 4, 1995.
Larmer, Paul. [http://www.hcn.org/issues/42/1284 "Sierra Club to back big wildlands bill"] High Country News; December 27, 1993.
Richards, Paul. [http://www.hcn.org/issues/85/2631 "This wilderness bill is a homespun vision for the West"] High Country News; June 4, 2009.
Larmer, Paul. [http://www.hcn.org/issues/10/299 "Regional wilderness bill gets a hearing"] High Country News; May 2, 1994.
Gilman, Sarah. [http://www.hcn.org/issues/40.18/wildlife-wars "Wildlife wars"] High Country News; October 13, 2008.
Frey, David. [http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/massive_wilderness_bill_inches_forward_13_years_later/C57/L35/ "Massive Wilderness Bill Inches Forward—13 Years Later"] New West; October 11, 2007.
Staff. [http://www.queencitynews.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=7658&mode=flat&order=0&thold=0 "Hearing finally set on wilderness bill"] Queen City News (Helena, Montana). Thursday, October 11, 2007.
Staff. [http://www.uintacountyherald.com/V2_news_articles.php?heading=0&page=72&story_id=2268 ‘The Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act’: Bill would close {{convert|24|e6acre|km2}} of land in Wyoming, four other states] Uinta County Herald (Uinta, Utah); Friday, May 8, 2009.
Crane, Stephen. "Lummis, Bousman rip wilderness bill" Pinedale Roundup (Pinedale, WY); Thursday, May 7, 2009.
Stahl, Greg. [http://www.mtexpress.com/index2.php?ID=2005117385 "Congressional committee to review wilderness bill: NREPA would designate 23 million acres across 5 states"] Idaho Mountain Express; Wednesday, October 10, 2007.
Rasker, R., B. Alexander, J. van den Noort, R. Carter. 2004. Public Lands Conservation and Economic Well-Being. Sonoran Institute. Bozeman, Montana.
Rasker, R., B. Alexander, J. van den Noort, R. Carter. 2004. Prosperity in the 21st Century West. Sonoran Institute. Bozeman, Montana.
Salwasser, H., Morton S. and Rasker, R. 1998. [http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs/rmrs_p004/rmrs_p004_090_095.pdf The Role of Wildlands in Sustaining Communities and Economies and Vice Versa. Personal, Societal, and Ecological Values of Wilderness] Sixth World Congress Proceeding on Research, Management, and Allocation. Volume !. USDA Forest Service. Rocky Mountain Research Station. Proceedings RMRS P-4. October.
Garrity, Michael T. [http://www.wildrockiesalliance.org/about/programs/publications/reports/nrepa_econ_analysis.pdf Economic Analysis of the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act] Alliance for the Wild Rockies.

External links

[http://www.wildrockiesalliance.org/issues/nrepa/brochure/nrepa.html Alliance for the Wild Rockies] online brochure for NREPA

Category:Nature conservation in the United States

Category:Ecology of the Rocky Mountains

Category:Proposed legislation of the 107th United States Congress

Category:Proposed legislation of the 108th United States Congress

Category:Proposed legislation of the 110th United States Congress

Category:Proposed legislation of the 111th United States Congress

Category:Proposed legislation of the 112th United States Congress

Category:Proposed legislation of the 113th United States Congress

Category:Proposed legislation of the 114th United States Congress

Category:Proposed legislation of the 115th United States Congress

Category:Proposed legislation of the 116th United States Congress

Category:Proposed legislation of the 117th United States Congress

Category:United States proposed federal environmental legislation