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Congressional Testimony
May 16, 2000, Tuesday
SECTION: CAPITOL HILL HEARING TESTIMONY
LENGTH: 3440 words
HEADLINE:
TESTIMONY May 16, 2000 DALE BOSWORTH REGIONAL FORESTER US DEPARTMENT OF
AGRICULTURE SENATE ENERGY & NATURAL RESOURCES FORESTS AND
PUBLIC LANDS MANAGEMENT FOREST SERVICE TRANSPORTATION POLICY
BODY:
Statement of Dale Bosworth Regional Forester,
Northern Region Forest Service United States Department of Agriculture Before
the U. S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on
Forests and Public Land Management Regarding the Forest Service's Proposed Road
Management Policy May 16, 2000 Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee,
thank you for the opportunity to discuss the Forest Service's proposed road
management policy. We designed this policy to help us make the Forest Service
road system safe, responsive to public and agency needs, environmentally sound,
affordable, and efficient to manage. INTRODUCTION With more than 380,000 miles
of roads within the National Forest System, enough to circle the globe more than
15 times, the Forest Service is challenged to provide safe and efficient public
access without degrading land health and water quality. The proposed road
management policy, announced on March 3, 2000 emphasizes the need for the Forest
Service to: 1) Complete extensive analysis and public involvement at the local
level in order to establish a forest road system that serves resource objectives
and public uses of national forest lands as identified in forest plans. 2)
Consider more carefully proposals to build roads. Decisions to build new roads
will consider the availability of funding for maintenance and operation over the
long-term. Decisions will also be based on the latest scientific information on
the effects of roads on ecosystems. 3) Maintain and upgrade the most
heavily-used roads in order to provide safe travel and reduce adverse
environmental impacts. 4) Decommission or convert to other uses unneeded and
environmentally damaging roads after analysis and full public involvement. This
rule does not propose to construct or close specific roads. Rather, it
establishes a scientific and public process for such decisions to be made at the
local level. BACKGROUND Few natural resource issues in recent years have
attracted as much public scrutiny as the management of the Forest Service road
system. Forest roads, especially if poorly maintained, can have adverse impacts
on watersheds. Few marks on the land are more lasting than roads. Yet, forest
roads are essential for forest use and often serve as the backbone of rural
transportation networks. The estimated 380,000 miles of classified Forest
Service roads on National Forest System lands are extensive and diverse. In
addition, there are at least 60,000 miles of unclassified roads. These include
temporary roads and roads that were never planned, built, and maintained to
safety, service, and environmental standards. Most of the existing road system
was built over the last 50 years for timber harvest and log removal. In the
decades after World War H, logging traffic tripled, peaking in 1990. But when
timber harvests on the national forests declined in the 1990's, logging traffic
fell to 1950's level. By contrast, recreation use of forest roads has grown to
13 times the 1950 rate. Approximately one-fourth of all Forest Service roads
serve passenger car use. Over one-half are passable by high-clearance vehicles.
Managers today must wrestle with many complicated forest road issues. Along with
the positive benefits of the agency's road system, negative effects on the
landscape from constructing roads and deferring maintenance are also well
documented. Roads fragment and degrade habitat for wildlife species and
eliminate travel corridors for other species. Poorly located, designed, or
maintained roads promote erosion and landslides and degrade riparian and wetland
habitat. In addition, many roads on the national forests do not meet current
standards for safety and environmental protection. Many of these are classified
roads that have not been properly maintained for a variety of reasons. Some were
planned for temporary access but never closed. Others evolved from tracks made
by off-road vehicles. Due to their haphazard nature, unclassified roads have far
more adverse impacts on the environment than do permanent, properly planned
forest roads that are better engineered and maintained. For many years, the
Forest Service viewed the road system on the national forests as an
asset--providing access for logging, forest management, recreation, resource
protection, and other uses of the national forests and grasslands. But, in
recent years, it has become clear that this asset is quickly becoming a
liability as a result of a failure to keep up with road system maintenance
needs. A recent assessment of national forest road maintenance and
reconstruction needs indicated that $8.4 billion would be required to clean up
the backlog of road related problems that exist on the landscape. And, the
problem continues to grow. Despite recent increases in funding for National
Forest System road maintenance, the Forest Service still only receives
sufficient funds to maintain less than 20 percent of the arterial and collector
road system--accounting for 84 percent of national forest road system use but
only 16 percent of the total miles on national forest roads. Mr. Chairman, no
business could afford to allow its capital assets to deteriorate at such an
alarming rate. As interest in use of the national forests grows, particularly as
a result of growing demand for recreation and tourism, access needs will also
increase. Yet', at current funding levels, over 1100 miles of road access are
lost each year, simply the result of benign neglect. This is one important
reason for our shift in focus from building new roads into roadless
areas to maintaining the road system that currently exists. Failure to
reinvest in our existing rural transportation network will affect public safety
and access, rural communities and their economies, and environmental quality.
