SAWS Action Alert: Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act introduced in the 111th

Here is the SAWS Alert I put together today for NREPA.

http://www.snowmobile-alliance.org/...lert_-_NREPA_introduced_in_111th_Congress.htm

Here we go again, this time during the 111th Congress (2009 - 2010), with this insane bill called the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act (NREPA). This bill has once again been introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-New York.

“The plan would forbid most development across broad swaths of public land in the five states. It calls for the removal of more than 6,000 miles of existing roads, primarily within national forests. Old logging roads would be removed, and habitat restored in most of those areas, creating about 2,300 jobs and leading to a more sustainable economic base in the region, said Michael Garrity, executive director of the Montana-based Alliance for the Wild Rockies, an advocacy group.”

NREPA would create another 23 to 24 million more acres of wilderness in five western states (Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming). Yes, I used the word “create”, as much of the public land included in NREPA - which would be designated as wilderness through this bill - is NOT remotely close to meeting the requirements of the Wilderness Act of 1964. Since when did “6000 miles of roads” qualify for wilderness? And if there are “6000 miles of roads” within the proposed wilderness areas, then I can virtually guarantee that there are numerous other man-made structures within these proposed wilderness areas too that do not qualify as wilderness.

Numerous statements regarding NREPA by various individuals attempt to jump on the ever so popular “stimulate the economy” bandwagon by claiming NREPA would create thousands of new jobs. I guess they must have forgotten about that thousands of lost jobs that will result from locking up millions of acres of public land from most multiple-use activities and the loss of jobs from businesses that profit and employees that earn a living from catering to those multiple-use activities.

Link to Rep. Carolyn Maloney’s Press Release:
http://maloney.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1787&Itemid=61

Rep. Maloney’s NREPA bill has been introduced every year since 1993, but it has thankfully in these past years never had enough support in Congress to pass and be signed by the president, which would then become law. Could this year be different? It is certainly possible with the newly elected individuals in Congress and the White House this year, who happen to be much more supportive of additional wilderness designations, so this bill could have the support it needs in this Congress to become law.

The fact that Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz, is a co-sponsor of NREPA this year is also certainly not good news for the public who enjoys mechanized recreation on public lands. Rep. Grijalva is the Chairman of the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands. This subcommittee falls under control of the Committee on Natural Resources, which is chaired by Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., who, according to the article below, and along with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Ca., have both been indicated their support of NREPA in past years. This year sure seems to be lining up to be a snowmobilers worst nightmare when it comes to access – or lack there of – to our public lands.

NREPA is the grand daddy of all wilderness bills. This bill proposes to implement large portions of the "Yellowstone to Yukon Initiative" or also referred to as "The Wildlands Project", and as previously stated, it would designate somewhere between 23 and 24 million MORE acres as wilderness in the states of Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. Do you enjoy snowmobiling in any of these states? If the answer is yes, then you do not want to see this bill become law.

Link to a general map (without detail boundary lines shown) of the proposed new wilderness areas (dark green):
http://www.wildrockies.org/nrepa/assets/pix/brochure/mapbig.jpg

Read the entire bill at this link:
http://maloney.house.gov/documents/environment/20090129_NREPA.pdf

Link to look up the contact information for your representative:
https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

The following members on the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands are especially important to contact if they are your representative in Congress.


Link to our previous SAWS Alert on NREPA from October 2007:
http://www.snowmobile-alliance.org/...Northern_Rockies_Ecosystem_Protection_Act.htm

There is not much in this year’s version of the NREPA bill that has changed since our previous SAWS alert in 2007. The bill in this year’s Congress WILL have a different bill number. As of today, it does not appear that a bill number has been assigned yet.

Please write your representative to let them know that you are opposed to this bill and why, but DO NOT reference the old bill number from the last Congress, just refer to the bill as the "Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act" or NREPA for short. I have not included a deadline in this alert, as it is currently not scheduled for a hearing, but it is always best to contact your representative sooner rather than later.

Thank you in advance for acting on the recommendation in this alert.


