road riporter 8.1

8/14/2019 Road RIPorter 8.1

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Inside

Check out our website at: www.wildlandscpr.org

The Quarterly Newsletter of Wildlands Center for Preventing RoadsSpring Equinox 2003. Volume 8 # 1

See a rticle on pa ge 3

Cougar Corridors, by Alexandra Koelle. Pages 3-5

Depaving the Way, by Bethanie Walder. Pages 6-7

Odes to Roads: Roads and More Roads, byRosalie Edge. Pages 8-9

Cougar Corridors

Regional Reports & Updates. Pages 10-11

Wildlands CPR 2002 Annual Report. Pages 12-13

Get with the Program: ORV and Roads ProgramUpdates. Pages 14-15

Biblio Notes: The Impacts of Snowmobiling andCross Country Skiing on Ungulates, by

Teresa Elise Welsh. Pages 16-18

Activi st Spotlight : Lynda Bilbrough. Page 19

Policy Primer: Funding for Road Removal, by

Beth Peluso. Pages 20-22

Restoring the Missing Linkin Californias Chino Hills

By Alexandra Koelle

Photocourtesyof

CaliforniaStateParks.


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The Road-RIPorter, Spring Equinox 20032

20 03 W ildlands CPR

Wildlands Center for Preventing Roads works toprotect and restore wildland ecosystems by

preventing and removing roads and limit ingmotorized recreation. We are a national

clearinghouse and network, providing citizens

with tools and strategies to fight roadconstruction, deter motorized recreation, and

promote road removal and revegetation.

P.O. Box 7516Missoula, MT 59807

(406) [email protected]

www.wildlandscpr.org

Director

Bethanie Walder

Development Director

Tom Petersen

Restoration ProgramCoordinator

Marnie Criley

Transportation PolicyCoordinator

Bridget Lyons

Science Coordinator

Adam SwitalskiN TW C Gra ssroots

Coordinator

Lisa Philipps

Program Associate

Jennifer Barry

N ew sletter

Dan Funsch & Jim Coefield

Interns & Volunteers

Brooke Hughes, Shay O' Brien-Ugaldea,Beth Peluso, Teresa Welsh

Board of Directors

Katie Alvord, Karen Wood DiBari, Dave Havlick,Greg Munther, Cara Nelson, Mary O' Brien,

Ted Zukoski

Advisory Committee

Jasper 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

By Bethanie Walder

At our annu al board meeting last May, Wildland s CPR began a str ategic

planning pro cess . After a second meeting in Decemb er, and a significant

effort o n the part o f several board memb ers and the st aff, we have just

abo ut finalized a p lan for 2003-2005. Throu gh th is proce ss weve solidified the

importance o f our existing work and defined o ur p riorities for th e next three years

and were very excited about what the future h olds.

Our new plan affirms the tr ajectory wed b een moving on for the p ast year o r

so. It focuses o ur p roactive tran spor tation planning and restor ation goals while

maintaining and expanding our clearinghouse an d activist assistance. Perhaps

more impor tantly, we defined very sp ecific arenas in which we want to expand o ur

capacity - reaching out to new p eople and d eveloping a more pub lic pers ona for the

organization.

We set two pr ogramm atic goals for 2005. First, to see at least 50% of the

National Forests adop t a designated route system for off-road vehicles, and second ,

to see road re moval considered as a major compo nent of restoration projects and

policies. To help us reach th ese we adopted a series of commensur ate organiza-

tional goals that focus o n reaching out to new peo ple and empo wering our con stitu-

encies, updating our image and presentations an d, of course, improving our

clearinghouse.

To th is end yo ull star t to s ee so me ch anges at Wildlands CPR. First, weve

cha nged some po sition titles and respo nsibilities. Marn ie is now our Resto ration

Program Coord inator - and s he will focus a lmost exclusively on th at seco nd goal

regarding road remo val. Bridget (ou r newest st affer, see pa ge 23), is our Trans por -

tation Policy Coordinator. Get in touch with h er for answers to your questions

abo ut off-road veh icles and road p revent ion. This change in titles reflects a long-standing desire of ours to integrate our roads and off-road veh icle work more

effectively. We also think it will help us ser ve your ro ad p revention, road remova l

and off-road vehicle need s m ore effectively.

