I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 488
To designate as wilderness, wild and scenic rivers, national park and preserve
study areas, wild land recovery areas, and biological connecting corridors
certain public lands in the States of Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Wash-
ington, and Wyoming, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 6, 2001
Mr. SHAYS (for himself, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Mr. SMITH of New Jer-
sey, Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. SIMMONS, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mrs.
MORELLA, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr.
RANGEL, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr. OLVER, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of Cali-
fornia, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. WEXLER, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. CAPUANO, Ms.
MCKINNEY, Mr. ALLEN, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. WEINER, Mr.
KUCINICH, Ms. LEE, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. BLUMENAUER,
Mr. ROTHMAN, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. CONYERS,
Mr. TOWNS, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. BONIOR, Mr. MARKEY,
Mr. EVANS, Ms. BALDWIN, and Mr. SERRANO) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Resources
A BILL
To designate as wilderness, wild and scenic rivers, national
park and preserve study areas, wild land recovery areas,
and biological connecting corridors certain public lands
in the States of Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington,
and Wyoming, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act of 2001’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of
this Act is as follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Purposes.
Sec. 4. Definitions.
TITLE I—DESIGNATION OF WILDERNESS AREAS
Sec. 101. Designation of certain National Forest System lands and other public
lands as wilderness.
Sec. 102. Greater Glacier/Northern Continental Divide ecosystem.
Sec. 103. Greater Yellowstone ecosystem.
Sec. 104. Greater Salmon/Selway ecosystem.
Sec. 105. Greater Cabinet/Yaak/Selkirk ecosystem.
Sec. 106. Islands in the Sky Wilderness.
Sec. 107. Administration.
Sec. 108. Blackfeet Wilderness.
Sec. 109. Water.
TITLE II—BIOLOGICAL CONNECTING CORRIDORS
Sec. 201. Findings.
Sec. 202. Designation of biological connecting corridors.
Sec. 203. Treatment of biological connecting corridors.
Sec. 204. Applicability of title.
Sec. 205. Cooperative agreements and land trades and acquisitions.
Sec. 206. Exemption of certain roads and highways.
TITLE III—NATIONAL PARKS, PRESERVES, AND RELATED
STUDIES
Sec. 301. Hells Canyon/Chief Joseph National Preserve.
Sec. 302. Flathead National Park and Preserve study.
TITLE IV—WILD AND SCENIC RIVERS DESIGNATIONS
Sec. 401. Designation of wild and scenic rivers in Idaho, Montana, and Wyo-
ming.
TITLE V—NATIONAL WILDLAND RESTORATION AND
RECOVERY SYSTEM
Sec. 501. Findings.
Sec. 502. National Wildland Restoration and Recovery System.
Sec. 503. Management of Recovery System.
Sec. 504. National Wildland Recovery Corps.
TITLE VI—IMPLEMENTATION AND MONITORING
Sec. 601. Implementation report.
Sec. 602. Interagency team.
Sec. 603. Roadless lands evaluation.
Sec. 604. Native American uses.
Sec. 605. Cultural resources.
TITLE VII—RULES OF CONSTRUCTION
Sec. 701. Water rights.
Sec. 702. Future designations.
Sec. 703. Indian tribes.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) Many areas of undeveloped National Forest
System lands in the States of Idaho, Montana, Or-
egon, Washington, and Wyoming possess out-
standing natural characteristics which give them
high values as wilderness, parks, and wild and scenic
rivers and will, if properly preserved, be an enduring
resource of wilderness, wild land areas, and biodiver-
sity for the benefit of the American people.
(2) The Northern Rockies Bioregion contains
the most diverse array of wild lands remaining south
of Canada, providing sanctuary for a host of species
listed as threatened or endangered under section
4(c) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16
U.S.C. 1533(c)). These national interest public lands
are among the most popular wild lands in the Na-
tion, embracing greater ecosystems and national
treasures such as the Greater Yellowstone, Greater
Glacier/Northern Continental Divide, Greater Hells
Canyon/Wallowa, 
Greater 
Salmon/Selway, 
and
Greater Cabinet/Yaak/Selkirk ecosystems. The head-
waters for nearly two-thirds of the rivers of North
America originate in the Northern Rockies, sending
waters to three oceans and providing critical supplies
of clean water for wildlife and other users.
(3) The wildlife treasures of the Northern
Rockies are of international significance and contain
remarkably intact large mammalian fauna and rare
and unique plant life.
