LONG TERM ROADLESS AREA PROTECTION PROCESS ALSO
ANNOUNCED

     The Forest Service has also announced a longer term process to
determine the fate of roadless areas and to revise the management of the
massive 440,000 mile road network on National Forest lands.  There will
be a 60-day public comment period on this proposal.  This broader policy
will affect transportation planning on each National Forest, road
maintenance and the removal of unnecessary or ecologically harmful
roads.  There is no firm timeline on this process, but the agency's goal is
to complete it by the time the moratorium expires, or sooner.

     The agency has made clear that it intends to use this process to
devise new standards and guidelines for roadbuilding in roadless areas as
part of the new "roads assessment" process.  Roadless area timber sales
under contract are not affected by the directive, but pending sales may
proceed in an altered form and some may simply be delayed until this
roads assessment process is implemented and the moratorium is lifted. 
The agency claims the roads assessment process will "help managers and
the public better understand the consequences of building roads in roadless
areas."

     If it is based on science, the long-term roadless/roads policy
should implement a permanent moratorium on roadbuilding and other
activities harmful to roadless areas such as logging, grazing and oil
drilling - not create new loopholes to allow for more roadbuilding in
roadless areas.  This long-term policy also needs to identify how the
agency will begin the monumental task of maintaining a crumbling
road network with $5-10 billion in needed repairs and maintenance,
removing tens-of-thousands of miles of excess roads and rehabilitating
damaged watersheds and streams.


KEY POINTS ON LONG-TERM ROADLESS AREA PROTECTION
POLICY:

1)  The interim roadbuilding moratorium should become a permanent ban
on roadbuilding, logging, grazing and oil & gas development in all
roadless areas.  Any long term policy to allow roadbuilding in roadless
areas ignores the best available scientific information, would undermine
public trust in the agency, and will likely rekindle conflicts over roadless
area management that the Administration's roadbuilding moratorium and
long-term policy seek to resolve.  

2)  The long-term roadless area policy should be developed by an
independent scientific body and be subject to peer review.

3)  The Forest Service should conduct an inventory of the roads on each
National Forest, assess their condition and prioritize road projects to
achieve the highest ecological benefit.

4)  Funding for road maintenance and removal should be significantly
increased.  However, these funds should not be provided from timber
sales or the use of off-budget funds that rely on timber sales.  Often the
agency justifies timber sales by stating the money is needed for the
"restoration" of roads, watersheds etc.  But by being tied to a timber sale,
the overall impact on the environment by this "restoration" is negative. 
Road retirement projects should be conducted on a demonstration basis
and monitored to determine their environmental impacts and effectiveness
to develop knowledge on how to best carry out an expanded road removal
program.

5)  Road density calculations for each National Forest should include the
29,500 miles of county, state and federal highways nationwide which are
currently excluded.