Our National Forests Roadless Area Policy TWS Overview of USFS Roadless Area Protection Policy Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) Acreage The total amount of inventoried roadless land receiving immediate protection under the roadless policy has grown from 42.2 million acres to 49.2 million acres (not including the 9.3 million acres in the Tongass National Forest, see below). The increased acreage is largely due to the inclusion of two categories of land that were excluded from the draft policy: (1) roadless areas within "specially designated areas," such as National Recreation Areas, and (2) "roaded portions of inventoried roadless areas," totaling approximately 2.8 million acres (p. 2-23). These latter two changes are important because road building is allowed in some specially designated areas (such as the Hells Canyon NRA), and because there will no longer be a question about whether additional road building would be allowed in and around roaded portions of roadless areas. Once the policy goes into effect for the Tongass in April 2004, a total of 58.5 million acres of inventoried roadless land will be protected. Logging The preferred alternative prohibits logging except for "stewardship" purposes. According to the final EIS, the ban on commodity-purpose logging would immediately reduce the amount of timber offered for sale in roadless areas from 220 million board feet (mmbf) per year to 140 mmbf (a 36% reduction), of which 108 mmbf would come from the Tongass National Forest (p. S-31, S-39). After April 2004, when the prohibitions would take effect on the Tongass, the annual timber sale volume in roadless areas would drop to 32 mmbf (S-31), which is 85% less than the 220 mmbf national total. The allowance for stewardship logging could be a significant loophole for environmentally destructive logging. For example, salvage logging is commonly classified as stewardship, even though Forest Service scientists acknowledge it is often detrimental to forest and stream ecosystems. Indeed, the Forest Service considers most of its current timber sales to be primarily for stewardship purposes (p. 3-199). The final EIS states that stewardship logging must "maintain or improve roadless characteristics" and also satisfy at least one of three conditions: (1) improve endangered or sensitive species habitat, (2) reduce the risk of uncharacteristically intense fire, or (3) restore ecological structure, function, processes, or composition (p. 2-7). Road construction would not be permitted in conjunction with stewardship sales, unless it was needed to protect public health and safety. Tongass National Forest Although the preferred alternative claims that "the Tongass National Forest would be treated the same as all other forests in the National Forest System" (p. 2-14), the ban on roadbuilding and logging would not take effect on the Tongass until April 2004. Until then, the Forest Service would continue to build 61 miles of new roads and offer 108 mmbf of timber sales on 2,800 acres in roadless areas each year (p. S-38, S-39). After April 2004, the overall timber sale program on the Tongass would drop 61% - from 176 mmbf to 68 mmbf (p. S-39). The Forest Service would implement an economic transition program for communities in southeast Alaska and elsewhere that are affected by the roadless policy. Unroaded Areas and Additional Protection The final EIS eliminates all of the "procedural" alternatives in the draft EIS, which would have required the Forest Service to evaluate and consider protecting "unroaded" areas and to consider additional protection for inventoried roadless areas. Instead, the Forest Service has decided to incorporate those requirements into the regular forest planning process through final regulations that were promulgated on November 9 (65 Fed. Reg. 67513, 36 C.F.R. 219.9(b)(8)). The planning regulations direct agency officials to identify, evaluate, and consider protecting roadless and unroaded areas while revising forest plans (p. 1-20). In addition, the final EIS indicates that the impending final roads policy will limit road construction in unroaded areas adjacent to inventoried roadless areas by requiring agency officials to demonstrate a "compelling need" for the road. Exceptions The final EIS adds two more exceptions to the general prohibition on road construction and reconstruction. First, reconstruction is allowed if "needed to implement road safety projects on roads determined to be hazardous on the basis of accident experience or accident potential." For example, a road could be realigned to eliminate a dangerous hairpin turn on a road connecting two communities (p. 2-9). Second, State highway projects crossing national forest lands and approved by the Secretary of Agriculture would be exempt. Presently, there is only one such highway project planned in the next five years - a 5.5-mile highway relocation in Alaska's Chugach National Forest (p. 3-33). The final EIS ominously mentions a much broader exception for development of "leasable" minerals (e.g., oil, gas, coal, and phosphate), but it is not included in the preferred alternative. The potential exception would apply where "a road is needed for prospective mineral leasing activities in inventoried roadless areas" (p. 2-9). While omitted from the preferred alternative, the final EIS states that the final rule "may or may not include" the leasable minerals exception (p. 2-8). Areas where leasable mineral activities are an issue include the Caribou National Forest in Idaho (phosphate), Manti-LaSal National Forest in Utah (coal), and Little Missouri National Grasslands in North Dakota (oil and gas) (p. 3-314 to 3-316). Despite efforts by the downhill skiing industry to obtain an exception for ski area developments, the final EIS continues to apply the prohibition on road building to roadless land located outside existing ski area permit areas.

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