Sponsors (14)
The bill secures large-scale, long-term protections for wilderness, water, wildlife, and tribal interests—boosting recreation and ecosystem resilience—while imposing real limits on extractive uses, local land uses, motorized recreation, and creating added federal costs and legal/administrative burdens.
Rural communities, visitors, and local governments gain long-term protection of millions of acres as wilderness and ecological corridors, preserving recreation, scenic values, and stable natural spaces.
Downstream communities, farmers, and drinking-water systems benefit from improved watershed and water quality protections that reduce pollution and support fisheries and agriculture.
Local economies, outfitters, and small businesses gain more stable recreation and tourism opportunities and near-term jobs from restoration and stewardship contracts tied to conserved lands.
Timber, mining, oil & gas operators and communities dependent on extractive industries will face reduced access and lost jobs or revenue where harvesting, development, and new roads are restricted or prohibited.
Taxpayers and federal budgets may face higher and ongoing costs for land acquisition, restoration, monitoring, mapping, enforcement, and long-term stewardship of newly protected areas.
Residents, outfitters, and recreational users who rely on motorized access (ATVs, OHVs, motorboats) will lose or see curbs on access in many designated wilderness and corridor areas.
Based on analysis of 26 sections of legislative text.
Designates large new wilderness areas, wild and scenic rivers, biological corridors, and recovery areas in five Western states and restricts development and extractive uses on those federal lands.
Introduced March 27, 2025 by Madeleine Dean · Last progress March 27, 2025
Designates large areas of federal lands across Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming as new wilderness areas, wild and scenic rivers, biological connecting corridors, and wildland recovery areas, and imposes restrictions on development and extractive uses in those areas. Requires interagency planning, scientific monitoring, mapping, restoration plans, tribal consultation and protections, and preserves existing federal water rights while directing agencies to seek water-claim quantification where appropriate.