Your help urgently needed! Support
the Roadless Protection Rule.
Your letters needed by September 10, 2001
BUSH ADMINISTRATION ATTEMPTS TO GUT RULE PROTECTING ROADLESS AREAS - YOUR WINTER RECREATION COULD BE AFFECTED WRITE BY SEPTEMBER 10 TO ENSURE STRONG PROTECTION
Non-motorized recreationists, wildlife enthusiasts, ecologists, and others have long fought to protect roadless areas from road construction, logging, mining, and other environmentally destructive activities. Last January, in the last days of the Clinton administration, a rule was issued that would have protected the nation's 58.5 million acres of national forest roadless areas, including over 4.3 million acres in Colorado, from these activities. However, the Bush administration has refused to defend the rule, leading to its suspension.
WHY A STRONG ROADLESS PROTECTION RULE WOULD BENEFIT WINTER NON-MOTORIZED RECREATION. Skiers, snowshoers, and snowboarders generally prefer quiet areas away from the noise and smell of motor vehicles, i. e., snowmobiles. These machines are able to travel in many places but are most likely to be found in areas with roads, even roads that are otherwise closed to public use. (Old timber sale roads are often closed to summer motorized recreation via gates, but the gates are either buried in snow or easily avoided in winter.) This is especially the case in densely forested areas, where snow machines would have difficulty traveling without roads.
The Clinton administration's roadless rule would not close existing roads or motorized trails, but it would prevent any new roads from being built in areas that do not now have them, with a few very limited exceptions. It would also generally prohibit logging, an activity for which roads are always constructed. In other words, the rule would not restrict existing snowmobile use, but it would help curb the proliferation of such use into new areas. Thus backcountry skiers, snowshoers, and snowboarders should support efforts to prevent road building in remote areas.
THE CURRENT SITUATION. Despite unprecedented public support for protecting roadless areas (1.6 million comments were received on the issue last January, 90% of which supported protection), the Bush administration has decided to reopen the process. It has issued an "advanced notice of proposed rulemaking," indicating its desire to rescind the current rule. It is therefore very important that skiers, snowshoers, snowboarders, and others write in massive numbers in support of a strong rule protecting roadless areas. This is critical because with no protection, roadless areas will be once again threatened by logging, mining, road construction, and subsequent year-round motorized use of any new roads. For example, three roadless areas on the Grand Mesa could soon be roaded and logged. At least three roadless areas on northern Colorado's Routt National Forest are also at risk.
WHAT YOU CAN DO.
Write a personal letter, postmarked no later than September 10th, to:
via US Postal service: USDA - Forest Service - CAT |
via e-mail: via fax: 1-801-296-4090 |
Regardless of whether you use snail mail, e-mail, or fax, be sure to include your full hard mail address.
Any comment letter, even if sent via e-mail or from a website, will carry much more weight with decision-makers if it includes personal information. For example, if you've visited roadless areas in Colorado, you should mention that in your letter. If your livelihood or your recreational interests depend on healthy, wild forests, mention that too.
Include some or all of the following points in your letter:
- Ask that the roadless rule issued last January be implemented as is. Mention that this rule provides strong protection for all roadless areas.
- Note that there was extensive public involvement on, and support for, this rule, and there is no need to repeat the process.
- Describe your own use of the backcountry, and how you like the peace and quiet afforded by roadless areas.
Best regards,
Kim Hedberg, Executive Director
Questions/comments? Contact us.