As the new home of WashPIRG's environmental work, Environment Washington can be contacted regarding this news release.
Seattle Wash.—A
report released today by Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS) details the extensive
disrepair of the USDA National Forest road system. The report comes just
weeks before the Bush administration is set to change the Roadless Area Conservation
Rule and shows that the road maintenance and capital improvement backlog has
reached a record $10 billion. Washington, California, Alaska, Montana,
Oregon, Idaho, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah account for over $7 billion
of the $10 billion backlog.
“Our national forests already have over 380,000 miles of roads,” said
Tom Uniack, conservation director for the Washington Wilderness Coalition. “Taxpayers
shouldn’t have to further subsidize the timber industry’s logging
roads when the current road system is falling apart. Attempts by the current
Administration to weaken existing protections for roadless forests, as they
have done in Alaska, will only compound the problem.”
On March 2, 2004, Undersecretary of Agriculture and former timber lobbyist,
Mark Rey, stated that the Bush Administration plans to make changes to the roadless
rule within a month. He made the remarks after a Forest Service budget
hearing in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Conservationists
charge that these changes, which are expected to let governors decide whether
they want protections for national forests in their states, could severely weaken
protections for millions of acres of roadless areas.
“Gov. Locke has long shown his support for the Roadless Rule. Our
next governor, whoever that may be, must continue this commitment
to protecting Washington’s forests, and support the implementation of the
Roadless Rule,” said Aisling Kerins, WashPIRG field organizer. “Over
81,000 Washingtonians have already commented in support of protecting roadless
areas.”
The roadless rule was enacted to protect 58.5 million acres of national forest
land from most commercial logging and road-building. The rule is a balanced
policy that allows access to private land, maintains recreational opportunities
by keeping all trails open and permits appropriate wildfire management. Washington’s
National Forests:
• Contain 2.1 million acres of roadless areas
• Have $197,843,515 million in road maintenance backlog
Additionally, the report states that between fiscal years 1998 and 2002, the
timber industry received $140 million in taxpayer subsidies for logging and
road construction. The Pacific Northwest received $38,725,895 in road construction
subsidies from 1998-2002. This figure does not include money for road maintenance.
“The Bush administration has already eliminated roadless protection for
Alaska’s Tongass Rainforest,” said Jim Young, Sierra Club’s northwest
representative. “Now, Washington’s last wild forests are at risk.”