Dave

Snowmobile Alliance of Western States

Copyright 2009, Snowmobile Alliance of Western States. All Rights Reserved. Permission is granted to distribute this information, in whole or in part, as long as Snowmobile Alliance of Western States (SAWS) is acknowledged as the source. If you are not yet a member of SAWS, and would like receive our emails, please sign up on our web site today. SAWS is Free to join! http://www.snowmobile-alliance.org
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Associated Press Article:

See next post. I have too many characters to include this in this post.

Bill would designate 23M acres of wilderness

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420ap_northern_rockies_wilderness.html

Bill would designate 23M acres of wilderness
By MATTHEW DALY
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

WASHINGTON -- A New York congresswoman has again introduced a wide-reaching wilderness protection bill that would ban logging, oil exploration and other development on 23 million acres across five Northwestern states.

As in previous years, the proposal by Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney drew criticism from some Western lawmakers who view it as an intrusion on their turf. The Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act would designate millions of new wilderness acreage in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, and add smaller amounts of wilderness in eastern Oregon and eastern Washington.

No member of Congress from any of the five states has agreed to co-sponsor the bill, which Maloney has pushed in Congress since 1993. Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., is a co-sponsor of the latest version. The bill would create 9.5 million acres of new wilderness in Idaho, 7 million acres in Montana, 5 million acres in Wyoming, 750,000 acres in northeastern Oregon and 500,000 acres in eastern Washington.

Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., called the bill a "top-down approach" that does not account for impacts on the local economy or adequately protect access for hunting, fishing and other forms of recreation.

"Montana doesn't need Washington, D.C. imposing its will and telling us how to take care of our public lands," Rehberg said. "We're going to fight this. As a state that's almost one-third public lands, we have no choice."

Maloney, who represents New York City, said the bill would protect some of America's most beautiful and ecologically important lands while saving money and creating jobs.

"Many of America's most precious natural resources and wildlife are found in the Northern Rockies," she said, adding that the wilderness proposal "would help protect those resources by drawing wilderness boundaries according to science, not politics."

The measure would also mitigate the effect of climate change on wildlife by protecting corridors that allow grizzly bears, caribou, elk, bison, wolves and other wildlife to migrate to cooler areas, she said.

The plan would forbid most development across broad swaths of public land in the five states. It calls for the removal of more than 6,000 miles of existing roads, primarily within national forests. Old logging roads would be removed, and habitat restored in most of those areas, creating about 2,300 jobs and leading to a more sustainable economic base in the region, said Michael Garrity, executive director of the Montana-based Alliance for the Wild Rockies, an advocacy group.

The wilderness measure has been introduced every Congress for nearly two decades, but has only twice made it so far as a public hearing - in 1994 and in 2007.

A significant number of Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, spoke favorably of the bill in 2007, and even more lawmakers from both parties are likely to back the bill this year, Garrity said.

"We think we're making tremendous progress. We have a new president who is much more supportive of wilderness, and we think we have an excellent chance" of winning congressional approval, Garrity said.

A key argument in favor of the bill is a plan to dismantle old logging roads and restore habitat in many areas that have been clear-cut by logging, Garrity said. "This bill puts people to work" in a manner reminiscent of the old Civilian Conservation Corps created in the New Deal, he said.

ARRA alert I received last week also.....lets see if the links post

Urge Your Representative to Vote Against S. 22 Omnibus Legislation!‏
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Sent: Mon 2/09/09 10:22 AM



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House Set to Ban OHV Access to 2 Million Acres of Public Lands

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The full Senate passed restrictive omnibus land legislation last month. Now, we need your help to defeat the measure in the House.

Please click the Take Action button below to send a letter to your Representative urging him or her to vote against omnibus legislation, S. 22, that includes 160 public lands measures including the National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS) Act. The bill would create more than two million acres of wilderness while authorizing dozens of studies for potential parks, protected rivers and historical landmarks in addition to statutorily establishing the NLCS.

It is more important than ever for you to urge your Representative to vote against NLCS legislation in light of an ongoing Department of Interior (DOI) investigation of the existing NLCS division of the Bureau of Land Management. DOI initiated the investigation after reviewing emails and other documents that show extensive coordination between top NLCS officials and lobbyists for environmental groups as federal law generally prohibits federal employees from using appropriated funds or their official positions to lobby Congress.

