Our National Forests

Of the over 191 million acres in the National Forest System, 34 million have been made part of the National Wilderness Preservation System and therefore are protected from road construction and other man-made developments. Up to sixty million other acres remain undeveloped, wild, road-free, and unprotected. Roadless areas are continually targeted for logging mining and development, all of which threaten to degrade the clean water and other ecological benefits those areas produce. In some cases, roadless areas are being lost because they have never been properly inventoried. The Wilderness Society recommends that roadless areas 1000 acres and larger receive permanent protection. In October 1999, President Clinton directed the Forest Service to begin a public environmental impact statement process leading to the protection of the last remaining 50-60 million acres of wild roadless areas in the National Forest System. That draft plan was issued in May of this year. Now the American public has the unprecedented ability to influence how 60 million acres of our national forests are managed and ensure that protection of these invaluable wildlands are the number one priority.

A nation-wide poll conducted for The Wilderness Society, the Heritage Forests Campaign and the National Audubon Society by the Mellman Group in June 1999 revealed that 63 percent of Americans favored a proposal to protect all National Forest roadless areas of 1,000 acres and larger, and 74 percent of voters in the poll supported a plan that would not exempt any National Forests from a roadless protection policy. In January 2000 a national opinion survey by American Viewpoint found that three-quarters of those questioned favored protecting National Forest roadless areas from development. Thirteen individual state surveys conducted between December 1999 and March 2000 further demonstrated solid support for roadless area protection in all regions of the country and throughout diverse sectors of society.

BACKGROUND

The National Forests of the United States encompass over 191 million acres, an area equal to the states of Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin combined. These forests contain some of the most striking natural beauty on earth: from the green rainforests of the Pacific Northwest to the multi-colored groves of the Southern Appalachians; from the fjords of Southeast Alaska to the bogs and piney woodlands of the old North Woods country around the Great Lakes. The National Forests also provide valuable habitat for fish and wildlife, supplies of clean drinking water, and unmatched opportunities for camping, hiking, and other recreational pursuits.

In the Creative Act of 1891 Congress authorized the President to establish forest reserves on federal public domain lands. The major growth of the National Forest System occurred during the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, who added more than 140 million acres to the system.

Unfortunately, much of America's National Forest land has been degraded by years of corporate clearcutting, road construction, domestic livestock grazing, mining, and oil and natural gas development. However, approximately 60 million acres of America's National Forests are still undeveloped and remain wild. These roadless, undeveloped forestlands offer our best opportunity to pass on a valuable and irreplaceable forest heritage to future generations.

I. THE NEED

For years, the very remoteness of these roadless areas protected them from the clearcutting and road building that occurred in more accessible forestlands. But as the more accessible lands were cut over, the U.S. Forest Service, who manages these lands, began pushing roads and timber harvests further into National Forest roadless areas. Today, many of these roadless areas are threatened by road construction and timber cutting plans that would forever alter their existing wild, undeveloped nature and compromise the many values they provide:

Public Values

• They provide habitat for some of America's rarest wildlife species, such as the Canada lynx and wolverine, as well as threatened and endangered species like the grizzly bear and gray wolf.

• Some of the cleanest water in our nation can be found in roadless National Forest lands, providing both clean drinking water for communities and habitat for declining fish populations like cutthroat trout and salmon.

• The unspoiled scenic beauty of roadless forestlands contributes greatly to the quality of people's recreation experiences and the quality of life that residents near these lands enjoy.

Scientific Values

• Several recent scientific studies have found that forests and streams in Wilderness and roadless areas are consistently in better ecological condition than areas that have been developed with roads for clearcutting. In the Northern Rocky Mountains, for example, a scientific assessment found that the roadless areas surrounding Yellowstone National Park, Glacier National Park, and Idaho's Salmon River country were among the healthiest, most ecologically intact lands in the entire 117,000 square mile Columbia River basin, which includes eastern Washington and Oregon, Idaho, and western Montana.

• Forests in roadless lands like these areas are in healthier condition than other forests because they have been less accessible to logging, fire suppression, and road construction.

• Roadless lands act as natural "laboratories" where the processes of nature are allowed to function without intrusive disturbances from man.

• In 1997, 169 scientists from across the nation urged President Clinton to support protecting the last remaining roadless areas in America's National Forests. These scientists warned that road construction and other development activities in roadless lands would cause great environmental damage, such as pollution of clean drinking water from mudslides.

Economic Values

• Similarly, in 1998, 21 respected economists pointed out to President Clinton that developing the remaining roadless forest wildlands would impose substantial economic costs to the American public, given the difficulty of logging the steep, fragile terrain which characterize most of the National Forest roadless areas.

• Nationwide, the value of recreation in wilderness and primitive areas on the national forests exceeds the value of timber logged. Less than a decade ago, timber was considered ten times more valuable than wilderness recreation.

