I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1755 
To designate certain National Forest System lands and certain 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. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 10, 2021 
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York (for herself, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. 
DEGETTE, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. WELCH, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. CARBAJAL, 
Ms. NORTON, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, 
Mr. CLEAVER, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. SAN NICOLAS, Mr. SIRES, 
Mr. HASTINGS, Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Mr. CASE, Ms. CASTOR of Flor-
ida, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. COHEN, Ms. 
DELAURO, Mr. DEUTCH, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. 
GRIJALVA, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. KIND, Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. MAT-
SUI, Mr. MCNERNEY, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. PETERS, 
Mr. RYAN, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. THOMPSON
of California, Ms. 
VELA´ZQUEZ, and Mr. YARMUTH) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To designate certain National Forest System lands and cer-
tain 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. 
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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’’. 
(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 
Sec. 101. Designation of certain National Forest System lands, National Park 
System lands, and Bureau of Land Management lands as wil-
derness. 
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. Greater Hells Canyon ecosystem. 
Sec. 107. Islands in the Sky Wilderness. 
Sec. 108. Wilderness in biological connecting corridors. 
Sec. 109. Administration. 
Sec. 110. Water. 
Sec. 111. Donation of grazing permits and leases. 
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—WILD AND SCENIC RIVERS DESIGNATIONS 
Sec. 301. Designation of wild and scenic rivers in Idaho, Montana, and Wyo-
ming. 
TITLE IV—WILDLAND RESTORATION AND RECOVERY 
Sec. 401. Definitions. 
Sec. 402. Restoration and recovery. 
Sec. 403. Management. 
TITLE V—IMPLEMENTATION AND MONITORING 
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Sec. 501. Implementation report. 
Sec. 502. Interagency team. 
Sec. 503. Roadless lands evaluation. 
TITLE VI—ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS REGARDING INDIAN TRIBES 
Sec. 601. Indian tribes. 
Sec. 602. Federal trust responsibility. 
Sec. 603. Exemption from Freedom of Information Act. 
Sec. 604. Application of Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 
Act. 
Sec. 605. Native American uses. 
TITLE VII—RULES OF CONSTRUCTION 
Sec. 701. Water rights. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) Many areas of undeveloped National Forest 
System lands, National Park System lands, and 
public lands administered by the Bureau of Land 
Management 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 
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are among the most popular wild lands in the 
United States, embracing greater ecosystems and 
national treasures such as the Greater Yellowstone, 
Greater Glacier/Northern Continental Divide, Great-
er Hells Canyon/Wallowa, Greater Salmon/Selway, 
and Greater Cabinet/Yaak/Selkirk ecosystems. 
(3) The natural ecosystems in the Northern 
Rockies Bioregion are largely dependent on National 
Forest System lands, National Park System lands, 
and public lands administered by the Bureau of 
Land Management, and the ecological productivity 
and diversity of resources these Federal public lands 
provide. Conservation of roadless areas on these 
public lands, which produces clean water, protects 
native fisheries and native flora and fauna, and pro-
vides scenic and recreational qualities, also preserves 
options for sustainable economics through activities 
such as hunting, fishing, and wilderness-based recre-
ation. 
(4) The headwaters of several major river sys-
tems, including the Columbia, Snake, Green, Mis-
souri and Saskatchewan Rivers, originate in the 
Northern Rockies Bioregion, and these rivers send 
their waters to three different oceans. These waters 
are of tremendous economic importance to farming 
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and ranching operations, municipal water supplies, 
and water-based recreation, including fishing and 
boating. Protection of this world class water re-
source will enhance these uses, reduce costs for 
water treatment and irrigation, and increase native 
fish populations. 
(5) The wildlife treasures of the Northern 
Rockies are of international significance and contain 
remarkably intact large mammalian fauna and rare 
and unique plant life. Wildlife habitat fragmentation 
due to roadbuilding, timber harvest, mining, oil and 
gas exploration, lack of interagency cooperation, and 
other activities has severe effects on the wildlife pop-
ulations (including those listed as threatened or en-
dangered under section 4(c) of the Endangered Spe-
cies 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 Bio-
region. The overemphasis on resource extraction 
from National Forest System lands and public lands 
administered by the Bureau of Land Management 
has compromised ecosystem integrity and detracted 
from economic diversification opportunities. Eco-
nomic instability and high unemployment in rural, 
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resource-dependent communities is a common result 
of overexploitation of these lands. 
(6) Continued fragmentation and development 
of the remaining roadless and essentially roadless 
ecosystems and biological connectors of the Northern 
Rockies would cause a loss to the Nation of an en-
tire wild land region and of the only remaining areas 
south of Canada still pristine enough to support 
populations of caribou, gray wolves, grizzly bears, 
anadromous fish, and numerous other rare and en-
dangered plant and animal life all in one intact bio-
region. 
