Copyright 1999 Gannett Company, Inc.
USA TODAY
February 4, 1999, Thursday, FINAL EDITION
SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 2A
LENGTH: 277 words
HEADLINE:
Forest Service chief to restrict roads
BYLINE: Traci
Watson
BODY:
In what could be a major setback for
the timber industry, Mike
Dombeck, chief of the U.S. Forest Service, said
Wednesday that
he expects the service to run almost no new roads into the
USA's
public wildernesses.
"It is my expectation that in the
future, we will rarely build
new roads into roadless
areas," said Dombeck in a speech in Missoula,
Mont. Roads would
have to improve the forest's health, he said.
As Forest Service
chief, Dombeck holds sway over the USA's 192
million acres of national
forest. About 33 million acres of that
are both roadless and currently
eligible for new roads.
Dombeck provoked intense controversy a year
ago when he proposed
an 18-month halt to road-building in large roadless
areas. He
is expected to announce the date for starting the temporary ban
within a few weeks.
Since his proposal, environmentalists and
timber groups have waged
furious public-relations campaigns to influence
what would happen
after the temporary ban ends.
Dombeck gave a
hint of his long-term plans in Wednesday's speech.
His apparent plan to
limit future forest road-building is likely
to stoke even more outrage among
timber groups and pro-timber
members of Congress.
"The chief had
promised . . . they (the Forest Service) were
going to look at roads," says
Chris West, vice president of the
Northwest Forestry Association. "They
haven't even finished that
assessment, and the chief is making a
proclamation."
Some conservationists were heartened by the
announcement, but
others said allowing roads even for forest health amounts
to a
giant loophole that could open the door for major logging.
GRAPHIC: PHOTO, B/W, AP
LOAD-DATE: February 04, 1999 
