By Traci Robinson, Web Coordinator,
(301) 897-8720, ext. 155, Fax: (301) 897-3690, e-mail: robinsot@safnet.org

Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman, joined by Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment Jim Lyons and USDA Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck, announced an 18-month moratorium on new road construction in roadless areas in most national forests.

The USDA Forest Service plans to use this time to develop a long-term policy for the National Forest Transportation System. According to Chief Dombeck, "it's fiscally and environmentally irresponsible to continue to build roads in unroaded areas with our current road system is such disrepair" (Environment News, 2/11).

Each year, only 40% of the National Forests' roads are being properly maintained. The cost to maintain the other 60% of the roads amounts to an additional $150 million per year-with another $440 million tacked on to cover the current road maintenance backlog (Landscope, 1/13).

The Forest Service wants to develop a policy that will not only minimize environmental damage, but will also help the Agency:

• Identify unessential roads
• Recommend roads to be eliminated or maintained in order to reduce environmental damage
• Assess roads that need to be reconstructed and maintained so that they are safe for public use (USDA Press Release, 2/11)

Industry officials and lawmakers in favor of development call the move "irresponsible". According to Bruce Ingersoll of the Wall Street Journal, the policy significantly restricts efforts to open "vast expanses" of the forests and represents a "significant setback" for paper makers and saw mill operators (Greenwire, 2/12).

"Essentially, the Forest Service has put an 18-month hold on forest management," said W. Henson Moore, president and CEO of the American Forest and Paper Association. "The end result of this decision will be forests filled with dead or dying trees, killed either by insects, disease, or catastrophic wildlife."

While many environmentalists have been quick to support the ban, others do not feel it goes far enough. Some argue that the ban on road building should also include 27 million acres of land which contain old-growth forests in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest (Greenwire, 2/12). Still others are concerned that the new plan is "full of political loopholes" that will leave acres of land unprotected (Greenwire, 2/16).

Click here for the Society of American Foresters Position Statement on roads in national forests.