Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act

[Grumpy]

Wilderness designation proposed for Fremont, New Fork Lakes, Wyoming Range (posted 4/21/09)
Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act (H.R. 980)
Dawn Ballou, Pinedale Online!
Under a new proposed House bill, wilderness proponents are hoping to get 24-million additional acres of public land in five states in the northern Rockies under federal wilderness protection. States impacted are Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. The proposal includes significant increases to existing wilderness acreage in Sublette County, Wyoming, resulting in a significant reduction of areas open to outdoor recreation activities such as snowmobiling, boating, ATV vehicle use, and mountain biking.

The new legislation is called the "Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act" (H.R. 980) and was introduced in February, 2009, by Representative Carol Maloney, a Democrat from New York, and Congressman Raul Grijavala, a Democrat from Arizona (who is also Chairman of the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands).

The bill greatly expands the amount of federal land that has tight restrictions on allowed human activities, limited access, no new development, and is closed to motorized and off-road vehicle use, mineral exploration, logging, road construction, and timber harvesting. The bill is co-sponsored by 69 legislators, none of whom are from Wyoming, Montana, Idaho or Oregon. Washington has two legislators supporting this bill. (Co-Sponsors)

The objective is to protect important wildlife habitat and sensitive species, scenic values, connect biological corridors, remove roads, replant forest clear cuts, and include new eligible waters to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. The bill is touted as adding new jobs related to the restoration and road removal programs, saving taxpayers millions of dollars by eliminating government subsidized development in wilderness areas, and is predicted to create a more sustainable economic base for the local communities near the new wilderness lands.

If passed, Sublette County would see its existing wilderness areas expanded to include Bridger-Teton National Forest land surrounding Fremont Lake, Half Moon Lake, Willow Lake, New Fork Lake, Green River Lakes and large portions of the Wyoming Range. In addition, new areas that would come under wilderness management include Big Sandy Opening, Hoback Canyon, and land managed by the Bureau of Land Management in Scab Creek.

The concept and legislation for this proposal are not new. This legislation has been a dream of wilderness proponents for over 15 years. First introduced in 1992, the House Natural Resources Committee held hearings in 1994, but no other actions were taken for over ten years. There have been repeated attempts to revive legislation by a host of co-sponsors with the support of a number of environmental groups, however it has never been passed.

The intent of the 2009 bill, H.R. 980, is: "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."

Groups and individuals supporting the proposed legislation include the Alliance for the Wild Rockies, the Sierra Club, National Audubon Society, Wyoming Wildlife Federation, Idaho Sportsmen Coalition, Association of Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics (OR), Blackfeet Crazy Dogs Society (MT), Cabinet Resources Group (MT), Friends of the West (ID), Earth Ministry (WA), former President Jimmy Carter, and pop music singer Carol King.

The bill specifically mentions these areas as proposed wilderness or additions as wild/scenic rivers:

- 86,000 acres proposed as the South Wyoming Range Wilderness for land administered by the Bridger-Teton National Forest.
- 230,000 acres Bridger-Teton National Forest and Bureau of Land Management lands (Scab Creek) to be incorporated into the Bridger Wilderness.
- 15,000 acres proposed as Little Sheep Mountain Wilderness for land administered by the Bridger-Teton National Forest.
- 106,000 acres incorporated into the Gros Ventre Wilderness including 24,000 acres in Shoal Creek, plus 82,000 acres of other Gros Ventre area additions.
- 18,000 acres proposed as the Monument Ridge Wilderness for land administered by the Bridger-Teton National Forest.
- 249,000 acres proposed as the Salt River Range Wilderness for land administered by the Bridger-Teton National Forest.
- 178,000 acres proposed as the Commissary Ridge Wilderness for land administered by the Bridger-Teton National Forest.
- 5,000 acres proposed as the Little Cottonwood Wilderness for land administered by the Bridger-Teton National Forest.
- 1,000 acres proposed as the North Mountain Wilderness for land administered by the Bridger-Teton National Forest.
- Proposal to designate the Hoback River as the "Hoback Wild River," from the source downstream about 10 miles to the end of Forest Road 30710, to be managed as a wild river.
- Proposal to designate Willow Creek as the "Willow Creek Wild River," from the source downstream 20 miles to confluence with the Hoback River.