(7) 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. 
(8) The natural ecosystems of the Northern 
Rockies Bioregion also serve as educational and re-
search centers for on-site studies in biology, geology, 
astronomy and other sciences. The pristine nature of 
the National Forest System lands, National Park 
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System lands, and public lands administered by the 
Bureau of Land Management in the Northern Rock-
ies Bioregion helps local communities attract new 
residents and businesses based on local quality of 
life. 
(9) 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. Wildlife free-
dom of movement has always been essential to the 
survival of wildlife species, and an increasing num-
ber of scientific studies have identified movement 
corridors as a necessity for wildlife conservation in 
a changing climate. Several foreign governments, in-
cluding the governments of Australia and Scotland, 
have announced plans for corridors that would make 
wildlife movement possible as climate pressures in-
crease. The concept of connective corridors for wild-
life movement has been endorsed by governors of 
States in the western United States, and is now 
widely recognized by conservation and scientific or-
ganizations. For example, freedom of movement for 
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wildlife is basic to the emerging new science of 
‘‘Movement Ecology’’ described in a December 2008 
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 
This freedom of wildlife movement was a funda-
mental reason for the Act’s development and intro-
duction, and has become an increasingly high profile 
issue in the climate and biological sciences. 
(10) 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. 
(11) Instead, this Act provides opportunities for 
employment in outdoor trades by establishing reha-
bilitation zones on specific tracts of damaged Fed-
eral land where active restoration work will occur. 
This Act will provide contracts for local businesses 
and renew the intrinsic economic, social and cultural 
benefits that result from productive land. Federal 
land rehabilitation projects represent a direct benefit 
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to the local economy and reduce the loss to Amer-
ican taxpayers caused by below-cost timber sales and 
other subsidized resource extraction. 
(12) The congressional review of roadless areas 
within the National Forest System, National Park 
System, and public lands administered by the Bu-
reau of Land Management in the States of Idaho, 
Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming has 
identified areas which, on the basis of their land 
form, ecosystem, associated fish and wildlife, eco-
nomic value, and location will help to fulfill the role 
of the United States Forest Service, National Park 
Service, and Bureau of Land Management to ensure 
a quality National Wilderness Preservation System. 
The review has identified other areas which may 
have outstanding values as wild and scenic rivers. 
The review has also identified areas which may not 
possess outstanding wilderness attributes and should 
not now be designated as components of the Na-
tional Wilderness Preservation System, but which 
should be studied to determine their role in main-
taining biological diversity in the Northern Rockies. 
(13) Many areas of National Forest System 
lands and public lands administered by the Bureau 
of Land Management have been damaged and their 
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productivity reduced by unwise development prac-
tices, which have also impaired ecosystem function 
and biological diversity. The Island Park area adja-
cent to Yellowstone National Park contains large 
clear-cut areas right up to the park boundary. Ef-
forts should be made to return these areas to their 
former ecological health and native diversity. These 
efforts should seek to ensure that vital ecosystem 
components are restored, especially in areas where 
wildlife travel corridors and native fish and wildlife 
populations have been damaged or eliminated. Res-
toration efforts should seek to ensure and maintain 
genetic interchange, biological diversity, and restora-
tion of native species diversity throughout the 
Northern Rockies Bioregion. 
(14) Backcountry areas of the National Park 
System have been damaged by inappropriate man-
agement, despite policies that require that rec-
ommended wilderness be administered as wilderness. 
An emphasis on structures and motorized equip-
ment, 
and 
in 
some 
instances 
developed 
‘‘backcountry’’ campsites, have all detracted from 
and degraded the wilderness character of these 
backcountry areas. 
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(15) 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. 
(16) This Act does not affect private existing 
rights. 
SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The purposes of this Act are— 
(1) to designate certain National Forest System 
lands, certain National Park System lands, and cer-
tain public lands administered by 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, public lands administered by the Bureau of 
Land Management, and watercourses on these lands 
in the States of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming as 
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components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers 
System; 
(3) to prioritize areas for wildland recovery to 
help restore biological diversity and native species; 
and 
(4) to establish a system of biological con-
necting corridors between the core ecosystems in the 
Northern Rockies Bioregion and to ecologically sig-
nificant wild lands to the south. 
