road riporter 7.3

8/14/2019 Road RIPorter 7.3

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Inside

Check out our website at:www.wildlandscpr.org

The Quarterly Newsletter of Wildlands Center for Preventing RoadsFall Equinox 2002. Volume 7 # 3

Chiles Road to NowhereBy Christina MacAlpin andFrancisco Solas

See article on page 3

Chiles Road to Nowhere, By Christina MacAlpinand Francisco Solas. Pages 3-7

Activist Spotlight: Waldemar Monsalve. Page 8

Depaving the Way: The Long and Winding Roadto International Development, by BethanieWalder. Page 9

Odes to Roads: Holy Ground, Unsteady Ground, byChristine Colasurdo. Pages 10-11

Policy Primer: International TransportationOverview, by Marnie Criley. Pages 12-13

Biblio Notes: The Impact of Roads on largeCarnivores Around the World, by AdamSwitalski. Pages 14-16

International News. Page 17

Get with the Program: ORV and Roads ProgramUpdates. Pages 18-19

New Resources. Pages 20-21

The Southern CoastalHighway

Photo courtesy of the Coastal Coalition.


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The Road-RIPorter, Fall Equinox 20022

2002 Wildlands CPR

Wildlands Center for Preventing Roads works toprotect and restore wildland ecosystems bypreventing and removing roads and limiting

motorized recreation. We are a nationalclearinghouse and network, providing citizens

with tools and strategies to fight road

construction, deter motorized recreation, andpromote road removal and revegetation.

Main OfficeP.O. Box 7516

Missoula, MT 59807

(406) [email protected]

Colorado Office Jacob SmithPO Box 1365

Paonia, CO [email protected](970) 527-8993

Director

Bethanie Walder

Development DirectorTom Petersen

ORV Policy CoordinatorsJacob Smith, Tom Platt

Roads Policy CoordinatorMarnie Criley

Science CoordinatorAdam Switalski

NTWC GrassrootsCoordinator

Lisa Philipps

Program AssociateJennifer Barry

NewsletterDan Funsch & Jim Coefield

Interns & VolunteersAllison Hanks, Leslie Hannay, Brooke Hughes

Board of DirectorsKatie Alvord, Karen Wood DiBari, Dave Havlick,

Greg Munther, Cara Nelson, Mary O'Brien,Ted Zukoski

Advisory CommitteeJasper Carlton, Dave Foreman,

Keith Hammer, Timothy Hermach,Marion Hourdequin, Kraig Klungness, LorinLindner, Andy Mahler, Robert McConnell,

Stephanie Mills, Reed Noss,Michael Soul, Steve Trombulak, Louisa Willcox,

Bill Willers, Howie Wolke

WildlandsWildlandsWildlandsWildlandsWildlands CCCCCenter for PPPPPreventing RRRRRoads

The forests are on fire, the stock markets on a roller coasterride from hell, and George W. is on the warpath. Whats anactivist to do? What should we work on first, and how do wefind the money to do it in the midst of this national financial crisis?

Weve chosen to focus on international roads and motorizedrecreation for this issue of The Road RIPorter, but not because ofBushs threats against Iraq. Perhaps, however, his threats make ittimely for considering the role of roads in international developmentand ecological destruction. Roads and road construction causeimpacts throughout the world. And while these impacts vary, so dothe strategies of those fighting these roads. In England, for example,activists are fighing the urbanization and paving of the few remaining

green spaces, while African and South American activists are fightingincursions into primary forests.

Our international focus does mean, though, that we have verylittle space to dedicate to fire and restoration two issues that areeating up a lot of our time in the office. The fires of 2002 are consum-ing the medias attention, and that attention is focused on the ideathat accumulated fuels are the primary cause of the fires. Littleattention has been paid to the fact that more than 50% of the U.S. isin a drought. Nor has the media distinguished between areas thatnormally experience stand-replacing fires and those that dont. Evenmore disconcerting, we continue to be bombarded with stories onhow much money were spending to put firefighters in harms way,mostly to protect houses that shouldnt have been built in the forest

in the first place. Were being faced with a slurry of fire legislationand legislative riders, most of which appear ill-informed and mal-intended and if passed, will clearly do much more harm than good.More significantly, the entire concept of wildland restoration is beinghijacked by the fire debate so much so that fuels reduction andthinning may be the only thing that an average citizen will ever hearabout regarding restoration: fuels reduction regardless of whether ornot its appropriate, thinning regardless of whether or not itsappropriate. And the agencies engage in these activities to ease theminds of people who have chosen to live near forests. These forestswill burn, whether we like it or not, and whether we fight fires or not.

Wildlands CPR continues to work closely with activists through-out the country who are addressing the wildfire issue, and we aredoing so because restoring wildland ecosystems through roadremoval depends on maintaining a broad, ecologically-based conceptof restoration - one that doesnt focus exclusively on logging. Formore information about road removal and its role in restoringwildland ecosystems, please contact our office or visit our website.


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The Road-RIPorter, Fall Equinox 2002 3

Along the Pacific Coast of Chiles LakeRegion, one can find remnants of prehistoricgrandeur in groves of ancient Alerce and

Coastal Olivillo trees. The relic genera found in thismagnificent temperate rainforest evoke the spirit ofthe once great continent of Gondwana, while theindigenous Mapuche-Huilliche people still derivetheir sustenance from the forest.

But where natives and visitors alike find wonder,Chiles Ministry of Public Works (MPW) is pressingahead with an ill-conceived plan for a massivehighway project. Their Southern Coastal Highway

would stretch along the 319 km

coastline from Valdivia to PuertoMontt, threatening Chiles last

vestige of intact temperaterainforest.

With an explodingpotential for tourism in the area, and therisk of provoking stiff opposition frominhabitants of the coastal forest, one mustquestion the governments motivation. Addto this the Ministrys admission of thehighways price tag (likely to be excessive),as well as their failure to consider viable

alternatives, and a hidden agenda is revealed:

to facilitate primary growth logging andconversion of native forests to monocultureplantations of exotic species. Indeed, one

timber company has already clearcut nearly12,500 acres of forest within the affected area.

On the other hand, the Mapuche-Huillichepeople have another vision for their rainforest.They hope to see continued benefits from this

locally and globally irreplaceable resource bydeveloping a national tourist reserve, accompaniedby a transportation infrastructure scaled to a fractionof the impact of the highway. As the debate rages,

work has begun on the first section of the highway

south of Valdivia.

Chiles Road to NowhereThe Southern Coastal Highway

By Christina MacAlpin and Francisco Solas

This map shows Chiles lake Region, wherethe Southern Coastal Highway is planned.

The photo at top right shows a section of thehighway already under construction.


The Valdivian Rainforest -Second to Only One

Both in extent and in diversity of species andecosystems, Chilean native forests are irreplace-able: they represent one-third of the remainingprimary temperate rainforest in the world. TheValdivian rainforest is the second largest expanseof coastal temperate rainforest in the world, afterthe forests of northwest North America. Theregions biogeographic isolation in the Tertiaryperiod, and subsequent glacial and interglacialcycles during the Quaternary, have produced forestecosystems and species found nowhere else.

Many of the endemic plant and animal speciesin the region, such as the Magellanic woodpecker,the worlds smallest dear (the pudu), arborealmarsupials, the voqui pilfuco vine, and CoastalOlivillo trees, are threatened. For example, in thelast 200 years, the range of the worlds onlypopulation of Coastal Olivillo tree has beenreduced from its northern limit of 30 degrees Southto its current limit of 39 degrees South.

The high biomass, habitat variety, existence ofrelict genera, species endemism, and uniquevegetation have led international scientific andconservation organizations to classify the region asa global biodiversity priority in need of urgentprotection. The World Wildlife Fund, WorldResources Institute, Birdlife International, NaturalResources Defense Council, and ConservationInternational (CI) are a few; CI considers the areaone of 25 biodiversity hotspots in the world.

continued on next page


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Rainforest ThreatsIn the last 500 years, the size and diversity of

Chiles coastal temperate rainforest has greatlydiminished. Unfortunately, the areas with thegreatest biological value have suffered most. TheValdivian forest is a case in point: it has the greatestspecies richness, complexity, and number of en-

demic species, but 80 percent of its original forestcover is gone.

Despite the regions environmental value, themost pristine areas lack protection. While 11.7% ofthe land west of the Andes (from 35 to 48 degreesSouth) has received protective status, 90% of theprotected areas are outside the richest areas of biodiversity. Andeven protected areas face threats: Chilean political leaders, academ-ics, and environmentalists recognize that the government does notstrictly enforce forest legislation and that offenders are almost neversanctioned.

Historically, primary forest cover in Southern Chile has declineddue to logging for woodchips, firewood, and lumber, conversion tomonoculture plantations of exotic species such as eucalyptus,

clearing and conversion to pasture or agricultural land, overgrazing,and urbanization. Currently, however, the Chilean governmentshighway plan poses the greatest threat. While half-a-million acres ofthe Coastal Range remains roadless and intact (due to historicisolation), the highway would open it to the same logging and forestconversion that have destroyed coastal forests to the north.