Secon d, were on a major ques t to diversify our fund ing sou rces. Tommy ha s

bee n do ing an amazing job rese arching our o ptions , and well have lots o f new

things in the works as we look throughout and beyond t he foundation community.

As we implemen t ad ditional chan ges, well let you kno w. If you have a ny

questions about our s trategic planning, please dont hesitate to get in touch with

us.

PhotobyPhilKnight.


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The Road-RIPorter, Spring Equinox 2003 3

continued on nex t page

Cougar CorridorsRestoring the Missing Link in Californias Chino Hills

By Alexandra Koelle

On th e edge of the United States mos t

notorious example of urban sprawl, a

precedent -setting model of cooperation to

save a cr itical biodiversity linkage has bee n set .

The p lace Coal Canyon is a 681-acre p arcel of

land b isected by th e Riverside Freeway (Californ ia

Route 91). This small area of land within an h our s

dr ive of Los Angeless 15 million inh ab itant s

currently is home to man y species, including

mou ntain lion, dee r, bob cat, and the Californ ia

gnatcat che r. As th e only remaining viable link

bet ween th e Puen te-Chino Hills State Pa rk in thenor th (40,000 acres) and th e Santa Ana Moun tains

and Cleveland National Forest in th e so uth (472,000

acres ), the s ignificance of Coal Canyon s p reser va-

tion is far larger t han its relatively sma ll size.

The ec ological value of the Coal Canyon area is

not all thats significant abo ut th is project. In an

historic precedent, state agencies have already

begun r emoving and re vegetating a paved o ff-ramp

and und erp ass of State Highway 91, a 10-12 lane

freeway. The road re moval will comp liment th e

stat es ear lier acq uisition of neighbor ing land s to

resto re a funct ioning wildlife corridor in Coal

Canyon. California State Parks an d th e Californ iaDepartm ent of Transp ortation (Caltrans) deser ve

recognition for th eir commitmen t to p ublic wildlife

and non-motorized recreation.

In This Corner:

Development Versus Diversity

In 2000 Californ ia State Parks purc has ed 649

acres so uth o f the freeway, which h ad b een slated

for developme nt of 1,550 new ho uses (th is land is

curr ently und isturb ed). Then, in 2001, the y

purch ased an ad ditional 32 acres north of the

freeway, where an ind ust rial par k had bee nplanned. Plans to restore n ative vegetation on th e

32 acres are und erway, and a BMX trac k and ho rse

stables have already been removed.

The area is a remnan t of California coasta l sage

scrub ecosystem, widely recognized as on e of the

most biologically diverse and threatened ecosys-

tems in the co ntinent al U.S. Seventy to ninety

percent of California coastal sage scrub ecosys-

tems h ave already been lost . Coal Canyons 681

acres h ost two feder ally listed sp ecies, the California gnatc atch er and

Braunto ns Milk-vetch , and p rovides n esting hab itat to p rairie falcons

and golden e agles (Hund 2002). Coal Canyon provides a link between

the two larger protected areas, which together are ho me to anadditional 55 sensitive or threatened plant and animal species.

Other ecosystem s and rare commu nities in the Santa Ana

Mountains a nd Puent e-Chino Hills include alluvial sage scrub ,

grasslands, vernal pools, southern California walnut woodland, tecate

cypres s forest, b ig cone Douglas-fir forest , Engelmann o ak wood lands,

the Santa Margarita River, and San Mateo Creek. The latter is th e only

perennial stream between Santa Barbara and the Mexican border th at

remains wild throughout the entire watershed (Noss et. al. 2002).

The purch ased p arcel and the ass ociated road removal will

provide a safe crossing for indicator sp ecies such as cougar and

bob cat that would other wise be cut off into separate islands by the

freeway. In tu rn, the mob ility of the se larger sp ecies will provide forgenetic divers ity in Puen te-Chino Hills and the Santa Ana Mount ains,

strengthening the chances for sur vival of smaller animal species and

plants o n both s ides of the h ighway. Relegation to island stat us

would have b een an es pecially grim scen ario for th e Puente -Chino

Hills State Park, which is too s mall to su pp ort its cu rren t sp ecies

diversity over time. In this area, up to h alf of certain classes of

species could be lost if the link to the south is not preserved. In the

event of a localized destr uction, the corridor may ser ve as a means

for th e repop ulation of connected areas .

