Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., testified Tuesday against the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act (NREPA), which he says caters to “out-of-state special interests.”
The bill would designate as wilderness nearly 24 million acres of public land in Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Its primary backer, the Alliance for the Wild Rockies, says its aim is to “protect some of America’s most beautiful and ecologically important lands while saving taxpayers money and creating jobs.”
But Rehberg said more than 10,000 people have contacted his office about NREPA and 96 percent of those oppose the legislation. And he stressed that none of 72 current cosponsors are from the impacted regions. During his testimony, the congressman said:
“A Montanan who visited New York’s Central Park recently shared an observation with me. Although Central Park was free of buildings and streets, many of the open spaces were cordoned off by fences. Visitors could walk or run on centrally planned pathways, but the fields of grass around them were off limits. NREPA models its philosophy for 24 million acres of land after the approach taken in the 843 acres of Central Park. Look, but don’t touch. This approach may work in Manhattan, New York, but it doesn’t work in Manhattan, Montana. I can’t stress how crucial that distinction is, and that’s why I oppose this bill.”