The

Northern Rocky Mountains The Northern Rocky Mountains, usually referred to as the Northern Rockies, are a subdivision of the Canadian Rockies comprising the northern half of the Canadian segment of the Rocky Mountains. While their northward limit is easily defined as the ...

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. 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 The bull trout (''Salvelinus confluentus'') is a char of the family Salmonidae native to northwestern North America. Historically, ''S. confluentus'' has been known as the " Dolly Varden" (''S. malma''), but was reclassified as a separate speci ...

(threatened), sockeye salmon (endangered only in Snake River

Evolutionary Significant Unit An evolutionarily significant unit (ESU) is a population of organisms that is considered distinct for purposes of conservation. Delineating ESUs is important when considering conservation action. This term can apply to any species, subspecies, ge ...

, secure elsewhere), and

Canadian lynx The Canada lynx (''Lynx canadensis''), or Canadian lynx, is a medium-sized North American lynx that ranges across Alaska, Canada, and northern areas of the contiguous United States. It is characterized by its long, dense fur, triangular ears w ...

(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 in Idaho, 7 million in Montana, 5 million in Wyoming, 750,000 in eastern Oregon and 500,000 in eastern Washington. The total includes in Yellowstone, Glacier and Grand Teton national parks. The NREPA does not affect private land. The legislation will: * Designate more than of America's roadless lands as wilderness, * Connect natural, biological corridors, * Allow hunting, fishing and firewood gathering but no mechanized access to the land

Congressional Action

Carolyn B. Maloney Carolyn Jane Maloney (née Bosher, February 19, 1946) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2013, and for from 1993 to 2013. The district includes most of Manhattan's East Side, Astoria and Long Island City ...

, 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. 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. The singer Carole King, a resident of

Custer County, Idaho Custer County is a rural mountain county in the center of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,275. The county seat is Challis. Established in 1881, the county was named for the General Custer Mine, where gold ...

, 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 The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fa ...

has found that industries based on extracting resources from the land are more prone to "boom and bust" economic cycles, creating

ghost towns Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by Alle ...

, and unstable living conditions, while economies that are based around wilderness areas are more sustainable and have higher than average job growth rates.

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 The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico ...

up into the Arctic. The

Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative or Y2Y is a transboundary Canada–United States not-for-profit organization that aims to connect and protect the 2,000 mile (3,200 kilometre) Yellowstone-to-Yukon region. Its mission proposes to mai ...

(also known as Y2Y) is a bi-national NGO that promotes the conservation of habitats and wildlife movement ability from the

Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) is one of the last remaining large, nearly intact ecosystems in the northern temperate zone of the Earth. It is located within the northern Rocky Mountains, in areas of northwestern Wyoming, southwestern M ...

to the Arctic Circle.

References

* McMillion, Scott
"U.S. House subcommittee to hear wilderness bill"
Bozeman Daily Chronicle; Monday, October 8, 2007. * Staff
"Jobs for the environment"
High Country News; September 4, 1995. * Larmer, Paul
"Sierra Club to back big wildlands bill"
High Country News; December 27, 1993. * Richards, Paul
"This wilderness bill is a homespun vision for the West"
High Country News; June 4, 2009. * Larmer, Paul
"Regional wilderness bill gets a hearing"
High Country News; May 2, 1994. * Gilman, Sarah
"Wildlife wars"
High Country News; October 13, 2008. * Frey, David
"Massive Wilderness Bill Inches Forward—13 Years Later"
New West; October 11, 2007. * Staff
"Hearing finally set on wilderness bill"
Queen City News (Helena, Montana). Thursday, October 11, 2007. * Staff
‘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
"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
''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
''Economic Analysis of the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act''
Alliance for the Wild Rockies.

External links