(4) Wildlife habitat fragmentation due to road-
building, timber harvest, mining, oil and gas explo-
ration, lack of interagency cooperation, and other ac-
tivities has severe effects on the wildlife populations
(including those listed as threatened or endangered
under section 4(c) of the Endangered Species Act of
1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(c))) and their habitat, the
water quality, the ancient forests, and the greater
ecosystems of the Northern Rockies Bioregion. Con-
tinued fragmentation and development of the re-
maining roadless and essentially roadless ecosystems
and biological connectors of the Northern Rockies
would cause a loss to the Nation of an entire wild
land region and of the only remaining areas south
of Canada still pristine enough to support popu-
lations of caribou, gray wolves, grizzly bears, anad-
romous fish, and numerous other rare and endan-
gered plant and animal life all in one intact bio-
region.
(5) Since the 1936 roadless area inventory com-
pleted by Bob Marshall, millions of acres of roadless
wild lands have been developed in the Northern
Rockies. Extensive fragmentation of wild lands and
wildlife habitat has resulted in the listing of several
species as threatened or endangered and reduced the
numbers and range of many others, including anad-
romous fish.
(6) A review of the current situation in the
Northern Rockies has revealed the urgent need for
an ecological reserve system for the Northern Rock-
ies Bioregion, which includes core ecosystem reserve
areas and biological connecting corridors necessary
to ensure wildlife movements and genetic inter-
change between the core reserve areas.
(7) The economic value to the Nation of most
of these undeveloped areas, left in their natural
state, greatly exceeds any potential return to the
Treasury of the United States from timber harvest
and development. If current Federal land manage-
ment in the Northern Rockies continues to result in
the development of roadless areas, the American
public will be using its tax dollars to fund perma-
nent reductions in wilderness, water quality, fish and
wildlife habitat, and species and biological diversity.
(8) The congressional review of roadless areas
within National Forest System lands in the States
of Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyo-
ming has identified areas which, on the basis of
their land form, ecosystem, associated fish and wild-
life, economic value, and location will help to fulfill
the role of the United States Forest Service to en-
sure a quality National Wilderness Preservation Sys-
tem. The review has identified other areas which
may have outstanding values as national parks and
preserves and wild and scenic rivers. The review has
also identified areas which may not possess out-
standing wilderness attributes and should not now
be designated as components of the National Wilder-
ness Preservation System, but which should be stud-
ied to determine their role in maintaining biological
diversity in the Northern Rockies.
(9) Many areas of National Forest System
lands have been damaged and their productivity re-
duced by unwise development practices which have
also impaired ecosystem function and biological di-
versity. The Island Park area adjacent to Yellow-
stone National Park contains large clear-cut areas
right up to the park boundary. Efforts should be
made to return these areas to their former ecological
health and native diversity by designating them as
National Wildland Restoration and Recovery areas.
These efforts should seek to ensure that vital eco-
system components are restored, especially in areas
where wildlife travel corridors and native fish and
wildlife populations have been damaged or elimi-
nated. Restoration efforts should seek to ensure and
maintain genetic interchange, biological diversity,
and restoration of native species diversity through-
out the Northern Rockies Bioregion.
(10) Federal agencies entrusted with managing
the natural resources of the Northern Rockies Bio-
region operate under contradictory congressional
mandates, and thus are in dissension over manage-
ment policies which involve common resources and
greater ecosystems. Existing agency structures and
regulatory mechanisms have proven unsatisfactory
for responsible management of nationally important
ecosystems on public lands. Existing laws and regu-
lations have not been sufficient to establish and
maintain agency accountability for public resources.
(11) This Act does not affect lands that are in
private ownership.
SEC. 3. PURPOSES.
(a) DESIGNATIONS.—The purposes of this Act are—
(1) to designate certain National Forest System
lands and Federal lands under the jurisdiction of the
Bureau of Land Management in the States of Idaho,
Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming as
components of the National Wilderness Preservation
System;
(2) to designate certain National Forest System
lands in the States of Montana, Oregon, and Idaho
as national park and preserve study areas;
(3) to designate certain National Forest System
lands and watercourses in the States of Montana,
Idaho, and Wyoming as components of the National
Wild and Scenic Rivers System;
(4) to establish a pilot system of National
Wildland Restoration and Recovery Areas and a
Wildlands Recovery Corps to help restore biological
diversity and native species; and
(5) to establish a system of biological con-
necting corridors between the core ecosystems in the
Northern Rockies Bioregion.