(b) PURPOSE OF DESIGNATIONS.—The designations 
made by this Act are made in order to— 
(1) promote, perpetuate, and preserve the wil-
derness character of the area so designated; 
(2) protect water quality, watersheds, and wild-
life habitat, including that of species listed as threat-
ened or endangered under section 4(c) of the Endan-
gered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(c)); 
(3) protect the ecological integrity and con-
tiguity of major wild land ecosystems and their 
interconnecting corridors identified by the United 
States Fish and Wildlife Service, and other sources; 
(4) protect and maintain biological and native 
species diversity and dispersal throughout the 
Northern Rockies Bioregion; 
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(5) promote and ensure interagency cooperation 
in the implementation of integrated, holistic eco-
system management and protection of the eco-
systems and corridors covered by this Act based 
upon principles from conservation biology; 
(6) preserve scenic, historic, and cultural re-
sources; 
(7) promote scientific research, primitive recre-
ation, solitude, physical and mental challenge, and 
inspiration for the benefit of all of the American 
people; 
(8) avoid the misinvestment of scarce capital in 
lands of marginal timber value; and 
(9) promote ecologically and economically sus-
tainable management in the Northern Rockies Bio-
region. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this Act: 
(1) DEVELOPMENT.—The term ‘‘development’’ 
means activities that eliminate the roadless and wil-
derness characteristics of the land and includes ski 
resort facilities and such activities as roadbuilding, 
timber harvest, mining, and oil and gas drilling. 
(2) GREATER ECOSYSTEM.—The term ‘‘greater 
ecosystem’’, when used in conjunction with the spe-
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cific ecosystems protected under this Act, means the 
ecological land units of sufficient scale to support 
and maintain populations of large vertebrate species 
and the other native plant and animal species of the 
units. These units are comprised of lands which are 
similar in regards to topography, climate, and plant 
and animal species. The ecosystems in the Northern 
Rockies are also defined in terms of the habitat of 
wildlife indicator species listed as threatened or en-
dangered under section 4(c) of the Endangered Spe-
cies Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(c)), including griz-
zly bear, gray wolf, bald eagle, and caribou, and 
have been depicted on maps published by Federal 
agencies. 
(3) NORTHERN
ROCKIES
BIOREGION.—The 
term ‘‘Northern Rockies Bioregion’’ means the por-
tion of the Northern Rocky Mountains in the States 
of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon, and Wash-
ington, so referred to on maps referred to in this 
Act. 
(4) CORRIDORS.—The term ‘‘corridors’’ means 
areas that provide connectivity of habitat or poten-
tial habitat and that facilitate the ability of terres-
trial, estuarine, and freshwater fish, or wildlife to 
move within a landscape as needed for migration, 
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gene flow, or dispersal, or in response to the impacts 
of climate change or other impacts. 
(5) HABITAT.—The term ‘‘habitat’’ means the 
physical, chemical, and biological properties that are 
used by fish, wildlife, or plants for growth, reproduc-
tion, survival, food, water, and cover, on a tract of 
land, in a body of water, or in an area or region. 
(6) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’ 
has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 
Act (25 U.S.C. 450b). 
(7) NATURAL RESOURCES.—The term ‘‘natural 
resources’’ means the terrestrial, freshwater, estua-
rine, and marine fish, wildlife, plants, land, water, 
habitats, and ecosystems of the United States. 
(8) PUBLIC
LAND.—The term ‘‘public land’’ 
has the meaning given the term in section 103(e) of 
the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 
1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702(e)). 
(9) RESILIENCE.—The terms ‘‘resilience’’ and 
‘‘resilient’’ means the ability to resist or recover 
from disturbance and preserve diversity, produc-
tivity, and sustainability. 
(10) 
SECRETARY
CONCERNED.—The 
term 
‘‘Secretary concerned’’ means— 
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(A) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re-
spect to National Forest System lands; and 
(B) the Secretary of the Interior, with re-
spect to National Park System lands and public 
land. 
TITLE I—DESIGNATION OF 
WILDERNESS 
SEC. 101. DESIGNATION OF CERTAIN NATIONAL FOREST 
SYSTEM LANDS, NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM 
LANDS, AND BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT 
LANDS AS WILDERNESS. 
In furtherance of the purpose of the Wilderness Act 
(16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), certain National Forest System 
lands, National Park System lands, and public lands ad-
ministered by the Bureau of Land Management, as de-
scribed in this title, in the States of Idaho, Montana, Or-
egon, Washington, and Wyoming are designated as wilder-
ness and, therefore, as components of the National Wilder-
ness Preservation System. 
SEC. 102. GREATER GLACIER/NORTHERN CONTINENTAL DI-
VIDE ECOSYSTEM. 
(a) DESIGNATION.—In order to protect the unique 
ecosystem of the greater Glacier/Northern Continental Di-
vide region, the areas described in this section are hereby 
designated as wilderness. 
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