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As a constituent and a member of Americans for Responsible Recreational Access I write to urge you to oppose S. 22, omnibus land use legislation that includes the National Landscape Conservation System Act.

The more than 1200 page bill cobbles together 160 separate pieces of restrictive land use legislation that would eliminate responsible OHV access to more than 2 million acres of public land.

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Letter sent.

NREPA now has a bill number (HR980) and already has 50 sponsors in just a couple days since it was introduced.

Any of these folks your representative?

Rep Ackerman, Gary L. [NY-5] - 2/11/2009
Rep Baca, Joe [CA-43] - 2/11/2009
Rep Bean, Melissa L. [IL-8] - 2/13/2009
Rep Berman, Howard L. [CA-28] - 2/11/2009
Rep Bordallo, Madeleine Z. [GU] - 2/11/2009
Rep Brown, Corrine [FL-3] - 2/11/2009
Rep Capps, Lois [CA-23] - 2/11/2009
Rep Carnahan, Russ [MO-3] - 2/11/2009
Rep Carson, Andre [IN-7] - 2/11/2009
Rep Chandler, Ben [KY-6] - 2/11/2009
Rep Christensen, Donna M. [VI] - 2/11/2009
Rep Cleaver, Emanuel [MO-5] - 2/11/2009
Rep Conyers, John, Jr. [MI-14] - 2/12/2009
Rep Costa, Jim [CA-20] - 2/11/2009
Rep Cummings, Elijah E. [MD-7] - 2/11/2009
Rep DeLauro, Rosa L. [CT-3] - 2/11/2009
Rep Gonzalez, Charles A. [TX-20] - 2/12/2009
Rep Grijalva, Raul M. [AZ-7] - 2/11/2009
Rep Gutierrez, Luis V. [IL-4] - 2/11/2009
Rep Hinchey, Maurice D. [NY-22] - 2/11/2009
Rep Hinojosa, Ruben [TX-15] - 2/13/2009
Rep Hirono, Mazie K. [HI-2] - 2/11/2009
Rep Inslee, Jay [WA-1] - 2/11/2009
Rep Jones, Walter B., Jr. [NC-3] - 2/11/2009
Rep Kucinich, Dennis J. [OH-10] - 2/11/2009
Rep Lance, Leonard [NJ-7] - 2/11/2009
Rep Langevin, James R. [RI-2] - 2/11/2009
Rep Lee, Barbara [CA-9] - 2/11/2009
Rep Lowey, Nita M. [NY-18] - 2/11/2009
Rep Lynch, Stephen F. [MA-9] - 2/12/2009
Rep Markey, Edward J. [MA-7] - 2/11/2009
Rep McCollum, Betty [MN-4] - 2/11/2009
Rep Meeks, Gregory W. [NY-6] - 2/11/2009
Rep Miller, George [CA-7] - 2/11/2009
Rep Moore, Dennis [KS-3] - 2/11/2009
Rep Moran, James P. [VA-8] - 2/12/2009
Rep Nadler, Jerrold [NY-8] - 2/11/2009
Rep Napolitano, Grace F. [CA-38] - 2/11/2009
Rep Payne, Donald M. [NJ-10] - 2/12/2009
Rep Rahall, Nick J., II [WV-3] - 2/11/2009
Rep Schiff, Adam B. [CA-29] - 2/12/2009
Rep Schwartz, Allyson Y. [PA-13] - 2/11/2009
Rep Scott, David [GA-13] - 2/11/2009
Rep Serrano, Jose E. [NY-16] - 2/11/2009
Rep Sestak, Joe [PA-7] - 2/13/2009
Rep Shea-Porter, Carol [NH-1] - 2/12/2009
Rep Sherman, Brad [CA-27] - 2/11/2009
Rep Stark, Fortney Pete [CA-13] - 2/11/2009
Rep Waters, Maxine [CA-35] - 2/11/2009
Rep Waxman, Henry A. [CA-30] - 2/11/2009

I sent my letters........I urge EVERYONE to do so.........this is our back yard people!!!

letter sent....