The Southern Coastal Highway

Project GoalsThe stated goals of the Southern Coastal Highway are to: inte-

grate so called internal frontiers (geographically isolated areas);develop an alternative north-south national transportation route;

develop new areas of tourist interest; incorporate ecologicallyimportant areas, facilitate their control, preservation, and publicaccess; and, provide social benefits for coastal communities.

These objectives contrast sharply with the fragility of coastalecosystems, the lack of land planning and management capacity ofthe MPW, and the needs of the indigenous popula-tion. Furthermore, because construction will bedone by the Chilean equivalent of the Army Corps ofEngineers, projected social and employmentbenefits are dubious at best.

Effect on the Coastal ForestsThe highways main impact would be to open

the southern coast to logging and forest conversion.North of the Lakes Region, most coastal forest hasbeen eliminated or reduced to degraded fragments.Forest conversion to plantations now continues inthe Lakes Region and would be channeled along thenew route. Currently, less than 20% of native forestlogging occurs within legal management plans, andof this only a tiny percentage can be consideredsustainable. Thus, expanding logging into thecoastal range will replicate the patterns of high-grade logging and clearcutting seen in the countrysaccessible forestlands.

Environmental ReviewAlthough a serious study of alternative routes,

a comprehensive Environmental Impact Assess-ment (EIA), and a new Project Status have not beencompleted, construction is underway on 30 km ofthe 319 km highway. (An environmental impactassessment was done for 6 km.) The Chilean

government did not honor their earlier commit-ments to submit the entire project for review; theyare now proposing to conduct an environmentalassessment for only one other small segment.

Trade Related IssuesThe exploitation of Chiles native forests is

inextricably linked to the export of wood productsto U.S. markets. Wood products account forroughly 12% of Chiles exports (outranked only bymining and industrial exports) and approximately3% of the countrys GDP. The United States isChiles top trading partner and the primaryimporter of its wood products: in 2001, more than

22% of Chiles forestry exports went to theUnited States. Since the vast majority of theseexports come from non-native tree farms, U.S.demand creates an incentive to destroy Chilesnative forests.

continued from page 3

Woodchip export facility at Puerto Montt, Chile. Photo by Dan Funsch.

Endangered EndemismThe Valdivian temperate forest has an extraordinary level of

endemism: 50% of the vines, 53% of the hemiparasites,

36% of the reptiles, 33% of the mammals, 30% of the birds,75% of the amphibians, and 50% of the fresh water fish in

the region are unique in the world.

Of the regions animal species, 84% of fish, 1% of amphib-ians, 31% of reptiles, 25% of birds, and 81% of mammals

are threatened or endangered.

Chiles native araucaria is the worlds oldest surviving treespecies, estimated to be 200 million years old.


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The dominant wood product imports aremoldings, door and window frames, clear woodblocks and cutstock made of radiata pine. Basedon an analysis of Chilean wood products importedfrom March 1999 to April 2001, North Pacific Groupwas the largest importer. According to moldingmanufacturer El & El Wood Products, moldingcontaining radiata pine was installed in nearly 95%of the tract homes constructed in the last 20 yearsin Nevada, Arizona and southern California.

The destruction of Chiles native forests was akey environmental issue in negotiations over theU.S. - Chile Free Trade Agreement. U.S. ExecutiveOrder 13141 requires that environmental concernsbe incorporated into all trade liberalizationnegotiations and agreements, and as a result, theU.S. urged Chile to incorporate civil society intodecision-making and enforce environmental laws.The Southern Coastal Highway Project now castsserious doubt on Chiles intent to uphold itsenvironmental commitments to the internationalcommunity.

The Timber HighwayGiven the link between native forest destruc-tion and wood products exports, it appears theCoastal Highway is little more than a penetrationroute to serve those companies focused onexploiting native forests for woodchips andconversion to plantations. The northern terminusof the highway, Valdivia, is a commercial portwhose facilities are primarily used for exportingwoodchips and fish meal. The highway wouldprovide industries using this port with extensivenew forestland, and it would feed a major pulp millto be built near Valdivia.

The highways northern portion, where workhas begun, will provide access to an area entirelyowned by one company whose focus is convertingtemperate rainforests to eucalyptus plantations.This company, Bosques S.A., owns approximately

continued on next page

150,000 acres of forestland within the direct route of the project.They have already clearcut nearly 12,500 acres over the last 4 years,including alerce stands protected by national law and listed in CITES,and they have been cited and charged twice with forest law violationsby the Chilean Forest Service (CONAF). Neither of these cases,however, resulted in sanctions. Additionally, the company hasavoided its legal responsibility to submit an environment impactstudy, which is required for all logging operations greater than 500hectares.

The weakness of Chiles environmental laws and the almostcomplete lack of enforcement could put at risk the remainingstretches of Chiles temperate rainforest. Constructing this massive

infrastructure project in a fragile and critically important area withno environmental review exemplifies the kind of implicit subsidy thatcreates an uneven playing field for trade, as well as the making of anenvironmental tragedy.

Scientists and Environmental OrganizationsChilean scientists, environmental and regional organizations

have expressed deep concern over the projects potential impactsand the need to discuss alternatives. This is particularly true sincethe project impacts one of the countrys most urgent priorities forbiodiversity conservation (as listed in CONAFs Red Book ofpriority sites), as well as two designated Tourism Protection Areas.

In June, 2001 the Ecology Society of Chile expressed in a publicletter that: The Coastal Range Forests within this latitudinal rangeare a remarkable reservoir of the worlds biological diversity and themajor concentration of endemism within the South American temper-ate forest region.... The current degradation of the coastal forests

indicates that over the medium-term we will haveto regret the loss of an important portion of theregions biodiversity.

Chilean environmental groups are not alone inthe defense of Chilean Temperate Rainforest. U.S.groups, such as Rainforest Action Network andForest Ethics, have launched campaigns againstthe import of wood products that lead to destruc-tion of Chiles native forests. Recently, Chicanocommunities protesting at the annual meeting ofthe North American Wholesale Lumber Associa-

tion in Colorado Springs, Colorado publicized thatNor Pac, the leading importer of Chilean wood, hascontributed to the destruction of Chiles nativeforests and the usurping of lands from Mapuche-Huilliche people.

The exploitation of Chiles native

forests is inextricably linked tothe export of wood products

to U.S. markets.

Because of the potential for devastating environmental impacts, scientific andenvironmental organizations have lined up against the highway. Photocourtesy of the Coastal Coalition.


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Concerns of Mapuche-HuillicheCommunities

The project would directly impact the ances-tral territory and communities of the Mapuche-Huilliche indigenous people, cutting across at leastten coastal communities. In violation of Chiles

indigenous law, neither the communities nor theirorganizations were consulted before road con-struction began, nor have they been consultedsince. According to one Mapuche-Huilliche leader,Carlos Paillmanque, the most serious impacts ofthe highway will be the breakdown of communi-ties, loss of sacred sites, and loss of resources onwhich local people depend.

In a declaration on February 14, 2001, nineMapuche-Huilliche Coastal communities expressedtheir opposition to the project: The timbercompanies will come to massively exploit ournative forests and convert them to timber planta-tions of pine and eucalyptus, these exotic speciesdestroy our environment and are incompatiblewith our way of life. The tourism companies willtake our most beautiful places. Their traditionaland representative body, the Junta de Caciques dela Butahuillimapu, has also declared its oppositionto the highway.

The Coastal CoalitionEnvironmental, regional, indigenous and scientific institutions

organized in the Coastal Coalition (CCCC) have sought to engage theMinistry of Public Works in a constructive dialogue and have pro-posed an alternative in-land route for the highway that would reducecosts, increase social benefits and greatly reduce environmentalimpacts. In May of this year, the National Director of Transportationand the Minister of Public Works publicly stated that a route changeof this nature was under consideration, but in late May, the govern-ment abruptly terminated negotiations with the Coastal Coalition andproceeded with plans to construct the coastal highway.

Negotiations and Government CommitmentsInitial negotiations between the government and CCCC offered

some hope. For example, Pablo Anguita, ex-National Director ofTransportation said: the original project would have severelyaffected South Americas major reservoir of primary forests. Henoted: The area was at risk, since the road was very complicated,

and involved many large excavations, causing rock slides along theroad. (El Metropolitano 8/04/01) A study contracted by his depart-ment also found that, the project will cause the loss of environmentsas well as flora and fauna with special conservation status.

Carlos Cruz, Chilean Public Works Minister, recently told CNN: Ithink that an important part of the countrys environmental capital isprovided precisely by the zone of forests south of Valdivia, wherethere are ancient alerces and olivillos, and forests of other species,all of which are very valuable for the conservation of our flora andfauna. Ivan Navarro, Regional governor, when explaining therationale for potential changes in the route, said The routes earlierdesign involved crossing areas which are extremely difficult geo-graphically, which considerably increase the costs of the project. (El

Diario Austral, Osorno 03/26/01).But shortly after these

statements appeared in thenational press, the dialogue withthe Coastal Coalition wasabruptly terminated, the Directorof Transportation forced toresign, and construction renewedon the original project. Pressreports pointed to politicalpressure as the cause of this turn-about, and the Ministry hasoffered no explanation.

