Subject: Roadless Protection Call-In Day TODAY
PLEASE USE THE TOLL FREE NUMBER TO ASK CONGRESS TO PROTECT ROADLESS
AREAS – 1-888-569-8906
Ask for your congressman’s office and then tell the staffer in that office that you fully support the Roadless Conservation Act of 2002, and that you would like to encourage the congressman to do the same when he votes on it. That is it!
With the Interior Appropriations bill expected on the House floor early
next week, we need to let Congress know that we want National Forest
roadless areas protected now. An amendment will be offered to the
Interior bill cut off Forest Service spending on any new development
projects in inventoried roadless areas. Please contact your
Representative today in support of the Roadless Area Conservation
Amendment.
This will halt 30 new timber sales on Alaska’s Tongass National Forest
and at least seventeen other logging and drilling proposals in Colorado,
Idaho, California and elsewhere. It will also help repudiate efforts by
the Administration to rollback roadless area protection and renew
subsidized logging and roadbuilding in pristine backcountry watersheds.
PLEASE USE THE TOLL FREE NUMBER TO ASK CONGRESS TO PROTECT ROADLESS
AREAS – 1-888-569-8906
Opponents of Roadless Protection Using Phony Arguments
The timber industry and its political allies are making phony claims in
a last-ditch effort to derail the roadless conservation amendment.
Three main false arguments are being made: 1) Roadless Protection puts
forests at risk from wildfire, 2) the Roadless policy protects private
lands, and 3) the Forest Planning Process can best solve this issue.
FIRE: The Roadless Conservation Final EIS makes clear that the top
priority for fuel treatments should be near homes and communities, not
in roadless areas. It also indicates that roadless areas will not be a
priority for fuels treatments for another twenty years. When necessary,
the rule allows for limited fuel reduction treatments. To address the
fire issue in depth, American Lands has put together a factsheet
available at
http://www.americanlands.org/fire_&_roadless_conservation.htm
PRIVATE PROPERTY: The Roadless Rule does not protect any private lands
and only applies to National Forests. The policy doesn’t restrict any
existing rights to access inholdings including state or private lands.
FOREST PLANNING: Forest Planning failed to address this issue which is
why the creation of a national policy was necessary. Under existing
forest plans without the Roadless Conservation Rule, the Forest Service
is expected to construct an estimated 1,160 miles of new road and log
1.1 billion board feet over the next five years. Based on historic
levels of road construction, it is anticipated that 5% to 10% of
inventoried roadless areas are likely to have roads constructed in them
over the next 20 years. By 2040, between 18% and 28% of inventoried
roadless acres would be roaded with an estimated 16,000 miles of new
roads (Roadless Conservation Final EIS).