roadless initiative
In 1978, the United States Forest Service (USFS) began the management of roadless areas, i.e., all areas greater than 5,000 acres and without constructed roads, in a study called Roadless Area Review and Evaluation II (RARE II). The purpose of this study was to determine the suitability of these roadless areas for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System. On October 13, 1999, twenty-one years later, President Clinton directed the Forest Service to provide long-term protection to inventoried roadless areas, as well as smaller roadless areas not yet inventoried. President Clinton's primary motives in initiating this direction were to reduce the $8.4 billion backlog of road maintenance costs as well as provide a definitive statement on how inventoried roadless areas would be managed in the future. The USFS developed a plan for future management of all roadless areas known as the Final Roadless Area Conservation Rule (Roadless Rule) and released it on January 5, 2001. The Roadless Rule, scheduled to become federal policy on May 12, 2001, will have significant environmental, economical, and social impacts on 58 million acres of public land.
As indicated by this poll, the American public values recreational opportunities on National Forest Service lands. According to a Sierra Club report, there are 835 million visitor days on National Forests annually, whereas there are only 40 million on all the combined Disney parks (Sierra Club). This feeling is shared not only by the public, but also by Forest Service supervisors and district rangers. On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest) Forest Service line officers perceived the public's priority of recreation as a 9 (USDA FEIS 3-17). Under the roadless initiative, recreation associated with backcountry and trails, also known as dispersed recreation, will remain unaffected on 58.5 million acres of roadless areas (USDA Summary S-34). While the Roadless Rule prohibits road construction on these 58.5 million acres, trail construction and maintenance would still be allowed to continue (USDA FEIS 2-7). Earth Island Journal Winter 2000. Galenet. LUHS Media Center, Minocqua, WI. 17 Jan. 2001 . Mineral losses incurred by the Roadless Rule will affect the national supply, but more specifically they will have a severe impact on the communities where minerals are actually mined. Besides the job losses caused by the restriction of mineral exploration, local communities and counties will suffer dramatic losses in payments from government leases. The USDA reports "A portion of the United States Treasury receipts is returned to States and Counties to be used for schools and roads. States receive 50% of leasable receipts on public domain lands, except in Alaska where the State receive 90%." The Roadless Area Conservation Rule has some beneficial effects, both environmental and economical. However, resulting the negative impacts far outweigh the positive effects. Without roads and timber harvest, proper forest management cannot occur, resulting in a decline of both forest health and the aesthetic qualities so valued by supporters of the Roadless Rule. Also, there will be adverse economic impacts at the local, state, and federal levels due to the loss of thousands of jobs and of millions of dollars generated by the resources located on these roadless areas. The economic and scientific data show that to execute the Final Roadless Area Conservation Rule would demonstrate poor judgment and a disregard for proper ecosystem management. .National Petroleum Council. 1999. Natural Gas-Meeting the Challenges of the Nation's major effects of the Roadless Rule is the impact it will have on the nation's timber supply. Because road construction and timber harvesting will be prohibited on 58.5 million acres of National Forest lands, approximately 30% of all National Forest System (NFS) lands (USDA Summary S-1) under the Roadless Rule, this prohibition will result in an annual loss of 140 million board feet (USDA FEIS 2-26). Although twenty-one states will be affected, the majority of the losses will occur in the states of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Utah. In fact, Alaska alone will lose 76.6 million board feet of timber annually (USDA FEIS B-5). The current timber program in Alaska averages 179 million board feet annually.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Roadless Rule, USDA FEIS, Forest Service, Private Forests, Doctor Bonnicksen, Forest Foundation, Hoover Wills, United Treasury, Annual Report, Verry PhD, roadless rule, forest service, usda feis, road construction, timber harvest, water quality, national forest, road construction timber, forest health, construction timber, national forests, construction timber harvest, usda forest service, temperate forest foundation, decline forest health,
Approximate Word count = 3257
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page double spaced)
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