The future of roadless areas in our national forests

For the past eight months, the US Forest Service has been crafting a strategy to protect roadless areas in the country’s national forests. In May, the agency released its draft strategy in the form of a “rulemaking.” This rulemaking essentially states that no new roads will be constructed in roadless areas that are 5,000 acres or greater in size. It does not prohibit timber activities, ski area expansions, or off-road vehicle use.

Nationwide, this rule potentially affects about forty-three million acres. In Colorado, the rule will affect somewhere between four and five million acres, about thirty percent of the National Forest lands in Colorado. More than 380,000 miles of roads already exist in American national forests, and many of the roads are badly in need of repair according to the Clinton administration. The proposed ban would apply to large parcels of forest land that do not have roads because of their rugged terrain or environmental sensitivity.

“This is a big step forward in providing some protection to our last remaining roadless areas,” stated Vera Smith, conservation director for the Colorado Mountain Club. However, she cautions the protection comes in the form an executive action, not a legislative action, and hence is vulnerable to actions of future administrations.

In addition, the rulemaking only affects roadless areas greater than 5,000 acres. Nevertheless, onservation biologists point out that intact tracts of habitat of 1,000 acres or more play important roles in the preservation of species. “Roadless areas smaller than 5,000 acres play a critical ecological role and should not be overlooked in this strategy. These smaller areas are the building blocks of regional conservation planning and long-term species recovery,” said Bill Martin, GIS mapping coordinator for the Southern Rockies Ecosystem Project.

Lastly, the rule does not address the use of off-road vehicles in roadless areas but leaves this decision to individual forests in the forest planning process. “Not restricting summertime off-road vehicle use in these areas defeats the purpose of the rulemaking,” stated Smith. “Clearly, the result of motorized vehicles traveling through roadless areas is the creation of roads. This flaw in the strategy points out how important it is for citizens to participate in the development of forest plans and tell the Forest Service that roadless areas should remain roadless and that off-road vehicles belong in areas that are already roaded.”

The Forest Service received over 500,000 comments on the roadless strategy, the largest amount of comments ever received on a land management initiative. The agency has reported that the vast majority of the comments are supportive of the proposal or want stricter environmental protections for roadless areas. The agency predicts that a final rulemaking will be out in the late fall.

For more information on the US Forest Service roadless strategy, go to http://roadless.fs.fed.us.

The Colorado Mountain Club submitted comments in support of the proposal but asked that the agency protect areas 1,000 acres or greater, and prohibit off-road vehicles, ski area expansions, and timber activity in roadless areas.