Bush Roadless Policy "Stacking the Deck" Against Wild Forests
"The Bush Administration is pretending to run a straight game by belatedly supporting protections for 58.5 million acres of wild Forest Service lands, but in reality they are stacking the deck against roadless forests," said Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife. "Today, the administration announced plans to rewrite Forest Service policies maintaining roadless forests, in part by leaving their fate to future forest planning . Earlier this week, however, they overturned those same national forest planning regulations simply because those rules tried to ensure that activities on national forests would not permanently harm the land."
Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman today announced plans to amend the existing U.S. Forest Service roadless-area protection rule, issued in January 2001 after the most extensive public rulemaking in history, encompassing more than 600 public hearings and a record-breaking 1.6 million public comments. Ninety-five percent of these comments supported the strongest possible protection. This sweeping land-protection program is the culmination of more than three years of work and public input, and builds on more than 25 years of debate and discussion on the subject. The rule covers 58.5 million acres of inventoried national forest roadless areas, including those in the Tongass National Forest in Alaska.
Roadless areas provide habitat for more than 220 threatened, endangered, and Endangered Species Act candidate species, as well as 1,930 sensitive species. In particular, the current roadless rule protects the last great expanse of old growth rainforest in the United States, in the Tongass National Forest of southeastern Alaska. It is home to ancient trees, grizzly bears, bald eagles, and other wildlife species that thrive in the vast and wild reaches of the forest.
"As stewards of our public lands, the government should be entrusted with protecting these last special places across America. Instead, we are seeing a government that is willing to sell them off lock, stock and barrel to wealthy special interests," said Schlickeisen.
In addition to the 1.5 million comments offered on the rule, overwhelming majorities of Americans continue to favor protection of roadless forest areas. A new national poll (April 30, 2001) by The Mellman Group shows that more than two thirds of the voting public (67 percent) support the existing Roadless Area Conservation Rule. Support for the rule cuts across partisan and regional lines. Conservation groups noted that the president’s actions on roadless forests will have little if any impact on supplies of energy or timber. The existing rule has no effect on existing oil and gas leases, and only 0.4 percent of oil and gas is currently produced in roadless areas. National Forests provide only 5 percent of the nation's timber supply, and less than one quarter of one percent comes from existing roadless areas. The existing rule protects opportunities for a variety of recreational activities, including hiking, camping, hunting, off-highway vehicles and fishing.
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Defenders of Wildlife is a leading non-profit conservation organization recognized as one of the nation's most progressive advocates for wildlife and its habitat. With more than 430,000 members and supporters, Defenders of Wildlife is an effective leader on endangered species issues.
Contact(s):
Cat Lazaroff, (202) 772-3270