This is a form of eviction, and means the death of the

Mapuche-Huilliche people and our culture... We take care ofour forests, because they are part of our life...

If our forest disappears due to the exotic plantations,

everything will disappear.

Anselmo Paillamanque, Mapuche-Huilliche traditional chief (Cacique) of

the Junta General de Caciques de la Butahuillimapu


Access along Chiles rugged southern coast might best beserved via an alternative method of transportation. Photoby Dan Funsch.

The Vanishing ForestA study of the Valdivian Temperate Forest Ecoregion in Chileand Argentina relied on information from over 90 experts to

define 12 major forest types within the region west of theAndes and between 35 and 48 degrees South. Since 1950,

primary forest cover dropped from 61.5% to 32%. The

distribution of remaining forest varies greatly across sub-regions, with almost all of the losses concentrated along thecoastal range and in the central valley. Across all of Chile,

4.5 million acres of native forest were lost from 1985 to1995, and the rate of conversion to non-native tree farms was

300,000 acres per year.


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Canadian Cooperation SoughtOn June 21, 2002, the Chilean Center for Environmental Law (CEADA) made a

request to the Canadian-Chilean Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CCCEC)on behalf of NGOs in Southern Chile. They asked that CCCEC consider Chiles lack ofenforcement of environmental laws as a failure to meet the requirements of the Cana-dian-Chilean Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (CCAEC). CEADA cited viola-tions of environmental law by Chiles Ministry of Public Works, Highway Authority, andthe Bueno River Corporation, and requested that the Commission investigate andrecommend sanctions for the offending parties. CEADA also wants the Commission to

help ensure environmental protection of the coastal temperate rainforest, sustainabledevelopment, cooperation with inhabitants of the region, and compliance with environ-mental laws. The case is still pending.

A Sustainable Transportation AlternativeAn independent analysis recently completed for the Coastal Coalition by Cipres

Engineers, entitled Analysis of an Alternative to the Southern Coastal Highway,examines the costs and benefits of the governments highway proposal. Given thestated goals of the Chilean government to provide access and economic developmentto the interior of the coastal range, the study finds that an alternative route along theeastern slope of the coastal mountain range would require less initial investment andlower annual maintenance. It also would allow more convenient travel and cause fewernegative impacts on the environment and people of the coastal temperate rainforest.

While the route currently planned would run

directly along the coast from Valdivia to PuertoMontt, the alternative route studied by Cipres wouldbe located 35 km from the coast. Roads running eastto west from the main road to interior sectors wouldprovide access and tourism to these isolated areas.The topography along the alternative route is bettersuited to a major road: vehicles would be able totravel at 70 kph, whereas the maximum speed alongthe coast would be 50 kph. The alternative routewould have fewer environmental impacts, as it wouldreplace existing roads and avoid crossing sensitiverainforests.

The alternative route meets the goals of creatinga roadway to the south and connecting isolated

regions to encourage economic development. Inaddition, the alternative route would provide betteraccess to Puerto de Corral, allowing diversificationof the regional economy beyond products thatrequire overland transport.

The study also finds that the cost of the coastalroad exceeds that of the interior alternative by 30%:$1.97 million U.S. per km compared to $1.1 millionper km (using the World Bank exchange rate). Inaddition, maintenance costs would be higher for thecoastal route because annual rainfall is almost 3times greater along the coast than on the other sideof the mountains. All in all, a road along the interiorof the coastal range would serve travelers to and

inhabitants of the coastal temperate rainforests ofsouthern Chile better than the currently plannedcoastal highway.

While the government remains intractable inpromoting the coastal route, the CCCC, along withinternational conservation and law organizations,are using every means possible to prevent this routeand promote the alternative inland highway.

This Article is largely based on the Coastal HighwayWhite Paper (Coastal Range Coalition, October 2001).

The environmental NGOs of Southern Chile need your supportagainst the Southern Coastal Highway project. You can help protectone of the last remaining primary temperate forests in South America.

1) Call, fax, or e-mail the Chilean Embassy and express your concernover the imminent destruction of the Valdivian TemperateRainforest: Chilean Embassy; 1732 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.;Washington, DC 20036; (Tel.): (202) 785-1746; (Fax.): (202)887-5579

2) Call, write, or e-mail the Minister of Foreign Relations in Chile andChilean President Ricardo Lagos and ask that the concerns of theMapuche-Huilliche people be heard and that the road berelocated away from the coast:

Minister of Foreign Relations; Catedral 1158, Santiago, Chile;(Tel.): 56(2) 6794200; E-mail: [email protected]

President Richard Lagos; Moneda, Santiago de Chile; Chile;E-mail: [email protected]; Fax : 56(2) 6904022

3) Contact your federal representatives to share your concern over theimminent destruction of the Valdivian Temperate Rainforest by theSouthern Coastal Highway Project.

4) Call or write the Canadian Secretariat of the Chilean-CanadianCommission on Environmental Cooperation requesting thatCanada act quickly regarding the Project:

David Anderson, P.C., M.P.; Minister of Environment; 28th Floor, LesTerrasses de la Chaudiere; 10 Wellington Street; Hull, Quebec;

Canada K1A OH3; (Tel.): 819-997-1447; (Fax.): 819-953-3457

What You Can Do

Coastal temperate rainforest in thePumalin Park Project, a private reservesouth of Puerto Montt. Photo by Dan

Funsch.


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The Activist Spotlight is a new feature for The Road-RIPorter. Our intention is to share the stories of some

of the awesome activists we work with, both as atribute to them and as a way of highlighting

successful strategies and lessons learned. Pleaseemail your nomination for the Activist Spotlight to

[email protected].

Waldemar MonsalveWaldemar Monsalve has devoted a large portion of his life to his

two big passions: opera and the environment. As an attorney basedin Osorno, in Chiles Lake District (10th Region), he is counselor ofthe lawyers Association of Osorno.

While Waldemar has been performing in the opera since he was ateenager, he became active in environmental issues in 1978. Todayhe is a regional leader in the fields of Scientific and EnvironmentalLaw, and one of the most prominent local activists working to defendthe native forests of southern Chile.

Waldemars most successful campaigns include protecting localrivers and lakes from industrial pollution, and he has extensive

experience working with local media, including newspapers and radiobroadcasting.In his long environmental career Waldemar has initiated numer-

ous projects and activities: Organizing a Day of the Native Forest in the Lakes Region; Training Environmental Monitors among the elderly; Serving as legal adviser and President for the Committee for

the Defense of Puyehue Lake; Authoring numerous articles such as Juridical Environmental

Frame in Chile; Promoting events such as Familys Forests in southern Chile; Writing an environmental column for a local cultural magazine

Musicoop.

Waldemar was also instrumental in forming at least sixgrassroots conservation groups in Osorno. Waldemar is active in academics, teachingForest Legislation, Fisheries and EnvironmentalLaw at the Universidad de Los Lagos and InstitutoProfessional de Osorno. Waldemar also takes timeto enjoy the places he works to protect. He andsome of his friends own a little parcel on theContaco River where he spends his spare timerestoring the forest and enjoying nature.

One of the greatest challenges for Waldemarhas been the struggle for more than 6 years againstthe construction of the Coastal Highway. He suedthe Ministry of Public works for damage to theContaco River, brought local attention to the issue

through the media, and helped create a multistakeholder alliance to face the problem. Hisefforts were supported by the creation of theCoastal Range Coalition, and currently he is one ofits directors. Waldemar recently challenged theChilean Government over the lack of enforcementof Chilean environmental laws, and along with hispartners they submitted an international petitionto the Canadian-Chilean Agreement on Environ-mental Cooperation.

From the temperate forests of the Lake District, to the Nothofagusbeech forests of Tierra del Fuego, Chilean activists are working to

protect global biodiversity. Photo by Gary Hughes.



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Itend to think of roads as a universal problem. But whilein my universe the problem is too many roads, in someothers it turns out the problem may be too few...Several years ago I was speaking to a group of journal-

ists about the problems caused by roads. One of thejournalists was on an exchange from Africa. There he hadwritten stories for which his life had been threatened,questioning government policies. Here, he questioned ourconcern about roads. After all, he said, people need roads

to get their goods to market, for economic development,and to connect them to the rest of the world. While hispoints are well taken, there are still reasons to preventroads in the developing world.

In remote regions of Africa, thearctic, or South America, like thatfeatured in this issues cover story,road construction into primaryforests can be devastating. In SouthAmerica, indigenous people havebeen pushed into smaller and smallerpatches of forest as logging roads(often funded through internationalaid) pave the way for clearcutting andtree plantations, or clearing for slashand burn agriculture. So how do weaddress this conflict between devel-opment and protection, and do weneed different approaches fordifferent countries?

