With the repeal of the Roadless Rule, Forest Service land adjacent to national parks may be in jeopardy.
In the waning days of the Clinton Administration, the U.S. Forest Service adopted the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, a move designed to prohibit road construction and timber cutting in nearly a third of the National Forests. But last summer, the Bush Administration moved to repeal the rule, removing protections on 58 million acres of national forest lands, many of which lie adjacent to national parks.
"This is the biggest single giveaway to the timber industry in the history of the national forests," says Philip Clapp, president of the National Environmental Trust. "The day the administration's
proposal takes effect, every acre of the remaining untouched 30 percent of the national forests will lose protection from logging, mining, and oil drilling."
Conservation groups are worried that this decision will ruin many of the panoramic views that visitors experience in national parks, take a toll on wildlife populations and their migration corridors, and harm streams and rivers flowing through these forests, not to mention the noise and other ill effects of large-scale industrial development in the shadow of the parks.
A report issued last year by the Campaign to Protect America's Lands revealed imminent threats to 23 national parks in 16 states, including Blue Ridge Parkway, Olympic National Park, Yellowstone National Park, and Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park. Most visitors to parks probably don't recognize where national park land ends and national forest land begins, as there's rarely any clear difference between the trees on one side or the other. But forests managed by the Park Service fall under the auspices of the Department of Interior and are off limits to timber groups, whereas Forest Service land is under the auspices of the Department of Agriculture, and generally managed as a natural resource. Eighteen percent of all roadless areas are directly adjacent to or near national parks and monuments.
Public comment on the roadless rule has generated the most extensive public involvement in the history of federal rulemaking, including more than 4.2 million comments, almost exclusively in support of the strongest possible protection for roadless areas. Public comment on the recent reversal ended in September, and now the Forest Service is reviewing the results; a final policy decision is expected in early May. If the rule is officially repealed, governors in affected states will then have 18 months to petition the Forest Service to prohibit activities in their state or invite even further logging and drilling if they wish, and they'll need to provide scientific findings that back up their argument. But even then, the Forest Service may not honor the state's wishes, so few governors may be interested in spending political capital on what could be a futile attempt to fend off development.
To get involved or learn more, visit the National Environmental Trust at www.net.org or the Heritage Forests Campaign at www.ourforests.org. |