Yet, this reinvestment could spur new investments in rural economies and produce
thousands of new jobs associated with the repair and maintenance of this failing
transportation infrastructure. OVERVIEW OF THE PROPOSED POLICY The proposed road
management policy requires the use of a scientific roads analysis process at the
local level and incorporates public involvement to assist land managers in
making more informed decisions about roads. The science-based road analysis
procedure will strongly encourage public participation in a dialogue about road
management options and will provide land managers with access alternatives. The
road analysis process will describe the existing road system on an individual
national forest or grassland in relation to current forest plan direction,
identify issues, and assess benefits, problems, and risks. The analysis will
also describe 'management opportunities and help establish priorities. It will
include maps and supporting information important for making decisions about
future characteristics of the road system. The road analysis neither makes
decisions nor allocates lands for specific purposes. Rather, the new
science-based road analysis identifies and addresses a set of possible issues
and applicable analysis questions that, when answered, produce information about
maintenance needs and possible road construction, reconstruction, and
decommissioning opportunities that decision makers can consider. The proposal
also requires each national forest and grassland to complete and maintain a
transportation atlas identifying the transportation infrastructure needed for
management and public access based on the road analysis. The atlas would replace
transportation plans currently required by the Forest Service manual. Enhanced
analysis and scientific review of the road system are expected to improve
understanding of the trade-offs involved with the transportation system and
produce more informed decision- making and improved public benefits. Transition
Procedures We recognize that it will take some time for all forests to complete
their science- based road analysis and integrate it into their forest plan. The
proposed policy provides transitional procedures that allow for routine and
emergency maintenance on classified roads to continue. It also allows for the
completion of road construction and reconstruction that is currently proposed in
roaded portions of the national forests. Until a roads analysis has been
integrated into a forest plan through revision or amendment, or until the
Regional Forester determines the existing forest plan is consistent with the
transportation analysis, decisions on reconstruction and construction of new
roads in inventoried roadless areas and other unroaded areas
will require the decision maker to demonstrate a compelling need to build a
road. Compelling needs include, but are not limited to, public safety, critical
resource restoration and protection, and access provided by statute, treaty, or
pursuant to reserved or outstanding rights. In roadless areas,
an environmental impact statement must be prepared and a record of decision must
be signed by the Regional Forester before a road can be built. PUBLIC COMMENT
The Forest Service published the proposed road management policy on March 3,
2000, giving the public 60 days to comment on the policy. The agency
subsequently extended the comment period for an additional 15 days to May 17,
2000. During this time, we invite and encourage comments on the proposed rule.
In addition, many Forests have held meetings to provide additional opportunities
for local comment and to answer questions on this proposed rulemaking. We will
carefully consider the comments in developing a final policy, which we plan to
complete in September 2000. Previously, the Forest Service has provided many
opportunities for the public to comment on the development of this proposed
policy. The agency announced its intent to revise regulations concerning the
management of the national forest transportation system in January 1998.
Simultaneously, the agency published a proposed interim rule to temporarily
suspend temporary and permanent road construction and reconstruction in certain
unroaded areas of National Forest System lands. In addition, public meetings
were held in 31 communities nationwide in February and March 1998 on this
transportation system. After considering the comments, in February 1999 the
Forest Service issued the final interim roads rule temporarily suspending road
construction and reconstruction in unroaded areas for 18 months or until a new
transportation rule is promulgated, whichever comes first. The purpose of the
interim rule was to take a timeout for 18 months while the Forest Service
developed a revised forest road transportation policy and analytical tools to
provide a more ecological approach to existing and future road needs. The Forest
Service has developed this proposed policy using the information from the
comments received on both the proposed rulemaking and the interim rule.
CONCLUSION The proposed road management policy will seek to ensure that future
road construction,, reconstruction, maintenance and decommissioning decisions
are based upon (1) the best available science and (2) early, informed, and
frequent public dialogue. Our objective is to ensure that the appropriate level
and kind of access to the national forests and grasslands are provided so that
public and management needs are met, the transportation system can be
maintained, and the natural resources we are entrusted to manage are not
impaired. Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement. I would be happy to answer
any questions you or other Members of the Committee may have.
LOAD-DATE: May 24, 2000, Wednesday