An arial view of the Coal Canyon corridor area an d the unde rpass under

Highway 91 (circled). Also see close-up map on nex t page. Photo courtesty of

California State Parks.


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Locator mapCougar Corridors continued from page 3

Chino Hills State Park

Underpass Area

Not Just For Cougars

Mountain lions are cons idered the indicator s pecies in this

area: if the m oun tain lion d isapp ears , a host of ecological

chan ges are cert ain to follow. An issue pa per o n Coal Canyonpredicts t hat if larger pred ators became extinct, smaller o mni-

vores and carnivores would un dergo a p opulation explosion known

as a meso -pred ator re lease. They would likely bec ome 4 to 10 times

more abun dant. Meso-predator release has been implicated in bird

extinctions in th e trop ics and elsewhere, including birds (i.e. Califor-

nia gnatcatch er) in San Diego canyon fragments (Hund 2002). Past

wildlife cro ssing research indicates that crossing structu res wide

enough for cougars should also work for oth er species. Prior to

reh abilitating this cros sing, one r adio-collared moun tain lion was

found to have es tablished its territory on b oth s ides of the freeway,

crossing undern eath the freeway over twenty times in a year (Beier

2002).

To Ma ke It Wor k Rem ove the Roa d

In t heir pap er Evaluation o f Coal Canyon Corridor, Noss e t. al.

mention that we do n ot know what co rridor traits including length,

width, and adjacent land uses are necessary for op timal use.

However, they conclude that the issue is no t h ow wide an ideal

corridor sh ould be but wh ether th e extremely limited op tions that

remain are a deq uate t o pr ovide a functional biological linkage.

Fortun ately for co ugars, gnatcatchers, and others , the Coal Canyon

corridor appear s to do just t hat (Noss et. al. 2002).

To m aximize th e likeliho od of resto ring a funct ional biological

linkage, land mana gers con sidered t he mo st ob vious single impedi-

ment the paved highway underpass and so ught to part ner withCaltran s. After a public hearing in 2000 and con sidera tion of the

ben efits of road remo val, Caltran s joined t he effor t. By ripping the

under pass road th e agencies are well on th eir way to secur ing an

effective corr idor for wildlife and non -moto rized recrea tionists.

They also project th at many mo re animals will

use th is route. Deer, for examp le, curr ently do not

use th e existing doub le box culvert corridor,

because they cannot see to the other s ide. With

the pavement gone and th e underp ass lighting

removed, Caltrans is now enh ancing the corr idors

viability by reco nfiguring the fence line ad jacent to

the freeway in ord er to divert animals into the

underpass.

However, Noss et. al. emp has ize that th e Coal

Canyon Biological Corridor sh ould not b e equ ated

simply with its mos t cons trictive elemen t, the

freeway und erp ass . The 681 acres of Coal Canyon

them selves function as a cru cial link, of which th e

improved underp ass is only a part. For example, apair of gnatcatch ers is nes ting in Coal Canyon, and

other species of concern are found within the 681-

acre linkage zone.

Biologists predict th at s pecies curren tly using

culverts (mountain lion, coyote, skunk, raccoon)

will be joined by th ose h esitant to us e them (deer,

MapsfromCaliforniaStateParks.


5/24


rabb its, rodents , reptiles, and amp hibians).

California State Par ks is cur rently rem oving

pavement an d resto ring vegetation in the corridor,

which will facilitate its use.

The under pass will also serve as a recreational

trail linkage, allowing bikers, equ estr ians, and

hikers to travel under th e freeway to access

Puent e-Chino Hills from th e Santa Ana Mountains

and vice versa.

Funding for Corridor Restoration

Californ ia State Par ks purch ased the land s on

either side o f the freeway for a tota l of $53.5

million, using monies ear marked for land a cqu isi-

tion and a fundraising campaign that included

many pub lic and pr ivate sources. And while the

650 acres south of the freeway is und isturbed,

revegetating the 32 acre parcel (nor th of the

freeway) is es timated to co st from $1 to $1.2

million. State officials ho pe to invo lve citizens in

the effort through volunteering.