Addressing the ConflictA study called, Roads, Develop-

ment and Conservation in the CongoBasin was published in ConservationBiology in December 2000 (Wilkie etal); it addressed the conflict betweenroads and development in areas

where intact forest remains. Loggingconcessions cause significant impactsby facilitating slash and burn agriculture as well asnonsubsistence bushmeat trade, but those impacts can bemitigated. Without roads providing access to markets,bushmeat consumption remains based on subsistence.With the roads, a bushmeat market appears. The authorsconclude that while real estate and market factors play arole in the conflict, the terms of logging concessionsprovide the best opportunity to control development andreduce impacts.

Different place, same problemWilkie et al, observed that higher road densities are

correlated both with higher gross national products and theconversion of forest land to other uses. But increasedwealth can also foster conservation and mitigation. In thepast five years, much research has been conducted, andchanges made, to mitigate highway impacts in developedcountries, but only where natural habitat and wildlife arescarce and excess money exists. Europeans have expendedgreater effort on highway mitigation than Americans, in part

because natural habitat is so scarce in densely populatedwestern Europe.

That brings us back to development. If we can keeproads out of ecologically importantareas, then we can protect them whileconcentrating development else-where. In other words, carefultransportation planning and develop-ment can lead to appropriate eco-nomic improvement while alsoprotecting sensitive areas and people.In the Democratic Republic of theCongo, this will incude crafting andenforcing logging concessions,

promoting the use of river transport,and mitigating cumulative impacts. InSouthern Chile, local people haveprovided a reasonable alternative toan unneeded logging access road, butthe system isnt allowing them areasonable opportunity to be heard.

Ecologically, we are losing morethan intact habitat and clean water.In rainforest areas in particular, weare losing potential medicines, we arelosing entire cultures, habitat, plantand animal species, and the carbonsequestration effects of large, old

forests. We are losing too much.Environmental change is happen-ing on a global level. If we are to promote conservationworldwide, conservation that might come with a high costfor developing countries, then we must follow similarpolicies at home and support those same policies abroadwith funding and planning assistance. Rather than simplyexporting the western model of increasing road densities,access and ecological degradation, we can help othercountries learn from our mistakes and promote appropriateand sustainable transportation. If we do that, then perhapsroads dont have to be a universal problem.

The Long and Winding Road to

International DevelopmentBy Bethanie Walder

Threatened temperate rainforest in Tasmania, theTarkine. See regional report on page 21. Photo

by Richard Donaghey.


10/24


As a child I used to play with pumice notjust any pumice, but the pumice of MountSt. Helens. My sisters and I used to tossthe white, porous pebbles into Spirit Lake andwatch them bob like crusty little boats on the clearwater. We rolled pumice in our palms, crunchedpumice beneath our bare feet, and dumped errantpumice from our hiking boots. We picked huckle-berries beneath massive Douglas-fir trees wherepumice lay everywhere: mixed with fir needles in

the forest duff, packed into the root wads of wind-toppled western hemlocks, accumulating at thebottom of tree wells like piles of popcorn. We usedto jump down into the tree wells for fun, notrealizing they were holes of rotted-out conifersthat had been buried up to their crowns in mudand pumice by one of Mount St. Helens manyviolent eruptions. Back then, the volcanically-created forest seemed ordinary to us. We thoughtall forests had cool things like tree wells andpumice, and we laughed at geologists warningsthat Mount St. Helens could erupt before the endof the twentieth century.

That was before May 18, 1980. On that day, wecould cling to the nave notion of terra firma nolonger: within minutes my familys cabin disap-peared under 600 feet of the exploding volcano,Spirit Lake became a log-jammed soup of hotmuck, and the forest where my sisters and I had

picked huckleberries was incinerated by 1,100-degree Fahrenheit pyroclastic flows, then pum-meled by air-borne pumice raining from thevolcano for hours. There was so much pumice,with deposits averaging 125 feet deep, that theland received a new name: the Pumice Plain.

It took me years to return to the place wheremy sisters and I had picked berries. It seemed toopainful to trade in a happy memory of a green

forest for a dusty trek over nothing but rocks. Butone summer day, more than a decade after theeruption, I hiked the Pumice Plain and entered intoits strange and miraculous landscape a harshlandscape where death itself had been cookedclean. There, it had taken two years for a solitarylupine to colonize the nutrient-poor pumice,blooming purplish-blue amongst the gray-whiteboulders. In the early years on the plain, carnivo-rous beetles munched on dead-bug bodies rainingfrom the sky. Ballooning spiders blew in on thewind. Then, small herds of elk appeared, alongwith coyotes, tree frogs, hummingbirds, andgophers. Alders sprouted along streams, andwildflowers like pearly everlasting seemed tothrive on little else than sunlight and snowmelt.That summer day, I inhaled the fragrance ofthousands of blooming lupines, dunked my handsinto an icy spring shaded by young willows, andwalked to a waterfall that drops 200 feet right fromMount St. Helens crater. The fact that the skel-etons of 500-year-old conifers lay 125 feet belowme only enlivened my awe for the place, and Ifound that I had no room to grieve. How can onegrieve in the face of the sacred?

And yet we all might have to grieve for thePumice Plain.

In 2001, the Washington State Department ofTransportation spent $300,000 to study thepossibility of bulldozing and paving a road acrossthe Pumice Plain. From that study, engineersconcluded that the road would be extremelyexpensive to build and maintain, yet would notnecessarily boost tourism something that localpoliticians had been hoping for. Undaunted by the2001 study, politicians persuaded the statelegislature to include yet another $350,000 in its2002 budget to further study the road, and Gover-

Holy Ground, Unsteady GroundBy Christine Colasurdo

Spirit Lake. Photo by Celeste Colasurdo.


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nor Locke failed to veto it. Consequently, Washing-ton voters this fall will be presented with a $7.7billion transportation package that has burieddeep within it funding for a road across thePumice Plain. A resident of Seattle might vote forsuch a package, thinking hes supporting improved

mass transit downtown, but he will also inadvert-ently be supporting a proposed road far from hishouse a mountain road that would be undersnow half of the year and subject to flooding,debris flows, mudflows, avalanches, earthquakes,and eruptions. Innocently, he would be voting for aroad across some of the most unstable ground inthe entire Pacific Northwest.

The Pumice Plains unstable ground is the firstof the roads problems. Pumice makes for gooddrainage for trees but is a loose, crumbly substratefor a road. As someone who has slogged throughankle-deep pumice to reach the summit of MountSt. Helens, gotten a car stuck in pumice, and hikedacross pumice that cracks like weak ice, I cantimagine why engineers would even considerrunning a road across the stuff. You might as welllay concrete atop loose marbles beside an incom-ing tide as run a road across the Pumice Plain.

Worse, not only does the plain lie directly infront of the gaping mouth of the most activevolcano of the entire Cascade Range, it is alsobeside an active fault. So it would encounterseismicity as well as volcanic hazards emanatingfrom Mount St. Helens crater.

Last year, 33 scientists across the nation spoke

out against the road, condemning the idea asscientifically unsound and harmful to valuableresearch being conducted on the plain. The U.S.Forest Service, which administers the Mount St.Helens National Volcanic Monument, has alsopublicly opposed the road. And yet local politi-cians continue to push for the road, despite thefact that the monument is federal land, and thatmany people such as my family sacrificed theirproperty so that the monument could be protectedin perpetuity.

In the midst of this debate, no one seems to notice that thePumice Plain is holy ground. Its where life and death have wrestled,in extreme cycles of violence and beauty, as part of the millennia-oldrhythms of an active volcano. It is land that has been sculpted by thevolcano for at least 40,000 years. It is where a river changed itscourse, where lodges and cabins were obliterated, where the largestlandslide in human history began, where waterfalls erode faster thanany other place in the country, and where one of the most silt-ladenrivers in the world begins. It is also where people died on May 18,1980, and where their corpses remain to this day, in unmarked graves

adorned only by wildflowers and young conifers. There, the windwhistles like a warning from the Cowlitz people of long ago, who withtheir indigenous wisdom learned to stay away from Spirit Lake.

As a grown-up, I still play with pumice. I seem to find it every-where: in my hiking boots, along the Columbia River, throughout thePacific Northwest. When dry, it seems as brittle as the bones ofancestors. The way it crumbles in my hands reminds me of thehubris of some human endeavors how people think they canoutsmart a volcano. But when it becomes rain-soaked, it falls to earthlike a dead weight, like a stone that knows where its going, andnothing least of all a road will block its way.

Christine Colasurdo is the author of Return to Spirit Lake: Journeythrough a Lost Landscape, a natural-history of Mount St. Helens. She is aboard member of the Mount St. Helens Institute and in 2000 co-created amuseum exhibit entitled Spirit Lake Remembered. Her work hasappeared in Audubon, Orion, Sierra, and other publications. Her secondbook, The Golden Gate National Parks, was published in August 2002.

Looking down onto the Pumic Plain from atop Mount St.Helens. Photo by Christine Colasurdo.

