Obama Administration Calls for a "Timeout" on New Road Building in National Forests

The Obama administration took a key first step in protecting Roadless forests by placing a one-year moratorium on road-building and development on millions of acres of remote national forests.  As announced by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, the directive states that for one year no road construction or removal of timber can take place without the Secretary's approval in areas of National Forests protected by the Roadless Area Conservation Rule.

Washington Wilderness Coalition, along with The Lands Council and the Gifford Pinchot Task Force, has led efforts to gain the key support in Washington State that has urged the Obama administration to uphold the Roadless Rule.  Over the last six months, more than 200 local elected officials and 160 local stakeholders just in Washington State alone have signed on to a national resolution calling on the Obama Administration to uphold the Roadless Rule.

The 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule was a historic and balanced conservation initiative enacted under the Clinton Administration to protect 58.5 million acres of wild national forest land from most commercial logging and road-building.  The rule protected more than two million acres of roadless areas in Washington State.  These roadless areas include some of the most important and well known forests in our state, including areas in the Colville National Forest's Kettle Range, the Dark Divide Roadless Area located between Mt. St. Helens and Mt Adams in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Liberty Bell in the North Cascades, and the South Quinault Area of the Olympic Peninsula.

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.

• Outdoor recreation has become more and more popular over time as Americans participate in everything from hike and camping to hunting and fishing in roadless areas. Approximately 2.5 million Washington residents take part in hunting, fishing, and wildlife-watching each year, contributing $more than $2.5 billion to the state's 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 bull trout and Chinook salmon, are found in national forests and could be harmed by the building of new roads and the ensuing destruction of roadless areas.