Caltrans has generous ly taken on the under-

pass ro ad removal and enhancement s investing

roughly $400,000 in reconfiguring the fence line

alone. As with the revegetat ion effort , creat ive

funding tools such as t ax credits and issuing bonds

help to get the job done.

Tea m Effort

Scientists and engineers at Caltrans, the

California State Par ks and Californ ia Depa rtm ent of

Fish and Game de ser ve the lions sh are of the

credit for pur suing and implementing this project.

Conser vation o rganizations including Hills for

Ever yone, The Wildlands Cons ervan cy, Friend s of

Tecate Cypress, Sierra Club, an d t he Mountain Lion

Found ation also pro vided important as sistance.

Finally, two private companies, the St. Clair

Company and the Pulte Home Corporation, helped

make the p roject possible by reducing the sale

price of the land and offering up d evelopment

rights.

Alexa ndra Koelle is a graduate o f the Environm ental Studies

program at the University of Montana, and is currently a writer and

editor in Missoula.

References

Beier, P., and K. Penrod . 2002. Using cougars t o de sign a wilder nes s

networ k in Californias so uth coast ecoregion. In Proceed ings ofDefende rs of Wildlifes Carnivores 2002 Conference, Montere y, CA.

Hund, G.W. 2002. Preser ving the Coal Canyon Biological Corr idor, Orange

Count y, CA. An Issue Pa pe r for th e California Depa rt men t of Parks

and Recreation, Los Lagos District. 6p.

Kruepe r, R. 2003. Super intenden t, Chino Hills State Pa rk. Personal

Communication.

Noss , R., P. Beier, and W. Sha w. 2002. Evaluat ion of th e Coal Canyon

Biological Corridor. An un pub lishe d rep ort prep ared for Hills for

Everyon e, Brea, CA. 15 p. Available online at: http ://

www.hillsforeveryone.org/PDF_Files/

evaluation_of_the_coal_canyon_biological_corridor.pdf

Conclusion

In an evaluation s ubm itted to California State Par ks in supp ort o f

the p ropo sed pro ject, wildlife professiona ls from Oregon an d Arizona

urged th at: Restoring a natur al linkage in what is no w a roaded

under pass would set a global precedent. We are aware of no other

restored b iological corridor of this type and scale. Conser vation-

minded citizens t hroughout the wor ld could look to Coal Canyon as

an inspiring example of ho w an ecological error was cor rected

thro ugh th ought ful pub lic action (Noss et. al. 2002).

While cons ervationists are und erstand ably scrambling to save

the last percent o f old growth temperate forest and ro adless areas,

the import ance of looking at corr idors within urb an areas s hould give

us h op e as well. The American d esire for s ingle-family ho uses

accessible only by car s hows n o signs of abating; in this context,

perhaps a remarkable action of foresight is to maintain corridors

within the spr awl. Of cour se ad ditional private land s will be de vel-

ope d, and t here will be ed ge effects from tr ails, roads , and inholdings.

However, this makes pres ervation of the co rridor all the more

impor tant , now and in the future. Many thanks to t he State of Califor-

nia for se tting this impo rtan t and h op eful prec eden t for wildlife and

wildlands.

California gnatcatche r. Photo by Mark Alan Wilson.

Former coastal sage scrub habitat in California and the

type of dev elopm ent that renders it a biological desert.

Photo by Mark Alan Wilson.


6/24


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(1) ecological fores t resto ration;

(2) ecological econ omics; and

(3) communities and work force.

When con servationists and forest workers came together to

begin developing these p rinciples (to b e pub lished in the March issue

ofEcological Res toration), their purpos e was to p rovide a too l for

critiqueing forest restor ation projects. But over time they recognized

that to b e successful on the ground , the principles must add ress

economic, community and work force issues. The principles may not

answer all our q uestions, and they cert ainly don t say what will

happ en to a forest after its been restored, but they do provide an

example of how cons ervationists an d forest workers can work

together.

The restoration p rinciples also emphas ize that not all restoration

is silviculturally based . A different d ocum ent, th e SER Ecological

Restoration Primer, states th at, in the simplest circumstances ,

restoration consists of removing or modifying a specific disturbance,

thereby allowing ecological processes to b ring about an indep endent

recover y. Th is conc ept is fully embod ied in the forest res tor ation

pr inciples. So fores t restora tion may pro vide jobs

removing roads o r co ntrolling and erad icating

weeds , but it may also provide silvicultura l jobs .