Mount St. Helens. Photo by Christine Colasurdo.

I hiked the Pumice Plain and entered

into its strange and miraculous

landscape a harsh landscape wheredeath itself had been cooked clean.


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The Pan-American Institute

of Highways

The Pan-American Institute of Highways is an independentorganization and was founded in 1986 by a resolution of the Pan-American Congress of Highways (COPACA) of the Organization ofAmerican States (OAS).

The primary mission of the Pan-American Institute of Highways

(PIH) is the transfer of innovative and traditional technology in thearea of transportation. The network has 90 Technology TransferCenters in 22 countries through which they offer training courses toprofessionals in the field of highway and transportation engineering.See http://www.pih-ipc.org/

The World Road Association

The World Road Association (PIARC) was established in 1909 as anon-profit association. Its broad aim is to promote internationalcooperation on issues related to roads and road transport. PIARCsvision is to be the World leader in providing information on roads

and road transport policy and practices within an integrated sustain-able transport context.

PIARCs mission: Create an international forum for analysis and discussion of the

full spectrum of transport issues; Identify, develop and disseminate best practice and give better

access to international information; Provide special emphasis for developing countries and coun-

tries in transition; and, Develop and promote efficient tools for decision making on

matters related to roads and road transport.

PIARC activities:

Create and co-ordinate Technical Committees; Organize a quadrennial World Road Congress, a quadrennial

Winter Road Congress and various technical seminars; and, Publish a large number of documents including a quarterly

magazine, Routes/Roads, which can be accessed on their website.See http://www.piarc.org/index-e.htm

International Conference on Ecology and Transportation

The International Conference on Ecology and Transportation(ICOET) falls into a bit of a different category in that it focuses onmitigating the ecological impacts of transportation systems. Con-

ducted every two years, ICOET is designed to address the broadrange of ecological issues related to surface transportation develop-ment, providing the most current research information and bestpractices from around the world in the areas of wildlife, fisheries,wetlands, water quality, overall ecosystems management, and relatedpolicy issues. ICOET is a multi-disciplinary, inter-agency supportedevent, administered by the Center for Transportation and the Envi-ronment, a program of the United States Department of Transporta-tion. Wildlands CPR has attended, and given presentations at severalICOET conferences. The next ICOET will be in August of 2003 at LakePlacid, New York. See http://www.itre.ncsu.edu/cte/icoet/index.html

The World Bank

The mission of the World Banks transportgroup is to assist clients in reducing poverty byimproving the efficiency and equity of transportpolicy and interventions. Within the TransportGroup is a Roads and Highways subgroup. Thiswebsite has quite a bit of information, includingtopics such as Roads and the Environment, RoadFinancing and Road Funds and Poverty Reductionand Social Assessments. See http://www.worldbank.org/transport/

The International Road Federation

The International Road Federation (IRF) is anon-governmental, not-for-profit organization withpublic and private sector members in some 70countries. It was established in 1948 by businessand industry leaders who recognized the need foran international organization to focus on thegrowing economic and social importance of goodroad networks and to help rehabilitate Europesroad systems damaged in World War II. IRF hasbeen the driving force behind major road infra-structure developments around the world includingthe Pan-American Highway and the huge nationalroad building program in Mexico in the 1950s.

The IRFs mission is to encourage and promotedevelopment and maintenance of better and saferroads and road networks. It helps put in placetechnological solutions and management practicesthat provide maximum economic and social returnsfrom national road investment. The IRF believesthat rationally planned, efficiently managed andwell-maintained road networks offer high levels ofuser safety and have a significant impact onsustainable economic growth, prosperity, socialwell-being and human development.

The IRF holds many road conferences includ-ing the International Road Congress for southeast-ern Europe in Yugoslavia, the Asia Pacific RoadsConference in Australia, and the InternationalBaltic Road Conference in Lithuania. More informa-tion on these can be found on the IRF website. Seehttp://www.irfnet.org

Temperate rainforest in Chile. Photo by Dan Funsch.


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Indirect MortalityAnother major impact of roads is that they facilitate human

access into otherwise untouched large carnivore habitat. This accessincreases illegal poaching and other negative interactions. Jensen etal. (1986) found that wolf populations in Ontario, Canada only per-sisted when road densities were low. When more than 0.6 km of roadsexisted per km2, wolves were trapped and shot in significantly highernumbers. Demarche (2001) predicted that the construction of an all-season road in western central British Columbia would have a

significant impact on grizzly populations because of increased human-bear interactions and subsequent increased bear mortality. TheIberian lynx, although critically endangered and federally protected,also continues to be illegally trapped and killed in Spain (Ferreras etal. 1992).

Avoidance and FragmentationRoads and other linear networks can act as barriers for large

carnivores and prevent dispersal, while the avoidance of roads canoften lead to the fragmentation and isolation of carnivore populations.Isolated populations can exhibit increased demographic fluctuation,inbreeding, loss of genetic variability, and ultimately local extinction.

An accumulation of obstacles including roads has delayed theexpansion of the recovering wolf population in northern Spain

(Blanco 2001). Jensen et al. (1986) concluded that high road densitieson the border between Ontario and Michigan prevented wolves fromrecolonizing former habitat in the U.S. The Trans Canadian Highwayin Banff National Park has been shown to act as a barrier and restrictwolves ability to disperse across their existing range (Paquet andCallaghan 1996). And during a five-year study in this same area, onlytwo radio-collared male grizzly bears regularly crossed the high-traffic, year-round road, while none of the radio-collared females did(Gibeau et al. 2001).

Inshida (2001) suggested that road construction acted as abarrier and indirectly fragmented a population of Japanese blackbears. Recent road construction has blocked potential corridorsimportant for the dispersal of Eurasian brown bears from the DinaricMountains in Slovenia to the Alps (Kobler and Adamic 1999).

Rodrguez and Delibes (1992) also were concerned that the construc-tion of highways, large dams, and high-speed railways in Spain mayfurther restrict Iberian lynx movements, increase fragmentation, andincrease the risk of mortality.

Habitat LossThe ultimate result of the cumulative effects of roads and atten-

dant human disturbance is the loss of habitat. Roads often preventlarge carnivores from reaching portions of high-quality habitat thatthey would otherwise use. In fact, road density is often used as asurrogate in predicting carnivore habitat suitability. Paquet andCallaghan (1996) reported that the combination of obstruction,alienation, occlusion, and mortality reduced the ability of the BowRiver Valley of Banff National Park, Canada to support wolves.

Roads are often precursors to development, which furtherdegrades carnivore habitat. For example, a highway recently con-structed in Nepal has severely reduced the quality of large areas oftiger habitat. Villagers who once gathered only a single load of woodnow gather several bundles to sell to passing truck drivers. Thisincreased harvest has accelerated forest degradation, decreased thenumber of ungulates, and led to the local extirpation of tigers (Smithet al. 1998).

Solutions and ConclusionHow do we save our last large carnivores from

global extinction? Traditional techniques formitigating the direct effects of roads, includingwildlife tunnels and overpasses, are being devel-oped in Slovenia (Kobler and Adamic 1999), Japan(Ishida 2001), and Canada (Gibeau 2001). Thesetechniques, however, are often limited to wealthier

nations from which most large carnivores havealready been extirpated.

The creation and expansion of wildlife reservesin developing countries offers hope, but carnivoresroam too far and existing parks are usually toosmall to ensure their long-term survival. In 1972,the Nepalese government established a network ofparks to preserve tiger habitat, but it did not haltthe degradation of critical habitat outside of thepreserves, and local extinction resulted (Smith etal. 1998). When Doana National Park in Spain wasexpanded, Ferreras et al. (1992) lamented that theextension was a necessary but still insufficientstep forward toward preventing the Iberian lynxs

extinction.The most promising long-term solution to

prevent the mass extinction of large carnivoresaround the world is to protect and expand existinghabitats and restore connectivity. Kerley et al.(2002) recommend preventing the construction ofroads in the first place, closing unnecessary roads,and restricting access along remaining roads as themost necessary steps to protect Siberian tigers.These measures must be implemented at bothlandscape and regional levels.

An innovative program initiated by NepalsDepartment of Parks and Wildlife in 1993 allocates30-50% of park revenues toward communities on

the periphery of tiger preserves. These funds willhelp establish sustainable relationships with theforest through buffer-zone management andcommunity development.

In the new era of globalization, protectingcarnivores from the insidious effects of roads willrequire our diligence and creativity. In addition toadopting the best of available mitigation tech-niques, we must also strive to cultivate a newculture of tolerance. Adam Switalski is Science Coordinator forWildlands CPR.

Bengal tiger. Photo courtesy of U.S. Fish and WildlifeService.


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References

Adamic, M. 1997. The analysis of key sources of mortality of the brownbear (Ursus arctos) in Slovania in the last 6 years. Zbornikgozdatstva in lesarstva 53: 5-28.

Blanco, J. C. 2001. Impact of barriers on a wolf (Canis lupis) population inan agricultural environment in Spain. In the Proceedings of theInternational Conference on Wildlife Ecology and Transportation,Keystone, Colorado. Pg. 517.

