Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act
A BILL
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 and wild and scenic rivers, to provide for the establishment of a Northern Rockies Wildlife Habitat and Corridors Information System and Program, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Purposes
The purposes of this Act are—
to designate certain National Forest System land, certain National Park System land, and certain public land administered by the Bureau of Land Management in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System;
to designate certain National Forest System land, public land administered by the Bureau of Land Management, and waterways on these lands in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming as components of the National Wild and Scenic River System; and
to establish an integrated Federal program to protect, restore, and conserve natural resources in response to threats of climate change.
Sec. 3 Definitions
In this Act:
Corridors— The term corridors means areas that provide connectivity of habitat or potential habitat and that facilitate the ability of terrestrial, estuarine, and freshwater fish, or wildlife to move within a landscape as needed for migration, gene flow, or dispersal, or in response to the impacts of climate change or other impacts.
Habitat— The term habitat means the physical, chemical, and biological properties that are used by fish, wildlife, or plants for growth, reproduction, survival, food, water, and cover, on a tract of land, in a body of water, or in an area or region.
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).
Natural resources— The term natural resources means the terrestrial, freshwater, estuarine, and marine fish, wildlife, plants, land, water, habitats, and ecosystems of the United States.
Natural resources adaptation— The term natural resources adaptation means the protection, restoration, and conservation of natural resources to enable them to become more resilient, adapt to, and withstand the impacts of climate change.
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)).
Resilience— The terms resilience and resilient means the ability to resist or recover from disturbance and preserve diversity, productivity, and sustainability.
Secretary concerned— The term Secretary concerned means—
the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to National Forest System lands; and
the Secretary of the Interior, with respect to National Park System lands and public land.