Helena, Mont.  Democratic candidate Paul Richards today announced that, if elected, he will sponsor the Rockies Prosperity Act (HR 1204) in the U.S. Senate.  The legislation, sponsored primarily by Rep. Christopher Shays  (R-CT) and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), has already garnered the support of 187 House of Representatives members.

“Those 187 House members need a staunch ally in the Senate,” Richards said.  “Senator Burns has proven he is incapable of leadership concerning the protection of our diminishing public wildlands,” he said.  As an illustration, Richards cited a controversial hearing Friday in Missoula promoted by Burns in an attempt to up both the timber cut and off-road vehicle use on national forest wildlands. 
 
Montanans overwhelmingly supported the original ‘Clinton Roadless Conservation Rule’ that safeguarded 6.4 million acres of roadless forests in Montana, Richards said.  ”This wildlands rule received the most public participation of any proposed federal regulation in the nation’s history,” said Richards. 
 
“In Montana alone, 34 hearings were held in communities across the state, while over 600 hearings were held throughout the country,” he said.  “In total, more than 1.6 million Americans wrote comments on the federal roadless protection policy.  An overwhelming majority – 78 percent of all Montanans and 95 percent of all Americans – supported full protection for these roadless wildlands.”
 
“Conrad Burns didn’t get what he wanted, so now he is trying to paralyze the process and polarize the debate,” Richards said.  “Montana has the best hunting season in the country.  Our five-week-long hunting season is due directly to the habitat provided by these 6.4 million acres of roadless wildlands,” said Richards.  “Montana hunters and anglers want these lands protected.  The Rockies Prosperity Act provides this protection.”
 
The Rockies Prosperity Act provides for employment of thousands of Montanans reclaiming old logging roads and rehabilitating watersheds previously damaged by roading, overcutting, and mining, Richards said.  The Act has endorsements from President Jimmy Carter, world-renowned scientists, and more than 700 organizations and businesses nationwide.
 
 
Richards/Rockies Prosperity Act, p. 2  
The Rockies Prosperity Act has a strong economic foundation, according to Richards.  Studies by University of Utah show that the Act would create 2,300 new jobs through wildland restoration work while saving U.S. taxpayers more than $245 million dollars over a ten-year period by ending taxpayer-subsidized timber sales in roadless areas.