Demarchi, M. D. 2001. Grizzly bears, impact significance, and theGreenville to Kincolith road project in western central BritishColumbia. In the Proceedings of the International Conference onWildlife Ecology and Transportation, Keystone, Colorado. Pgs. 491-498.

Ferreras, P., P. Gaona, F. Palomares, and M. Delibes. 2001. Restore habitator reduce mortality? Implications from a population viabilityanalysis of the Iberian lynx.Animal Conservation 4(3): 265-274.

Ferreras, P., J. J. Aldama, J. F. Beltran, and M. Delibes. 1992. Rates andcauses of mortality in a fragmented population of Iberian Lynx(Felis pardina temminick), 1824.Biological Conservation 61(3): 197-202.

Gibeau. M. L., and K. Heuer. 1996. Effects of transportation corridors onlarge carnivores in the Bow River Valley, Alberta. In G. L. Evink, P.Garret, and D. Zeigler, and J. Berry (editors) Proceedings of theInternational Conference on Wildlife Ecology and Transportation,Tallahassee, Florida. Pgs. 1-13.

Gibeau. M. L., A. P. Clevenger, S. Herrero, and J. Wierzchowski. 2001.Effects of highways on grizzly bear movement in the Bow RiverWatershed, Alberta, Canada. In the Proceedings of the InternationalConference on Wildlife Ecology and Transportation, Keystone,Colorado. Pgs. 458-472.

Gibeau. M. L. 2000. A conservation biology approach to management ofgrizzly bear in Banff National Park. Ph.D. Dissertation, Resourcesand the Environment Program, University of Calgary, Calgary,Alberta, Canada. 129 pp.

Ishida, K. 2001. Black bear population at themountain road construction area in Chichibucentral Japan.Bulletin of the Tokyo University

Forests 105: 91-100.Jensen, W. F., T. K. Fuller, and W. L. Robinson. 1986.

Wolf, Canis lupis, distribution on the Ontario-Michigan border near Sault Ste. Marie. Canadian

Field-Naturalist100(3): 363-366.Kerley, L. L., J. M. Goodrich, D. G. Miquelle, E. N.

Smirnov, H. B. Quigley, and M. G. Hornocker.2002. Effects of roads and human disturbanceon Amur tigers. Conservation Biology16(1): 97-108.

Kobler, A., and M. Adamic. 1999. Brown Bears inSlovenia: Identifying locations for constructionof wildlife bridges across highways. In G. L.Evink, P. Garret, and D. Zeigler (Editors)Proceedings of the International Conference onWildlife Ecology and Transportation, Missoula,Montana. Pgs. 29-38.

Newmark, W. D., Boshe, J. I., Sariko, H. I., Makumbule,G. K. 1996. Effects of a highway on largemammals in Mikumi National Park, Tanzania.

Journal of African Ecology34(1): 15-31.Paquet, P. C. 1993. Summary reference document -

Ecological studies of recolonizing wolves in thecentral Canadian Rocky Mountains.Unpublished report by John/Paul andAssociates for the Canadian Parks Service,

Banff, Alberta. 176 pp.Paquet, P. C., and C. Callaghan. 1996. Effects of linear

developments on winter movements of graywolves in the Bow River Valley of Banff NationalPark, Alberta. In G. L. Evink, P. Garret, and D.Zeigler, and J. Berry (editors) Proceedings ofthe International Conference on WildlifeEcology and Transportation, Tallahassee, FL.Pgs. 1-21.

Rodriguez, A., and M. Delibes. 1992. Current rangeand status of the Iberian Lynx (Felis pardinatemminick), 1824 in Spain.BiologicalConservation 61(3): 189-196.

Smith J. L. D., S. C. Ahearn, and C. McDougal. 1998.

Landscape analysis of tiger distribution andhabitat quality in Nepal. Conservation Biology12(6): 1338-1346.

Stahl, P., and J. M. Vandel. 1999. Mortality and captureof lynx (Lynx lynx) in France (1974-1998)

Mammalia 63(1): 49-59.Wilkie, D., E. Shaw, F. Rotberg, G. Morelli, and P. Auzel.

2000. Roads, development, and conservation inthe Congo Basin. Conservation Biology14(6):1614-1622.


Photo courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.


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International News

Peter Sims of the Tarkine National Coalitionbriefs north American activists on theimplications of a proposed road. Photo by

Matthew Koehler.

Private conservation efforts could lead to an internationalforest sanctuary at Yendagaia, that is, if Chiles road projectis stopped. Photo by Gary Hughes.

New Road PenetratesRemote Tierra Del Fuego

The temperate rainforests of the CoastalRange are not the only landscapes threatened byChilean road building projects. Thousands ofkilometers further south, in the remote Nothofagusbeech forests of Tierra del Fuego, a new road-building project threatens the roadless status of a40,000 hectare private conservation holding knownas Estancia Yendagaia.

Yendagaia is a private conservation initiativeat the southern end of the border that was drawnto divide Tierra del Fuego between Chile andArgentina in the late 1970s. Yendagaia connectsthe Tierra del Fuego National Park of Argentinawith Chiles Alberto de Agostini National Park -

creating over one million hectares of contiguousprotected mountains, glaciers, wetlands, andsouthern temperate forests. Yendagaia is threat-ened with road construction due to a Chileanmilitary policy that gives precedence to securinginternational borders over any other consideration(one of the same justifications given for the coastalhighway see our cover story).

The people of Fundacion Yendagaia have adifficult political situation in advocating formitigating or halting this road project, and theydeserve your support. Write to Chilean PresidentRicardo Lagos and ask him to stop the construc-tion of the Southern Coastal Highway, and tosupport the conservation efforts of FundacionYendagaia in Tierra del Fuego.

Sr. Presidente Ricardo Lagos Escobar,Presidente de la Republica; Palacio de la Mondeda;Santiago de Chile; Region Metropolitana; Chile.

Roads Also Threaten TasmaniasTemperate Rainforests

Tasmanias temperate rainforests are being clearcut at analarming rate as Gunns Ltd. and Forestry Tasmania push new roadsinto country never before touched by mechanized land clearing.Pristine highland rainforests and sclerophyll forests with rainforestunderstory are being pulverised and burnt.

After clearing, forest tracts are fire bombed creating a highintensity burn to prepare them for planting. Forestry Tasmania areevidently now only interested in wet sclerophyll forests for theirplantations/regeneration forests because they include tall nativeregnans and obliquas and because they have higher rainfall.

Rainforest logging is progressing rapidly on Mt. Maurice and inother parts ofTasmanias highlands(as well as in other

parts of Tasmania -especially the Tarkine).Activists are challeng-ing this logging and theroadbuilding thataccomodates it, andthey have proposedpermanent protectionfor the Tarkine andother areas.

For more informa-tion contact Carol G.Williams, Secretary,Gondwana SteeringCommittee (Australasiaand Oceania); PO Box33; St. Helens; Tasma-nia, 7216

White-Winged Ducks and ORVs

The Thailand Royal Forest Department (RFD) scored a duck inAugust, when forced by local conservation groups to back down overgranting access to four wheel-drive enthusiasts to drive through HuaiKha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, part of the Western Forest Complex.

Access to the sanctuary by a large ORV convoy was supposedly

linked with a planned release of captive-reared White-winged Ducks.However, local conservation groups opposed entry by the ORVs. Inthe end, the duck releases went ahead, but the off-roaders were madeto wait outside the sanctuary boundary, while the ducks weretransported instead by RFD vehicles.

The White-winged Duck is listed by BirdLife International asglobally endangered. It will need all the help it can get if it is tosurvive in Thailand and neighbouring countries for much longer. Thisis why reintroductions, if attempted at all, must be carried out underthe correct procedures; subject to the strictest safeguards; alongsideappropriate habitat conservation and poaching suppression mea-sures, and with the broadest public support.


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Roads Program UpdateSpring 2002

By Marnie Criley, Roads Policy Coordinator

Workshop participants get an up close look at the HickeyFork road. Photo by Marnie Criley.

Proper installation of culverts is essential to road improvement efforts. Photoby Marnie Criley.

Economic StudyWildlands CPR is excited to announce thatCenter for Environmental Economic Development(CEED) out of Arcata, California will be the prin-ciple investigator for our study on the economicbenefits of wildland road removal. Dan Ihara andSteve Hackett with CEED will be heading up thestudy, which they plan to complete in approxi-mately six months. For more information on CEED,visit their website at http://www.ceedweb.org.

