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. The Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act is designed to protect this ecosystem and the many threatened and endangered species such as

grizzly bears The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horri ...

(threatened), bull trout (threatened),

sockeye salmon The sockeye salmon (''Oncorhynchus nerka''), also called red salmon, kokanee salmon, blueback salmon, or simply sockeye, is an anadromous species of salmon found in the Northern Pacific Ocean and rivers discharging into it. This species is a P ...

(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 Helena (; ) is the capital city of Montana, United States, and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County. Helena was founded as a gold camp during the Montana gold rush, and established on October 30, 1864. Due to the gold rush, Helena would ...

has been campaigning for the legislation for two decades with the help of numerous Congresspersons, celebrities, and grassroots groups such as the

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who be ...

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 Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...

, 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 Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livin ...

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 up into the Arctic. 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 The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at w ...

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