In Sublette County, impacts appear to include:
- RV, snowmobile, ATV recreational use would be forbidden in much of the Upper Green, Horse Creek and Big Sandy Opening areas;
- Fishing, water-skiing and all motorized boating and jet ski use would be forbidden on Fremont and Half Moon Lakes (including snowmobiles for winter ice fishing);
- ATVs and RVs would be excluded from large sections of the Wyoming Range and Grey’s River area for fall hunting access. Hunters would need to plan for a lengthy hike or pack animal ride to get into hunting areas and to pack their game out.
- Roads in the wilderness areas would be obliterated and access would be by foot or pack animal conveyance. It is unclear which roads would be closed.
- Mountain biking use (a mechanized vehicle) would no longer be allowed in the Wyoming Range and large portions of the western slope of the Wind River Range on National Forest land.
- It is unclear what would happen to White Pine Ski Area, Lakeside Lodge, Boulder Lake Lodge, and Big Sandy Lodge guest ranches located and permitted by the Bridger-Teton National Forest within the boundaries of the newly expanded wilderness proposals.
- It is unclear what would be the fate of existing summer homes on National Forest land.
- It is unclear what would happen to elk feedgrounds and structures within the wilderness areas.
- It is unclear what might become of the proposal to create the new outdoor college at Half Moon Lake Resort and the Burnt Lake facilities.
- It is unclear what would happen to the many developed campgrounds, boat ramps and trailheads accesses in the Wind River Mountains and the Wyoming Range.
- It is unclear what would happen to access to private in-holdings within the newly expanded wilderness areas due to removal of roads on public land in the wilderness areas.

H.R. 980 will be heard by the Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday, May 5th, 2009. See the links below for more information about this proposed bill.

Related Links:
Full text of NREPA 980 Links to sections
Printable PDF of entire bill 149 pages
Alliance for the Wild Rockies Formed to meet the challenge of saving the Northern Rockies Bioregion from habitat destruction.
Map showing proposed wilderness on the Bridger-Teton National Forest WildRockiesAlliance.org
Map showing entire 5 state proposal WildRockiesAlliance.org
Representative Carol D. Maloney (D-NY) NREPA explanation

AWR Press Release February 13, 2009

[Grumpy]

Note to Doc Hastings:


Re: HR890 Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act


How can this be real? I hope the legislators from the involved states are able to get this killed. I'm really beginning to think the cliche about the east wanting to turn the west into a private playground may have some truth in it! 24 million additional acrs of wilderness is absolutely unreal. Obviously, as a strong multiple use advocate, I have to voice my strong oposition to this resolution! It is just too far off the scale. Please advise as you can on this.

Regards,

Dave Walters
Kennewick,WA

[Grumpy]

BLUERIBBON COALITION ACTION ALERT!

Wilderness Rope-A-Dope Fails - Grassroots Motivated By Massive Wilderness Bill

"In terms of acreage, NREPA is the largest threat to public access to public lands pending in Congress today. However, there are many smaller bills, each equally unfair in denying public access, that need immediate attention by our members and supporters."

Dear BRC Action Alert Subscribers,

Today the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands is hearing testimony on H.R. 980, the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act (NREPA). NREPA, first introduced in 1993 by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), would designate 24 million acres of Wilderness across five Western states (Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming).

The bill has also been described as the modern incarnation of the Wildlands Project, an ambitious proposal first conceived by Dave Foreman, the founder of Earth First!. The Wildlands Project would "re-wild" approximately half of North America by outlawing most human use and occupancy.

But these large multi-state Wilderness bills are difficult to pass. That is why the Wilderness lobby has been pushing an "incremental approach." Wilderness groups say the smaller bills are a "reasonable compromise" to the NREPA behemoth.