Roads WorkshopMark Vander Meer of Watershed Consulting

out of Whitefish, MT, Rupert Pilkington with UrsusInternational out of Alberta, Canada, and MarnieCriley from Wildlands CPR conducted a two-dayroads workshop (June 29-30) on the PisgahNational Forest in North Carolina. Approximately20 people attended the workshop, which was quitewell received. Marnie presented Wildlands CPRsslide show, Why Didnt the Toad Cross theRoad?, and talked about the Forest Service RoadsPolicy, restoration, and the socioeconomic andecological benefits of road removal. Rupertfocused on road impacts to bears and talked aboutthe road inventory work he has done in Canadaand Idaho. We also had a good discussion aboutthe use of GPS in conducting inventories. Marksfocus was on-the-ground road impacts and roadremoval and he led a fun hands-on discussion ofsoils. We looked at the Hickey Fork road, whichhas blown out twice in 3 years, and which theForest Service wants to rebuild again at a cost of$500,000. The removal of this road would not onlyimprove a stream, but would also increase the sizeof a roadless area. Wildlands CPR will continue towork with SABP to promote full obliteration of thisroad.

Clearwater ProjectMark Vander Meer, on behalf of Wildlands CPR, presented

Watershed Consultings assessment of the Clearwater National Forestroad removal program at the joint Society for Ecological Restoration/Ecological Society of America conference in Tucson, AZ in August. Weare now looking to get the study published in a scientific journal.

Science ProgramWildlands CPRs new Science Coordinator, Adam, has been busily

updating our library by putting together all the current scientificliterature on roads, road removal, and ORVs. This included draftingthe bibliography notes in this issue. He has also begun promotingroad removal research by attending the recent joint conference of theEcological Society of America and Society for Ecological Restorationannual meeting in Tucson. At this conference he met with scientists,journal editors, and practitioners of restoration and discussed roadremoval research funding opportunities, potential topics and loca-tions of research, as well as avenues for publishing results. He iscurrently identifying potential co-authors for a review and prospectusof road removal research. Additionally, Adam has reviewed roadremoval reports and proposals helping to facilitate their implementa-tion and publishing.

Upcoming EventsSeptember 16: Workshop and presentation with Vermont Forest

Watch.October 11-13: Road removal panel and field trip at Alliance for the

Wild Rockies Rendezvous in Missoula, MT.November 6-9: National Network of Forest Practitioners annual

meeting at Chico Hot Springs in Montana; road removal field tripand restoration roundtable.

November 13-14: American Wildlands environmental law conferenceat Chico Hot Springs.


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ORV Program UpdateSpring 2002

By Tom Platt, ORV Policy Coordinator

The forest restored. Photo by Marnie Criley.

Natural Trails and Waters CoalitionWildlands CPR continues to work with the Natural Trails and

Waters Coalition (NTWC) to monitor developments in off-road vehiclepolicies and impacts, and push for both site-specific and nationwideimprovements in ORV management. Heres a recap of some recentdevelopments.

Snowmobiles in YellowstoneLast years court settlement between the Department of Interior

and the snowmobile industry over the Parks snowmobile policyrequired a final supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS)by October 15, 2002 and a new rule by November 15, 2002. Thesedates were selected to ensure that a new policy allowing snowmobile

use to continue would be in place before the start of the season.

Under a new agreement, the Park Service and the InternationalSnowmobile Manufacturers Association (ISMA) will now extend thisschedule, delaying the new rule until March 21, 2003. In addition, theService will issue a rule this fall to postpone implementation of itsprevious rule phasing out snowmobiles. The practical effect will beto continue the snowmobile status quo in the 2002-03 winter season.After first dismissing hundreds of thousands of comments supportingthe phase-out as emotional, the Bush Administration is now usingthe historic number of comments to justify this delay.

Major Legal Victory in UtahA Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance-led coalition just secured a

major victory in the fight to protect Utahs roadless lands from off-road vehicle abuse. The coalition, of which Wildlands CPR is a part,filed suit in October of 1999 against the Bureau of Land Management,charging that the agency was allowing unchecked off-road vehicledamage to continue on nearly 10 million acres of roadless lands. InDecember 2000, the Utah District Court ruled against the conserva-tion coalition, concluding that the claims were not actionable. OnAugust 29, 2002, however, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals over-turned this decision and remanded it back to the District Court forreview on the merits of the case.

Forest Service Travel PlanningWildlands CPR continues to track the development and imple-

mentation of Forest Service travel management plans around thecountry. We are also concluding the fieldwork season, working withpartner groups to document the impacts of inappropriate off-roadvehicle use, and will use this data to encourage individual NationalForests to close routes where off-road vehicle damage is significant.We are closely tracking the development of new travel managementplans for two National Forests of particular interest, the GreenMountain in Vermont and the White River in Colorado.

Jet Ski RestrictionsThe Park Service continues to issue, albeit

very slowly, environmental assessments (EA) andproposed rules concerning the future of jet ski usein National Seashores, Lakeshores, and RecreationAreas. The NTWC and partners across the countryhave been generating comments supporting acomplete phase-out at every unit. These efforts

have been successful to date 95% of those whocommented in Assateague National Seashoresupported a complete ban. Assateague is cur-rently closed to jet skis because it failed to issue ajet ski rule prior to the April 22 deadline. Any newpolicy would apply to future use.

Big Thicket National Preserve in Texas issuedan EA and proposed rule this month; however, ithas not been published in the Federal Register.The proposal would allow jet ski use to continueunder certain conditions. It would close somewaters entirely, prohibit jet ski operation in theearly morning and after dusk, and require that alljet skis be equipped with four-stroke engines. The

Preserve will accept comments on the proposedrule for 60 days after publication in the FederalRegister. We anticipate that Pictured RocksNational Lakeshore in Michigan will be the nextunit to issue an EA and proposed rule. Althoughboth are important, it will be especially critical togenerate a large volume of comments for PicturedRocks because jet ski use is extremely high in theGreat Lakes region.

Significant numbers of comments will berequired for various units throughout the remain-der of the summer and into the fall.


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Ecological Effects of Roads

By Ian F. Spellerberg, PhD: Professor of Nature Conservation and

Director, Isaac Centre for Nature Conservation at Lincoln University,New Zealand

The ecological effects of roads and traffic are of the samemagnitude and importance as any of the topical environmentalissues. However, that fact is not well known among environmentalmanagers and ecologists. It is for this reason that this book waswritten for the Series Land Reconstruction and Management.

Ecological Effects of Roads commences with an overview onroads and traffic and then outlines the ecology of roads. It provides apractical guide to general issues and solutions and presents many ofthe challenges surrounding the ecological effects of roads and traffic.Finally, it aims to raise the profile of issues not given adequateimportance by environmental managers and ecologists. This is both a

textbook and a manual for the practitioner.A sampling of the chapters:* Biology of Roads and Roadside Verges* Habitat Fragmentation, Barriers, and Corridors* Physical and Chemical Effects of Roads and Traffic* Road Kills: Animal Mortality on Roads* Reducing Adverse Effects* The Ecololgy of Roads in Future

Look for a review of this book in the next Road RIPorter. Thisbook is Volume 2 of The Land Reconstruction and ManagementSeries, Editor, Marin Haigh: Department of Geography, Oxford-Brookes University, Oxford, UK. For orders and inquiries: SciencePublishers, Inc.; PO Box 699; Enfield, NH 03748; (603) 632-7377; email:

[email protected]; www.scipub.net

Video on Living With Predators NowAvailable

On Natures Terms: People and Predator Coexisting In Harmonyis a new documentary film available to activists interested in publiceducation about wildlife/human interrelationships. Produced byJohh de Graaf, whose other credits include the PBS specials Runningout of Time, Affluenza, and Escape from Affluenza, the film chronicles

how myths about predators have contributed to the decimation oftheir numbers and presents numerous examples of people livingalongside carnivore populations in peace. On Natures Terms profilesbiologists, ranchers, conservationists, hunters, and home owners inorder to illustrate that predator/human relationships need not resultin winners and losers, but rather that through education and aware-ness of both predator and human needs it is possible to avoid orminimize conflict. The film is 25 minutes long. Copies are availablefrom WildFutures/EII, 353 Wallace Way, NE, Suite 12, BainbridgeIsland, WA, 98110. Cost is $20 with shipping and handling. Foradditional information, contact Sharon Negri at (206) 780-9718 or goto the WildFutures website at http://www.earthisland.org/wildfutures.

Out of Bounds! MotorizedRecreation Report Released

A new report on National Forest motorizedrecreation is now available to activists. Out ofBounds! ORV Recreation: Colville and OkanoganNational Forests was produced by the KettleRange Conservation Group and provides anexcellent overview of the science of motorizedvehicle impacts, pertinent laws and a descriptionof the structure and expansion of the motorizedrecreation industry. The main emphasis is adetailed analysis and case studies of off roadvehicle activity and management on two Washing-ton National Forests, the Okanogan and theColville. The KRCG has been actively monitoring

central Washington forests for many years andtheir knowledge of Forest Service management isunsurpassed. Out of Bounds! was written forPacific Northwest activists, but it is an excellenttool for anyone interested in understanding offroad vehicle impacts or becoming involved infederal land management in their region. To findout more, contact David Heflick with the KettleRange Conservation Group, (509) 775-2667 orhttp://www.kettlerange.org.

