Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act of 2019 - Fall

Team Members: Isabelle Branco-Lo, Josefina Correa, Louise Efthimiou, Mariana Fajardo, Anastasia Gordon, Jonathan Lesser, Siti Mohd Khairi, Kelly Rose Nunziata, Shuqi Zong, Erifili Draklellis, Beryl Sinclair

The Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act represents one of the most ambitious federal land conservation proposals in U.S. history, aiming to protect ecological integrity across a five-state region containing some of the country’s last intact wildlands. The legislation would designate approximately 23 million acres of wilderness, restore one million acres of degraded land, protect over 1,800 miles of rivers, and establish nearly three million acres of wildlife corridors to reconnect fragmented habitats. These protections address long-standing environmental pressures from resource extraction, development, and habitat fragmentation that threaten biodiversity, water quality, and ecosystem resilience. By strengthening federal land protections and restoring ecological connectivity, the Act seeks to preserve biodiversity while ensuring long-term ecosystem stability.

Implementation centers on coordinated management led by the U.S. Forest Service through newly established interagency teams responsible for corridor planning, restoration, and ecological monitoring. Restoration efforts prioritize degraded landscapes, while corridor planning focuses on reconnecting habitats through land acquisition, cooperative agreements, and land exchanges. Monitoring programs track ecological indicators to evaluate progress and inform adaptive management. Budget and staffing plans emphasize collaboration among federal agencies, state governments, private stakeholders, and conservation organizations. These efforts create an integrated framework for ecosystem management that balances conservation priorities with stakeholder interests, ensuring effective long-term protection and restoration of one of North America’s most important ecological regions.

Learn more about the MPA-ESP Workshop in Applied Earth Systems Management.