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For a biweekly legislative update from NAS's Public Policy Division
and Priority Campaigns, check out Audubon
Advisory. John Bianchi On the Radio: Archives: 2000 Releases1999 Releases1998 Releases1997 Releases |
October 13, 2000 - This morning, the U.S. Forest Service issued the Final Environmental Impact Statement on the proposed roadless policy. The "preferred alternative" contained in the FEIS represents a tremendous victory for the protection of birds and other wildlife. The protection of roadless areas is one of the largest and most important land conservation decisions made in the last 100 years. The issuance of this document puts us one step closer to finally protecting virtually all remaining roadless areas in our national forests. We urge President Clinton to take the final step to protect these wild lands as soon as possible. The preferred alternative recommends providing wilderness level protection for over 55 million acres of roadless areas with the National Forest System. Specifically, the alternative would prohibit road construction and reconstruction on 49.2 million acres of inventoried roadless areas, increasing that number to 58.5 million acres in April 2004 when the Tongass National Forest is included. It would also prohibit timber harvesting except for clearly defined stewardship purposes in roadless areas, and allow road construction only when necessary for public safety and resource protection. Grassroots support was a major factor in the Forest Service decision making process. In their press release announcing the preferred alternative, the Forest Service cited the importance of receiving more than 1.5 million letters, faxes, and e-mails during the course of the 9-week public comment period this past summer. We want to thank all Audubon members who voiced their opinions on this important subject. We congratulate the Clinton Administration for listening to the American people and making substantial improvements in their proposal. By proposing a prohibition on commercial logging in roadless areas, and providing a framework for inclusion of the Tongass Rainforest in Alaska, the Administration has made important improvements for protecting these important roadless areas. We are hopeful that President Clinton will further strengthen the
final proposal by placing severe restrictions on "stewardship" logging,
and by according immediate protection from logging and road building to
the Tongass National Forest. For a copy of the U.S. Forest Service press release on this subject,
see:
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