CleElum Sledhead said:

wilderness protection bill that would ban logging, oil exploration and other development on 23 million acres across five Northwestern states.

The bill would create 9.5 million acres of new wilderness in Idaho, 7 million acres in Montana, 5 million acres in Wyoming, 750,000 acres in northeastern Oregon and 500,000 acres in eastern Washington.

Maloney, who represents New York City, said the bill would protect some of America's most beautiful and ecologically important lands while saving money and creating jobs.

The plan would forbid most development across broad swaths of public land in the five states. It calls for the removal of more than 6,000 miles of existing roads, primarily within national forests. Old logging roads would be removed, and habitat restored in most of those areas, creating about 2,300 jobs and leading to a more sustainable economic base in the region, said Michael Garrity, executive director of the Montana-based Alliance for the Wild Rockies, an advocacy group.


"We think we're making tremendous progress. We have a new president who is much more supportive of wilderness, and we think we have an excellent chance" of winning congressional approval, Garrity said.

A key argument in favor of the bill is a plan to dismantle old logging roads and restore habitat in many areas that have been clear-cut by logging, Garrity said. "This bill puts people to work" in a manner reminiscent of the old Civilian Conservation Corps created in the New Deal, he said.

Click to expand...

So apparently we can create 2300 Jobs by BANNING logging and eliminating jobs? What happens when those 2300 jobs are gone? There aren't going to be 3rd generation workers left as we see with logging. Maloney is pushing for something in Idaho that will be detrimental to our economy. And who will fill these 2300 jobs? Bums from her own city of New York?

Our new president isn't supportive of wilderness if him and his congress want to "take this land away." What Americans love about their wilderness is they can use it, not view it on a map and have no access to it. By destroying 6000 miles of ACCESS roads you completely limit any future activity and the area will be useless. Without access you will also have decrease brush cutting and thinning of dead trees leading to overgrown forest. What happens when lightning strikes and causes fire? You no longer have an access road for any protection agency to get in and stop the spread of wildfire. Then with this land devastated by fire what bill will go to congress trying to set aside more land without access?

I know that when I have kids I want to be able to drive down an old logging road with them and camp out under the stars, or take them fishing in a remote lake, or just about anything else our wilderness provides us. That is how Americans enjoy THEIR land. It's OUR backyard, and congresswomen Moloney who will only view this land on a map should not be supported.

letter sent....

What??

Where the **** do they come up with this ****? People actually believe this crap, it has no logic whatsoever!!!!

justjohnthomas said:

So apparently we can create 2300 Jobs by BANNING logging and eliminating jobs? What happens when those 2300 jobs are gone? There aren't going to be 3rd generation workers left as we see with logging. Maloney is pushing for something in Idaho that will be detrimental to our economy. And who will fill these 2300 jobs? Bums from her own city of New York?

Our new president isn't supportive of wilderness if him and his congress want to "take this land away." What Americans love about their wilderness is they can use it, not view it on a map and have no access to it. By destroying 6000 miles of ACCESS roads you completely limit any future activity and the area will be useless. Without access you will also have decrease brush cutting and thinning of dead trees leading to overgrown forest. What happens when lightning strikes and causes fire? You no longer have an access road for any protection agency to get in and stop the spread of wildfire. Then with this land devastated by fire what bill will go to congress trying to set aside more land without access?

I know that when I have kids I want to be able to drive down an old logging road with them and camp out under the stars, or take them fishing in a remote lake, or just about anything else our wilderness provides us. That is how Americans enjoy THEIR land. It's OUR backyard, and congresswomen Moloney who will only view this land on a map should not be supported.

Click to expand...

I am with you.

I wish our representatives would use the correct strategy to make this stop.

The enviro overzealots have effectively created the public attitude that an isolated forest is the best use.

SAWS needs to let the public understand and eventually create an attitude that the land MUST be used fairly and "WILDERNESS DESIGNATION" means , loss of jobs, loss of revenues, more cost, Dangerous environmental conditions , and INCREASED DEATH AND ILLNESS TO THE PEOPLE OF THE USA.

Sent a letter to my Congressman asking him to oppose this legislation