Snowmobile Trespass Report

AvailableThe Native Forest Network, with support from

the Natural Trails and Waters Coalition, theYellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, andthe Fund for Wild Nature, has prepared a reportdocumenting snowmobile trespass into Wildernessand travel restricted roadless areas in the U.S.Northern Rockies. The report, Tracking Snowmo-bile Trespass, was researched and written by PhilKnight and Adam Rissien in order to draw moreattention to illegal snowmobile use in sensitivewildlife habitat during critical winter months. Inaddition to describing instances of trespass in

Montana, Wyoming and Idaho wild areas, thereport discusses scientific knowledge of howwinter use impacts such sensitive species as lynxand wolverine. The snowmobile trespass projectalso offers contact information for land managersand suggestions for citizen monitoring. For moreinformation or to obtain copies, contact PhilKnight at NFN office Bozeman, Montana (406)542-7343 or [email protected]. The full report isalso available on the web at http://www.nativeforest.org/campaigns/last_refuge/snowmobile_report/index.htm.


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ATV Safety Crisis:Americas Children at Risk

The Consumer Federation of America, Natural Trails and WatersCoalition, Bluewater Network and doctors have issued a reportcalling for new rules to stop the increasing number of ATV-relatedinjuries and fatalities. The report, entitled All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV)Safety Crisis: Americas Children at Risk, finds that the ATVindustrys self-regulatory approach to safety, with minimal govern-ment oversight, fails to protect consumers particularly children.

All-terrain vehicles have been on the market for over 30 years. Asinjuries and deaths rose past 100,000 annually in the mid to late1980s, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) thefederal agency with jurisdiction over consumer products forcedthe industry to cease production of three-wheeled ATVs. However,they were replaced with four-wheelers that have proven to be just as

hazardous. For example: Between 1993 and 2001, the number of injuries caused by ATVs

more than doubled to 111,700. Between 1982 and 2001, at least 4,541 Americans were killed

while riding ATVs.

The impacts on children under 16 are even more disturbing: Between 1993 and 2001, the number of ATV-related injuries

suffered by children under 16 increased 94% to 34,800. Between 1982 and 2001, 1,714 children under age 16, including

799 under the age of 12, were killed in ATV accidents.

Every state has a comprehensive system to promote safety onroads and highways, including age limits and licensing and training

requirements for every driver of a car. When it comes to ATVs,however, the same rules do not apply. For example, 24 stateshave no minimum age to drive an ATV and 19 states allowchildren ranging from 8 to 12 years old to drive them.

The report includes a series of recommendations, manyof which have been developed by the American Academy ofPediatrics (AAP) and other health care professionals, that willbetter protect children, and every rider of an ATV:

No child under 16 should be allowed to operate ATVsunder any circumstances;

Every state should adopt legislation developed by theAAP concerning licensing, training, and other aspects of ATVsafety; and,

The CPSC should ban the use of adult-size ATVs by

children under 16 and require manufacturers to providerefunds for all three-wheel ATVs and adult-size ATVs pur-chased for use by children.

The Consumer Federation of America and eight othermedical, consumer, and conservation groups also filed apetition with CPSC calling for aggressive steps to protectchildren from the dangers posed by ATVs and to require manufactur-ers to refund consumers for adult-size ATVs bought for use bychildren under 16.

For a copy of the 21 page report visit Natural Trails and WatersWebsite at www.naturaltrails.org, or www.wildlandscpr.org.

Photo taken from the film, Motor, by Joe DeFelice.

Out Of ControlThe Impacts of Off-Road Vehicles and

Roads on Wildlife and Habitat in FloridasNational Forests

Off-road vehicles are destroying our publiclands everywhere, and nowhere is the damage anymore widespread than in Florida. Growing hoardsof off-road vehicles are rampaging throughoutFloridas national forests, ruining wildlife habitatand polluting air and water. A new report byDefenders of Wildlife investigates the problem anddocuments how Floridas national forests havebecome an essentially lawless frontier for ORVs.

Few of Floridas public spaces remain whereORVs have not destroyed, fragmented or degraded

habitat. Irresponsible drivers of fat-tired swampbuggies, off-road motorcycles, and other all-terrainvehicles have ripped thousands of miles of outlawtrails through public lands. The growth andprofitability of off-road vehicles have given rise toa powerful industry lobby, resulting in lax enforce-ment of existing laws and mere slaps-on-the-writsfor violators. For a copy of the report, go to http://www.defenders.org/habitat/florvs/


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AAA MembersUnknowingly Fund AutoIndustry Lobby

By Ralph Nader

For decades, the American Automobile Association, betterknown as Triple A, has grown up with the American automo-bile. Millions of travelers have joined to ensure themselves ofroadside service in emergencies and to gain access to triptickets, maps, travelers checks, insurance and other travelofferings.

Beneath its benign image as a travel club AAA hasbecome a big time lobbyist that mimics the agenda of thenations giant automobile manufacturers. Travelers who paydues to AAA find themselves supporting lobbyists who fightthe Clean Air Act, public transportation, stronger safetystandards and even bike paths.

What they [AAA members] dont know is that AAA is alobbyist for more roads, more pollution and more gas guz-

zling, said Daniel Becker, director of Sierra Clubs GlobalWarming/Energy program.

Now, a couple of entrepreneurs from Portland, Oregon Mitch Rofsky and Todd Silberman are challenging Triple Ascomfortable perch at the top of the travel club business.Rofsky and Silberman have formed The Better World Travel-ers Club which not only competes head-to-head on basictravel services, but actively supports programs for a cleanenvironment.

Rofsky was a consumer activist in Washington who laterbecame president of Working Assets Capital Managementwhere, with us, he managed a widely-acclaimed sociallyresponsible mutual fund and was the first chairman of Busi-ness for Social Responsibility. Silberman headed Lifeco which

became the nations third largest travel company before itssale to American Express in 1993.

As starters, the Rofsky-Silberman team is donating onepercent of its annual travel agency and club revenues toenvironmental clean up efforts. They are also promoting bigdiscounts on what they have dubbed as eco-travel servicesincluding such things as green lodging and eco tours. The clubalso offers a 20 percent discount on electric and hybrid carrentals and discounts on bicycles and electric car purchases.

In its promotional material, the Better World TravelersClub reminds its customers that each time a passenger takes adomestic airline flight that he or she represents more than aton of harmful greenhouse gas emissions that are released intothe atmosphere. Rofsky and Silberman trumpet the fact that

their club is the only U. S. travel agency to offer a clean airprogram, Travel Cool, certified by the Climate NeutralNetwork for its efforts to offset greenhouse gasses generatedby air travel. A portion of each airline ticket purchasedthrough the Better World Travel Club will be earmarked forprograms to save energy and reduce CO2 pollution. The clubalso offers Travel Cool automobile insurance that supportsprograms to help offset carbon produced by automobiles.

The pro-environmental stance of this new travel club isthrowing down the gauntlet to other travel services, not onlyAAA, but to the multitude of other travel clubs promotedthrough new car warranties and credit card companies. It is a

highly competitive field, but consumers and the environmentcan only gain if the competition turns into a battle for cleanerair.

The news about healthy new competition in the travelbusiness is welcome in the overall business community whichhas been clearly stung by the sleaze revealed by the investiga-tions of Enron, Tyco, WorldCom and other corporations.Lawyers and public relations operatives are working overtimein efforts to restore badly tattered corporate images. But, it isgoing to take tangible action, not just slick public relationscampaigns, to convince the American public that real changeand real reform are being undertaken. The newspaper head-lines and the television news programs are leaving the public

the impression that con artists have invaded boardrooms andexecutive suites en masse.

The Rofsky-Silberman effort in blazing a new trail in thetravel business should remind American business that profit-making enterprises can operate with a conscience and with anauthentic concern about the environment and health. TheBetter World Travelers Clubs business plan is based on theconcept that profit and public interest can be compatiblegoals. For more information visit http://www.betterworldclub.com.

Reprinted with permission.

Its been an incredibly busy summer at WildlandsCPR, and the fall will only get busier. Were kicking offour first every major donor campaign, our staff has lots

of travel on tap, and well be opening a new staff posi-tion this winter. In the midst of this we are also undergo-ing a strategic planning process.

Job AnnouncementWildlands CPR will soon be posting a job announce-

ment for a motorized recreation policy coordinator.This job is currently shared by Jacob Smith and TomPlatt, but both are moving on to be executive directorsof other organizations: Jacob will oversee the Center forNative Ecosystems and Tom will take the helm at TheEcology Center. For a full job description and detailsabout the position, please see our website or contact usat [email protected].

Major Donor CampaignWildlands CPR is solidly supported by a dedicated

membership and a number of conservation foundations,but foundations currently make up the majority of ourincome base and we recognize how important it is for usto diversify our funding. Our major donor campaignkicked off on September 3rd and ends on November 27th our goal is to raise $20,000 to support both our roadsand motorized recreation programs. We are asking forcontributions from $100 to $2,000. As of press time,weve already received $5,000 towards our goal!

If you would like to consider a gift, contact Jen [email protected] or 406.543.9551. Thank you!


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