WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representative Madeleine Dean (D-PA) and U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) introduced legislation to protect more than 23 million acres of public land in Idaho, Montana, Washington, Oregon, and Wyoming — safeguarding endangered and threatened species, preserving biodiversity, and combating climate change by preserving millions of trees that serve as a carbon sink. In addition to roughly 20 million acres of federally protected wilderness, the NREPA would also designate: Specified federal lands as biological connecting corridors and as special corridor management areas; Segments of specified rivers and creeks in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming as components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System; and Specified areas as wildland recovery areas. Wildland recovery plans would be required for each recovery area. Full bill text is available here.