BRC's Greg Mumm says it isn't working!

"Our phone has been ringing off the hook and our email in-boxes are flooded," Mumm said in a recent BRC Media Release. BRC and other OHV groups' membership trends ticked upward during the first two months of the year and some believe that may be because of the attention to the omnibus and NREPA bills.

Greg notes that opposition to additional Wilderness is now coming from a much wider range of interests. Outfitters, mountain bikers and equestrians are expressing concerns ranging from loss of access to problems maintaining trails in Wilderness. Increased opposition is also coming from local governments and state officials.

How you can help:

Send a letter to Congress saying NO TO NREPA. CLICK HERE

BRC and other national OHV groups work together to track the hundreds of pieces of legislation affecting your right to ride. Your response to our action alerts is our best tool in fighting these land lock-up bills. A short list of just a few of the bills on our radar is included below.

Thanks in advance for your action,

Brian Hawthorne
Public Lands Policy Director
208-237-1008 ext 102

Ric Foster
Public Lands Department Manager
208-237-1008 ext 107

PS: We want our members to know that we appreciate it when you all take time from work and family to respond to our alerts. We try our best to make certain your time isn't wasted.

PSS: BRC's Public Lands guys want to give kudos to Dave Hurwitz and the gang over at Snowmobile Alliance of Western States (SAWS). Insofar as grass roots activists go, Hurwitz and his SAWS volunteers in Idaho, Oregon and Montana have been aggressively opposing NREPA since 1993. SAWS has a lot of good information on NREPA and other Wilderness bills on their website: http://www.snowmobile-alliance.org/

Here are a few of the bills BRC is watching:

H.R.1769 & S. 721 -Alpine Lakes Wilderness expansion in the State of Washington
Mojave Desert Wilderness bill - Senator Feinstein's effort to designate more Wilderness in San Bernardino, Imperial, and Riverside counties
H.R.192 Central Idaho Economic Development and Recreation Act (CIEDRA) will designate over 3 million acres of additional Wilderness in Idaho
Montana's Beaverhead-Deerlodge Conservation, Restoration and Stewardship Act, a bill to add an additional half million acres of new Wilderness in Montana
Legislation to designate Johnson Valley a National Recreation Area (BRC is supporting this one!)
SUWA's massive Utah Wilderness bill (H.R.1925 and S.799)
The ongoing county-by-county Wilderness approach currently underway in Nevada, Colorado and Utah

_________________

[Grumpy]

Inslee and McDermott of Washington, both Democrats, are on the list for this mess. Sure like their own state, huh?

[Grumpy]

Congressional Record article 1 of 5 Printer Friendly Display - 2,153 bytes.[Help]

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INTRODUCTION OF THE NORTHERN ROCKIES ECOSYSTEM PROTECTION ACT (NREPA) OF 2009 -- (Extensions of Remarks - February 11, 2009)


[Page: E243] GPO's PDF
---SPEECH OF
HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY
OF NEW YORK
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2009
•Mrs. MALONEY. Madam Speaker, today, along with my friend Mr. Grijalva, I am pleased to reintroduce the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act, NREPA, in the 111th Congress.
•NREPA differs from traditional state-by-state wilderness bills by offering a variety of designations that work in concert to achieve one goal: the protection of entire functioning ecosystems on federal public lands. These are lands that belong to all American taxpayers, and we have a right and responsibility to protect our precious resources.
•First, NREPA protects over 24 million acres of America's premiere roadless lands as wilderness. It also protect the rivers and streams that are the last habitats for many of America's wild trout stocks, by protecting 1800 miles of river and streams as wild and scenic rivers.
•Importantly, NREPA emphasizes that all of these wild places are linked together in the most vital ways possible. By protecting natural
[Page: E244] GPO's PDFbiological corridors, NREPA connects the region's core wildlands into a functioning ecological whole. NREPA also creates jobs by putting people to work restoring the land in wildland restoration and recovery areas designated in the bill.
•Finally, I want to be very clear about what NREPA doesn't do. NREPA does not impact private landowners. It impacts only federal public lands--lands owned by all Americans.
•Some years ago, two NREPA supporters from Manhattan, Montana wrote to me and said ``We feel that there is a little ray of hope for the incredible but dwindling wildlands we are so lucky to live near and love.'' All of us have a responsibility to sustain that hope.

