By Rocky Smith

By Rocky Smith

In November 1999, the U. S. Forest Service began the formal process of developing a rule for protecting remaining roadless areas on national forests land. This initiative was taken at the request of the Clinton administration. Every poll taken on the subject shows strong support everywhere in the country for protecting roadless areas.

Backcountry recreationists, winter and summer, should definitely be interested in the issue of roadless area protection. Any protection of roadless areas benefits winter non-motorized recreation, as even a mere prohibition on road construction reduces the chances of any roads being constructed into these areas, routes that later might be discovered and used by snowmobiles. Of course, a road construction ban by itself would do nothing about existing use of snow machines in roadless areas, nor about the increasing difficulty that skiers and snowshoers have in finding quiet areas for their types of recreation.

Precise estimates of how much land could be affected are not available because many national forests do not have up-to-date inventories of roadless acreage. However, some have estimated that up to 40 million acres remain roadless nationally, with perhaps 3.5 million acres in Colorado. Total national forest acreage is about 191 million acres nationally and 14.4 million in Colorado. (The latter includes about 500,000 acres of national grassland in eastern Colorado and extreme southwestern Kansas.)

Currently, a moratorium on road construction in roadless areas is in effect, but it expires on October 1, 2000. It is full of loopholes and exemptions. For example, disturbing activities such as logging and motorized recreation are not prohibited; only road construction is barred. Furthermore, it does not apply to the national forests of the Pacific Northwest, where protection of remaining roadless lands is badly needed after many decades of intensive logging. It also does not apply to Alaska. Closer to home, the moratorium does not apply to the Routt, Rio Grande and Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forests because those units have revised forest plans in place. The Routt's revised plan schedules logging and road construction in several roadless areas.

It is unclear at this time what exactly will be protected. It is likely that at least some of the exemptions in the moratorium will appear in the proposed rule. At the same time, it is possible (though probably not very likely) that certain activities might be prohibited in the roadless areas that are protected. These could include: logging (which can be done with cable systems or helicopters, minimizing the need for roads), motorized recreation, mining, ski area expansion, and oil and gas exploration.

The proposed rule for roadless area protection and an accompanying Draft Environmental Impact Statement are expected to be published in mid-May. There will be a public comment period of at least 45 days, and possibly as long as 90 days. Informational meetings will be held during the early part of the comment period, in which the Forest Service will explain the proposal. Formal public hearings are expected toward the latter part of the public comment period, during which testimony will be taken and made a part of the official record. Written comments will be accepted up to the deadline. A final rule will then be issued late in 2000 or early 2001, presumably before President Clinton's term expires, if Congress does not overrule roadless area protection via legislation.

A strong rule that protected all roadless areas in Colorado from road construction and from motorized recreation would be a big plus for skiers and snowshoers, but any level of protection would be helpful. Thus I strongly encourage BSA members and others to stay informed on this issue and participate in the meetings and public comment period. You can be sure that motorized recreation, logging and other interests, who have much different uses in mind for roadless areas, will be out in force.

Various environmental organizations will track the issue closely and provide additional information on the proposed rule as it becomes available. Updates can be found on the Colorado Wild webpage: http://www.coloradowild.org. Please call Rocky Smith at 303 839-5900 for additional information.