Either way, people will be pu t to wor k putt ing theforest b ack together - even thou gh it might n ot look

as it did b efore European set tlement.

Forest res tora t ion w i ll a lw ays besusta inable . But susta inab le forestr y

w i ll not a lw ays res tore a forest .

Wildland restoration provides on opportunity for

forest wo rkers and conservationists to w ork

together. File ph oto.

A rev egetate d log haul road, one year after restoration. Photo by J.

McCullah.

and t o do so regardless of what the Forest Service, the forest prod-

ucts industr y or the dominant po litical powers want t o see in their

wallets. It has taken us more th an 100 years to d egrade many of our

forests it may take just as long to n udge them back on th eir way to

being self-sus taining. In the p roces s we may redefine our re lation-

ship with the forests from on e of exploitation to o ne of mutual

supp ort. And by the time we have re-created forest ecosystems that

are self-supp orting the deb ates over co mmodity production andsus tainable fores try may have chan ged dram atically. So why argue

abo ut wha t well do in the future if we can agree on wh at to d o in the

pres ent? Since all forest resto ration is susta inable, focusing our

collective ene rgy on eco logically-principled forest rest orat ion leaves

our future opt ions open while improving our forests and communities

today.

Recognizing that the concept of forest res tora-

t ion has been ab used and often used as a pseud-

onym for commodity production, the restor ation

pr inciples pr ovide explicit language on co mmer -

cialism as it relates to rest oration. They describe

merchantab le products as b y-produ cts, which are

second ary to th e primary goal of produ cing

functioning ecosystems.

When peo ple of divergent b eliefs work

together, they must d ecide which differences th eywill try to reso lve and wh ich th ey will leave for

another d ay (or not at all). Forest restoration

provides an op por tunity for forest workers and

conser vationists to ad vocate for th e same goal,

ReferencesNoss, R. 1993. Susta inable forestr y or sus tainable forests.

In: Aplet ,

G.H., N. John son, J.T. Olson , and V.A. Sample, e ds . 1993.

Defining

Sustainable Forestry. The Wilderness Society and IslandPres s. Wash ington , DC.

DellaSalla, D., A. Martin, R. Spivak, T. Schulke, B. Bird, M.

Criley, C. van

Daalen, J. Kreilick, R. Brown, and G. Aplet . Marc h, 2003. A

citizen's call

for e cological forest resto ration: Forest restor ation

principles and

criteria. Ecological Restoration 21:1.

Society for Ecological Restoration Science and Policy

Working Group. 2002.

The SER Primer on Ecological Restoration. www.ser.org/.


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Roads and More Roads in the

National Parks and National ForestsBy Rosalie Edge, 1936

IntroductionBuild a road ! App arent ly this is the first ide a

that occur s to tho se who formulate projects for

the unemployed. In con sequen ce, a sup erfluity of

four-width boulevards, with t he verd ure cut back

for many feet on eithe r side, goes slashing into o ur

countr ysides, without regard for the des truction of

vegetation, and, too often without consideration of

whether t he road is needed at all. The motoring

pub lic always travels by the new road, and t hose

who d well along such highways, and h ave chosen

the ir homes from a preference for seclusion, find

themselves parked b eside arteries of ceaseless

traffic. No provision is made for ped estr ians; and a

man ta kes his life in his hand s if he ven tures on

foot to call on h is next doo r neighbo r. The city

dweller is forced to go far afield if he is to s ee

aught besides asp halt, or to b reathe air notpolluted with carbon monoxide gas...

...So it is with ro ads . Through t he me dium of

road-building, money may be buttered evenly over

the wh ole count ry. There is a fixed idea in the

American mind, inherited from a pioneer ances try

which su ffered from h aving no roads at all, that

any additional road must be good and th at one

cannot h ave too much of a good t hing. Conse-

que ntly, there have alread y been bu ilt with feder al

funds m ore roads th an can pos sibly be kept in

repair by state an d local communities-roads

parallel, roads crisscross, roads elevated, roads

depres sed, roads circular and roads in the shap eof four -leaf clovers; a mad nes s of roads , too man y

of which will be left un tend ed t o fall into disrep air

and disrepute.

