Forest Service Strips Protections For Roadless Forests
Final Rule Caters to Logging, Mining and Drilling Interests and Ignores Public Support for protections
Seattle, WA - Local conservation organizations reacted today in opposition to the Forest Service's decision to strip protections for National Forest roadless areas. The Forest Service announced final regulations repealing the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which prohibited most road-building and resource extraction on 58.5 million acres of National Forests, including more than 2 million acres in Washington State.
"Once again the Bush Administration has put a piece of America's natural heritage at risk for short term industry profits," said Tom Uniack, Conservation Director for Washington Wilderness Coalition. "Yesterday, the clean drinking water, wildlife habitat, and recreational opportunities our wild forests provide were protected, and today they are endangered."
The new regulations ignore more than 4 million public comments supporting roadless forest protections over the last several years, including more than 140,000 from Washington State alone. During a public comment period held last fall, the American people submitted more than 1.75 million comments urging the Administration to abandon its plan and uphold the original Roadless Rule as promised four years ago this week.
"The American people continue to overwhelmingly support a single national policy protecting all of our last wild forests," said Megan Blanck-Weiss, Field Associate for WashPIRG. "This new rule shows the Administration's willingness to break promises, ignore public input, and shirk its responsibility to protect our National Forests for future generations."
Under the new regulations, state governors must petition the Forest Service with recommendations in order for roadless areas to be considered for protection. However, these petitions are nonbinding, and the Forest Service is free to accept, reject or modify them. If a governor chooses not to submit a petition, the management of roadless areas would revert to the direction of local forest plans, which allow road-building and logging on much of the 58.5 million acres of roadless areas.
"Our roadless areas are national treasures and they deserve national protection," said Michelle Ackermann, Northwest Regional Director for The Wilderness Society. "Millions of Americans have made it crystal clear that they overwhelmingly support protection for these last wild forests for our children and grandchildren to enjoy."
The maintenance and capital improvement backlog on the national forest road system has surpassed $10 billion. Washington state ranks among the top10 states with road maintenance deficits with a nearly $200 million backlog.
"Repealing protections for roadless forests is not only bad environmental policy, it is also bad economic policy," said Jonathan Guzzo, Director of Advocacy for Washington Trails Association. "Our money might be better spent encouraging recreation which benefits local economies rather than adding to an expensive road system that is in disrepair and that we already can't afford."
"We hope that the public will recognize the fallacy of the new anti-roadless rule proposed by the Bush administration as unacceptable," said Roger Singer of Sierra Club. "We need to have equal and full protection across the remaining national wild forests in Washington."
The Roadless Rule was finalized in January 2001 after years of scientific study, 600 local public hearings and meetings and the largest public rulemaking in the history of the federal government. The balanced policy protects 58.5 million acres of national forests across the country, including almost 2 million acres in Washington State, while allowing temporary road construction in order to fight wildfires, ensure public safety, and protect forest health.
The values of protecting roadless forests include:
- Sixty million Americans rely on clean drinking water from the national forests. Roadless areas provide the purest source of that water due to their pristine and road-free condition. In the Northwest Forest Service Region, which includes Washington and Oregon, drinking water on national forest land is worth approximately $941 million annually, which is more than any other region or state in the country except California.
- Outdoor recreation has become more and more popular over time as Americans participate in everything from mountain-biking to hunting in roadless areas. Approximately 2.5 million Washington residents took part in hunting, fishing, and wildlife-watching in 2001, contributing $2.4 billion to the state economy.
- A majority of the unspoiled habitat for hundreds of threatened, endangered, and declining species is found in roadless areas. In Washington, 25 at-risk species, including bald eagles, steelhead and chinook salmon, and bull trout, are found in national forests and could be harmed by destruction of roadless areas.
This story courtesy of Washington Wilderness Coalition:
Forest Service Strips Protections For Roadless Forests
