WASHINGTON, Oct. 13, 1999 -- The president today directed the USDA Forest Service to develop a proposal potentially affecting over 40 million acres of inventoried roadless areas on its 155 national forests and 20 grasslands.
The president's charge will require the Forest Service to conduct an environmental impact statement that will include a public review and comment process. Following the EIS, the agency will prepare rulemaking for the use of the affected lands. Completion of the final EIS and rule is scheduled for late fall, 2000.
The purpose of the National Environmental Policy Act process is to analyze the effects of this proposal. "We welcome and encourage public involvement, comment and debate in the analysis of this tremendous opportunity to secure for future generations our national forests and grasslands as sources of clean, fresh water," said Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck.
Inventoried roadless areas are undeveloped, typically exceed 5,000 acres and were identified during the Roadless Area Review and Evaluation process in the late 1970s. The Forest Service will also examine roadless areas of smaller acreage.
Roadless areas serve as reference areas for research, bulwarks against invasive species, and as aquatic strongholds for fishes as well as vital habitat and migration routes for wildlife species, especially those requiring large home ranges.
Dombeck added, "This is an unprecedented time for our country and the Forest Service. By using the best science available, and giving careful consideration to public review and comment, the conservation legacy initiated by Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot will extend into the 21st century."
-FS-
Clinton and Gore
Speech
Memo to
Secretary of Agriculture
Contact: Cindy Chojnacky, 202-205--1596
10/14/99