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[Grumpy]

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.
Sponsor: Rep Maloney, Carolyn B. [NY-14] (introduced 2/11/2009) Cosponsors (91)
Latest Major Action: 5/5/2009 House committee/subcommittee actions. Status: Subcommittee Hearings Held.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY AS OF:
2/11/2009--Introduced.
Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act - Designates the following lands in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming as wilderness and components of the National Wilderness Preservation System (System): (1) Greater Glacier/Northern Continental Divide ecosystem; (2) Greater Yellowstone ecosystem; (3) Greater Salmon/Selway ecosystem; (4) Greater Cabinet/Yaak/Selkirk ecosystem; (5) Greater Hells Canyon ecosystem; (6) Islands in the Sky Wilderness; and (7) Blackfeet Wilderness.

Designates: (1) specified wild land areas as Biological Connecting Corridors to protect the life flow of the Northern Rockies Bioregion; (2) the inventoried roadless areas identified as part of the Corridors as wilderness and components of the System; and (3) certain biological connecting corridors as special corridor management areas.



Amends the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate segments of specified rivers and creeks in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming as components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.

Establishes the National Wildland Restoration and Recovery System and the National Wildland Recovery Corps.

Requires the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture to assure nonexclusive access to the specified areas and corridors designated by this Act by Native Americans for traditional cultural and religious purposes.

[Grumpy]

WILDEST BILL ON THE HILL ADVANCES
House Holds Hearing on Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act
With lots of support, but none from local delegations, NREPA backers remain optimistic. Will it make it out of committee this time?


By Bill Schneider, 5-21-09



The Bitterroot Divide between Idaho on Montana. Photo by George Wuerthner.


UPDATE, May 21, 2009:

On May 19, the official record for this hearing closed, and I called back to Washington, D.C. and talked to Nancy Locke who works for the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands. I was wondering which wilderness groups sent in letters or testified for the best wilderness bill Idaho, Montana and Wyoming have seen in decades, but alas, they were all MIA. Not one single letter in the record from a wilderness group supporting this wilderness bill!

Think about this. National wilderness groups like the Sierra Club or Wilderness Society or state groups like the Idaho Conservation League or Montana Wilderness Association won’t even support legislation declaring most roadless lands in the northern Rockies as Wilderness.

You draw your own conclusions…..Bill Schneider

P.S. See links to dueling testimony at end of article

The 111th Congress will take a close look at the so-called “Wildest Bill on the Hill,â€

[Grumpy]

Rehberg’s full testimony is below:

Testimony of Congressman Denny Rehberg (MT-At Large)
Opposing the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Committee on Natural Resources
Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands

Chairman Grijalva, Ranking Member Bishop, thanks for allowing me to return to the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands to testify again on behalf of the people of Montana.

I’m here representing county commissioners, state representatives, ranchers, timber workers, sportsmen and women and recreationalists who have expressed their opposition to the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act in letters, faxes, emails, survey responses and even a rapidly growing Facebook group. All told, I’ve heard from almost 10,000 folks who live in the Northern Rockies – who consider the land at issue in the legislation we are discussing today to be their home. It’s where they live, work and raise a family.

I’m here to report that more than 96% of us who live in these areas oppose this bill. In my years of public service – beginning in the state legislature, then as Montana’s Lieutenant Governor and now as the sole Representative in the House, I can think of few subjects that have evoked such a unified opposition.

