Roadless bill would protect wild areas and save money

In Congress, two Washington representatives, Senator Maria Cantwell and Congressman Jay Inslee, are gathering support for permanent protection of some of the last remaining wild, roadless forests in our nation. The Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2009 would protect about 58 million acres from road building and industrial development, including 1.9 million acres in Washington. The proposed legislation mirrors a 2001 rule put in place by the Clinton Administration but vacated by the Bush Administration.

Across the nation, barely 18 percent of the national forests are permanently protected as congressionally designated wilderness. The other 80 percent of America's national forests remain vulnerable to road building, clearcutting, oil and gas development, and mining and over half of the lands have already been affected by decades of industrial use. Some 90 million acres are crisscrossed with 430,000 miles of official roads - more than eight times the U.S. interstate highway system. Washington state alone holds well over 21,000 miles of these official Forest Service roads.

Aside from wilderness areas and national parks, the 30 percent of our national forests that are without roads contain some of the nation's highest quality wildlife habitat and the large relatively undisturbed landscapes that are important for sustaining species such as the grizzly bear, wolf, lynx, and wolverine that roam the North Cascades. Furthermore, roadless areas ensure the overall health of forest ecosystems, and the most ecologically healthy parts of our forests.

From roadless areas flows cool, clear water - a critical habitat need for salmon, steelhead, and other imperiled native fish. In fact, roadless areas up for protection include more than 2,000 watersheds that provide drinking water for about 60 million Americans. These unlogged, unroaded areas also secure private property downstream from landslides and flood damage.

Leaving roadless areas natural leads to big savings for taxpayers. Timber sales, road building, and road maintenance on national forests all rely on government subsidies. The Government Accountability Office estimates that the Forest Service timber program cost American taxpayers over $2 billion from 1992 to 1997. The Forest Service is already struggling with a $10 billion road maintenance backlog. Subsidizing new road building to open up pristine forests for below-market timber sales will only make the backlog worse.

In 2004, citing these statistics and others, a group of economists submitted a comment letter in support of Clinton's roadless rule. They wrote, "Designating roadless areas in our national forests is an economically sound policy that saves taxpayers millions of dollars in road building and timber sale subsidies." Protecting roadless areas, they said, could "fix existing financial and management problems with the current road-building and timbering programs."

High quality recreational opportunities can be found in many roadless areas. The natural, mature, and often old-growth stands in roadless forests are wonderful places for families to fish, camp, hunt, hike and ride horses. The rule will allow the Forest Service to shift attention from expanding its already unwieldy road network to maintain those roads currently used by thousands of recreationists. There is desperate need for sound management of already roaded "front-country," protecting homes and communities by restoring forests and increasing resilience and resistance to natural disturbance such as floods and fire.

When the roadless rule was originally proposed by the Clinton Administration in 2001, it received widespread support from the public. A record 2.5 million Americans commented or attended meetings: 95 percent wanted roadless public lands protected. The Bush Administration thwarted that progress whenever it could. In May, the Obama Administration called a temporary timeout on development in roadless areas while a new policy is developed, but the directive is not permanent.

In Congress, the Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2009 would codify most of Clinton's 2001 roadless rule into law. Please urge your elected representatives to join their colleagues in support of this legislation. I hope you get a chance to get out and enjoy some of these priceless roadless forests this summer.

Seth Cool is a conservation associate with Bellingham-based Conservation Northwest, an environmental organization that works on regional issues, mostly around preserving wilderness.