The USDA Forest Service wants to adopt a new road-management policy, shifting emphasis from building new roads to maintaining and reconstructing the ones it already has.
The Forest Service says it has a maintenance and reconstruction backlog of at least $8.4 billion and receives only about 20 percent of the annual funding needed to maintain the existing road system to current environmental standards.
"The public has rightfully questioned the logic of building new roads when the Forest Service is inadequately funded to maintain its existing road system," said Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck. "This proposal addresses how to maintain our existing road network in an environmentally and financially responsible way."
The proposed policy is intended to address forests that already have roads in them. The Clinton administration in October announced a separate plan to prevent road construction and development in up to 50 million acres of roadless forests. The two policies are related because the transportation policy directs land managers to consider several criteria before building new roads, particularly in roadless areas.
Under the Forest Service proposal, managers of each of the 155 national forests and 20 grasslands would work with the public to identify heavily used roads that require maintenance or upgrading and roads that could be decommissioned. Building a new road or decommissioning an old one would be subject to scientific survey and public comment. Forest managers would have to conduct an analysis and an environmental study, gain approval from a regional forester, and show a compelling need for the road before a new road could be built.
"Implementation of this policy at the local level will ensure safe and efficient access of public lands while protecting land health," said Dombeck. "This policy will enable us to engage local people in constructive dialogue about how they want their national forests managed."
The Forest Service has been criticized for its handling of 380,000 miles of roads across 192 million acres of federal forests. Many members of the environmental community say the agency gives short shrift to ecology when deciding to build roads, which they say accelerate erosion and disrupt wildlife.
Industry and recreation groups fault the Forest Service for closing roads, saying the agency cuts access to forests and makes it tough to fight fires.
The Society of American Foresters supports some aspects of the proposed policy but has voiced concerns about its funding. According to SAF, although the Forest Service has developed an elaborate transportation policy that gives clear direction to land managers, it has requested only $13 million above last year's funding for road maintenance.
"Once again the Forest Service has made promises it cannot keep," says SAF Executive Vice-President Bill Banzhaf. "We truly believe this is a good policy, but we don't think it is realistic, considering the amount of money the Forest Service has budgeted for this program."
A 60-day public comment period on the Forest Service proposal ends May 2. The final road management policy is to be completed by September 1.
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