If Congress wants to, it can ignore these concerns and pass NREPA without their consent and without a single vote from any of their Congressional Representatives. The land NREPA federalizes is represented by only 7 Members of Congress including myself; far fewer than the 72 current cosponsors of the bill. Congress can just say it’s inconvenient that none of those 72 cosponsors are from the districts that NREPA impacts. Recently, Congress passed the Omnibus Lands Act, which created over 2 million acres of new wilderness, this bill carves out more than 24 million acres of new wilderness. That area is larger than any of the districts represented by the 72 cosponsors of the bill. In fact, out of 435 Congressional Districts, only 18 are larger. Representative Carolyn Maloney – who is the lead sponsor of this bill – could fit her New York district into the new wilderness created by NREPA almost 3,000 times.

And while you may have the votes to force your will on the people who live in the Northern Rockies, I’m here to tell you that doing so isn’t in anyone’s best interest. Not the folks who live on this land, and not the people you were elected to represent. It’s not even in the best interest of the ecosystems we all want to protect.

Let me be absolutely clear about something. The folks I represent support responsible land conservation. Currently, there are more than 30 million acres of state and federal land in Montana alone - that’s nearly one acre in every three. As a state where lifestyles and livelihoods depend on the land we live upon, it’s one of our top priorities. And we do an outstanding job.

To manage these lands, stake-holders come to the table and formulate consensus driven
solutions at the local level. The federal government could learn a lot from examples in my state that center around three words: cooperation, trust and consensus. For example, the Undaunted Stewardship approach demonstrates the ability of farm and ranch families to contribute to the preservation of open space and scenic beauty while continuing to use the land for productive purposes.

For the Montanans who work, till, graze, hunt, fish, hike, camp and enjoy this land, conservation is not only a daily personal choice; it’s our way of life. Real conservation isn’t about making tough decisions for someone else who lives thousands of miles away, yet that’s exactly what NREPA does.

The workable solutions we need won’t come from Washington, D.C.; we need to reach a balance that truly reflects Montana not the ideals of powerful special interests. From Washington, D.C., it’s impossible to smell the toxic smoke from hundreds of raging wildfires that will be harder to fight if NREPA passes.

From Washington, D.C., it’s impossible to see the 1.6 million-plus acres of dead and dying trees that result from pine beetle infestations that will be more difficult to manage if NREPA passes.

From Washington, D.C., you can’t watch a hillside change colors as indigenous plants are slowly strangled out of existence by toxic weeds that are impossible to fight once NREPA passes.

From Washington, D.C., you can’t hear the frustration in the voice of a hunter or angler who can no longer get to the secluded mountain ridge where his family has gone for generations once NREPA passes.

From Washington, D.C., you can’t walk on the overgrazed lands once managed by ranchers who can no longer take their open range livestock to new pastures once NREPA passes.

From Washington, D.C., Congress pushes for alternative energy from wind and the sun. But how can we get that power, and create green jobs in the process, if we can’t build transmission grids across our lands once NREPA passes?

And there’s a new concern looming in the minds of the folks around Montana and the country. There aren’t many things folks in the Northern Rockies care more about than their Second Amendment rights. Bills like NREPA create more federally controlled land, but they don’t guarantee Second Amendment rights on that land. The recent decision to eliminate Second Amendment Rights on some federal lands is nothing more than back-door gun control, and it’s not hard to imagine wilderness as the next target for restricted gun access. I’m concerned that NREPA has no guarantees that the federal government won’t someday ban guns on other federal lands the way it just did in National Parks.

At the end of the day, this is about Washington, D.C. thinking it knows how to manage the Northern Rockies better than the people who live there. I’m here to say this isn’t the case.

Many of Representative Maloney’s constituents in New York’s 14th District undoubtedly find Central Park a welcome refuge from the urban surroundings of America’s most crowded city. A Montanan who visited Central Park recently shared an observation with me: Although Central Park was free of buildings and streets, many of the open spaces were cordoned off by fences. Visitors could walk or run on centrally planned pathways, but the fields of grass around them were off limits. NREPA models its philosophy for 24 million acres of land after the approach taken in the 843 acres of Central Park. Look, but don’t touch.

This approach may work in Manhattan, New York, but it doesn’t work in Manhattan, Montana. I can’t stress how crucial that distinction is, and that’s why I oppose this bill.