II. RECENT CONSERVATION EFFORTS

• July 1997 - As a result of 10 years of active lobbying by the conservation community, the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate each came within one vote of eliminating funds for Forest Service road building.

• November 1997 - during the signing of the fiscal year 1998 Interior Appropriations law President Clinton announced that the Forest Service was developing a scientifically based policy for managing roadless areas.

• January 22, 1998 - Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck proposed a moratorium on new road building in most roadless areas. The proposed policy exempted National Forests with updated management plans, including the Tongass National Forest in Alaska and 19 forests in the Pacific Northwest. While the Forest Service did the right thing in examining the consequences of road building in wildlands, the interim moratorium did not offer enough protection. In addition to the exempted forests, it did not prohibit logging, mining, or other commercial extraction operations on any of America's remaining roadless areas. Most importantly, the moratorium is only temporary and, if not made permanent, road building in wild places will very likely resume wholeheartedly when the 18-month moratorium ends.

• March 1st, 1999 - The Forest Service adopted an 18-month moratorium on new road construction and reconstruction in most roadless areas, with virtually the same exemptions as in the January 1998 proposal.

• June 1999 - In response to a call from the conservation community, more than a quarter million comments in the form of postcards, letters, and e-mail were generated and delivered to the Administration expressing support for a strong and permanent National Forest roadless area protection policy.

• October 13, 1999 - President Clinton directed the Forest Service to under-take a national rule-making procedure for the conservation of National Forest roadless areas and complete the EIS process by the end of the year 2000. The Forest Service immediately followed the directive with a 60-day preliminary comment period on potential options to protect the roadless areas. The agency held more than 100 public meetings to gather public input. The agency received over 360,000 comments in this period, of which more than 90 percent favored a strong permanent protection policy for forest roadless areas.

• May 9, 2000 - The Forest Service released the Roadless Area Conservation Draft Environmental Impact Statement and Proposed Rule (DEIS) for another 60-day comment period. The agency's preferred alternative would prohibit most new roads in inventoried roadless areas, but provide no protection for the Tongass National Forest. It would not prohibit logging that can be accomplished without new roads, and it defers any protection for smaller, uninventoried roadless areas to the local forest planning process. More than 300 public meetings are planned during the 60-day public comment period to inform interested citizens about the proposal and provide an opportunity to submit comments. Written comments directed to the USDA Forest Service will be accepted until July 17, 2000.

III. AMERICANS MUST MAKE THEIR VOICES HEARD

NO TO LOGGING -- YES TO TONGASS

If the Forest Service Proposed Rule is going to reflect the President's vision and provide real and lasting protection for the nation's wild forests, it must: 1. Prohibit all road building and reconstruction, all logging and other destructive activities associated with roads as stated in Alternative 4 of the DEIS, 2. Not exempt the Tongass National Forest from the protections of Alternative 4 of the DEIS, and 3. Provide Interim Protection for other unroaded areas as stated in Alternative D of the DEIS.

A prohibition on all logging in inventoried roadless areas, including those in the Tongass, would result in only a 7% reduction in the Forest Service's planned timber sale program. The impact on total U.S. timber production, of which less than 5% currently comes from national forest lands, would be miniscule. Even the Forest Service admits for virtually all of the environmental resource issues evaluated in the DEIS, the alternatives that ban either commodity-purpose logging or all logging are rated as superior to the more limited road-building ban in the preferred alternative. (DEIS pp. 3-26, 3-31, 3-68, 3-76, 3-86, 3-91, 3-96). The DEIS states that the no-logging alternatives would have a "minor effect on the agency's overall forest health program" and that "the total acres needing treatment compared to the acres actually being treated are so small that a direct effect cannot be established." (p. 3-106)

The complete coverage of the Tongass National Forest in the final rule would save American taxpayers about $96 million over the next 5 years in total net loss to the government from the timber program.

We are on the verge of protecting the last remaining wild forestlands in the United States. The Forest Service is in the process of holding 300 hearings across the nation to give the American people ample opportunity to comment on the draft roadless policy. The three out of four Americans, who support keeping these last remaining wild areas protected from road building, logging, and other forms of destructive development must make their voices heard during the comment period. This nationwide support is reflective of the President's vision to which the final Rule should adhere.

Founded in 1935, The Wilderness Society works to protect America's wilderness and wildlife and to develop a nationwide network of wild lands through public education, scientific analysis, and advocacy. Our goal is to ensure that future generations enjoy the clean air and water, beauty, wildlife, and opportunities for recreation and spiritual renewal provided by the nation's pristine forests, rivers, deserts, and mountains.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS TOPIC & TO TAKE ACTION: Visit http://www.wilderness.org/

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