On March 27th, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Representative Madeleine Dean reintroduced the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives.
“The Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act will designate approximately 23 million acres of inventoried roadless areas in the Northern Rockies as wilderness,” said Mike Garrity, Executive Director of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies. “NREPA (Ner-EEpa) will preserve a vital ecosystem and watersheds in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Eastern Washington, and Oregon. It will also preserve biological corridors that are essential for biodiversity of native species.”
Singer/songwriter Carole King, a longtime advocate for NREPA, said, “I’m so proud of Senator Whitehouse and Congresswoman Dean for standing up for a climate solution that protectspublic land, water, and interconnected species ranging from tiny insects, birds, and fish to mammals, plants, bushes, and huge trees with massive root systems that store carbon.”
“These legislators know,” King continued, “that removing the words ‘climate change’ from government studies and documents won’t make the world cooler in any sense of the word. They know that forests are the best carbon storage device in the world. And without NREPA’s protection, this photo shows what’s been happening in our national forests.”
“It is essential that wilderness protection for our most precious and wild Public Lands,” said Timothy Coleman, Kettle Range Conservation Group. “NREPA is the vehicle to protect wild roadless forests east of the Cascade Mountains in the Okanogan Highlands, Kettle Mountains and Selkirk Mountains where less than 1% of Washington state wilderness is protected.”
“NREPA saves the federal government millions of dollars annually by reducing wasteful subsidies to the logging industry,” Garrity added. “It also closes unintended legal loopholes that have left many of the areas protected by the Clinton Roadless Rule vulnerable to clearcutting and roadbuilding.”
“By introducing NREPA,” King said, “Congresswoman Dean and Senator Whitehouse are saying NO to the timber industry executives and others who misinform the public while enriching themselves. And they’re saying YES to preserving carbon storage and slowing climate change.”
“Simply by designating existing roadless areas as Wilderness,” Garrity concluded, “NREPA protects the environment, fights climate change, creates jobs, and saves taxpayers millions of dollars in logging subsidies.”
Support the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act
NREPA Wilderness Additions in Washington
Mountains and forests east of US 97 are part of the Rocky Mountains, part of the NERPA landscape. These lands contain incredible diversity terrestrial and aquatic species, equal to and more diverse than the Cascade Mountains – but only a fraction of it is protected Wilderness.
- Selkirk, Cabinet, Yaak Ecosystem
The wettest region of the eastern Rockies, this ecosystem contains its last major stands of low elevation ancient forests. Halliday Fen is a rare ecological community with several plants and animals unique to this habitat. Woodland caribou, wolverine, Canada lynx and grizzly bears still roam these mountains. Various successional stages of the cedar-hemlock forest type occupy lower elevations with Douglas-fir, western larch, whitebark pine and grand fir trees present along with the cedar and hemlock at higher elevations. Towering spires and remote, lake-filled basins define the Cabinet, Selkirk, and Purcell Ranges. - Columbia / Okanogan Highlands – Kettle River Mountains Wilderness Proposal
Presently, designated Wildernesses in the Colville National Forest / Columbia Highlands represent less than 1% of the total in Washington state despite its ecological significance, low human population density and amazing biodiversity. From sagebrush grasslands and ponderosa pine lowlands to aspen, spruce/fir and whitebark pine highlands, the Kettle River Mountains, Midway Mountains and eastern Cascade Mountains, to verdant lush cedar-hemlock forests in Selkirk Mountain interior rainforest. This is the home to grizzly bear, mountain caribou, gray wolf, Canada lynx and many sensitive plants. There are 20 unprotected inventoried roadless areas that meet criteria under the Wilderness Act for possible future designation. - Blue Mountain Additions
The Blue Mountains of southwest Washington and northeast Oregon is massive mountain range, the largest in Oregon. Ranging in elevation from a few hundred feet to 9,845 feet in the Eagle Cap Wilderness Area in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, the hiking experience varies as much as the elevation. This ecoregion contains deep rock-walled canyons, glacially-cut gorges, sagebrush steppe, juniper woodlands, mountain lakes, forests, and meadows.