Roa ds In The Na tiona l Pa rksTurning to governme nt-owned lands , we find

that work relief has entered our National Parks and

Fores ts in force. Each one of these has its C.C.C.

(Civilian Cons er vation Corp s) camp s; and road -

building is again the chief employment o f the

hund reds of men thus introduced into the wilderness. Can anyone

supp ose t hat a wilderness an d a C.C.C. camp can exist s ide by side?

And c an a wildernes s con tain a highway?...

...The Park Service is eager to p revent rep etition of the van dalism

that has ruined Park areas in the p ast; but great pressure is brought

to bear b y commercial interests that press to have new areas open ed

in order to ob tain new concessions. In add ition, there is thrust upon

the Par k Sup erinten den ts th e neces sity to employ C.C.C. men,

whether or not their ser vices are needed ; and th e wilderness goes

down before these conq uerors. The supp ort of the pub lic at large

must b e add ed to t he efforts of the Park Service in order to save the

mos t be autiful of the wild p laces. The situation is well told in an

ed itor ial from Glacial Drift, the or gan o f Glacier Nation al Park, as

follows:

Let th ose wh o clamor for th e op ening of the last p rimitive

valleys of the p ark . . . remember that t he ch arm of many places restsin their solitude and inacc essibility. Let tho se who co nsider a cces si-

bility and ease alone, weigh carefully which gives more en dur ing

recollection, the d ash over Logan Pass or th e hor seback or foot trip

over Indian Pass, and learn that one appreciates in more lasting

measure tho se things which one mus t gain through th e expenditure

of effort. Let tho se who urge more roads bear in mind that th e

marring of countr yside does not end with the con struction of a

bro ad, two-lane, highway, abs olutely safe when d riven at a san e

speed commensu rate with th e full enjoyment of a National Park, but

that even th e gentlest cur ves must b e eliminated, the width ever

increased, each reop ening a wound to leave a more gaping scar; with

no more t urns with delightful surprises b eyond, for th ere are to be no

turns; only greater speed and safety, though we may well note t he

irony of the latter in mountainous regions where improvement alwayshas res ulted in more fatalities. Let us recall the hun dreds who da sh

daily over Logan Pass, without so much as a s top, or t he great

number who, like the camper from the Atlantic seabo ard, boasted he

had just b een in three National Parks on that d ay and would be in Mt.

Ranier on t he mo rrow!

Last summer we stood at th e top of Logan Pass and watched the

cars come sweep ing to the summit. They might paus e for five

minutes in the great parking place, decorat ed with landscap ed bed s

of shrubs b ordered with sto ne copings, which belittle what was on ce

one o f the m ost glorious p oints of the Rocky Moun tains. Many pe ople


Editor s N ote: Rosalie Edge is described by environmental historian Stephen Fox as "the first woman

to have a considerable impact on the conservation movement." As the chairman of the Emergency

Conservation Committee, she was one of the foremost environmental advocates in the United States inthe 1930s and 194 0s. Her accompli shments include leadership in the successful efforts to create

Olympic N ational Park and Pennsylvania' s Hawk Mountain Sanctuary.


9/24


did not leave their cars, others s tepped down for a few minutes to

look, and to wonder th at such h eight could be reached without a

heated engine. A ranger invited an d even p leaded with th e sightseers

to go with h im on a shor t walk to see the secluded wond er of Hidden

Lake. You ca n ha ve no idea stan ding here, he said, what a wo nde r-

ful thing it is to go th ere ... a ver y little way. . . . While he sp oke, h is

voice was dro wned in the wh irr of the s elf-star ters . The little group o f

natu re-lovers who followed h im discovered t he loveliness of the lake

and saw, besides, Rosy Finch es an d White-tailed Pt armigan. They did

not miss the company of the moto rists who were by that time far in

the valley below, rush ing on in th eir enjoyment of perp etual motion...

Roa ds In The Na tiona l Fore sts...The Fores t Service has fallen p rey to two comm ercial group s,

the lumberm en and the s tockmen. Its p olicy is controlled b y these

two interes ts, each of which maintains a p owerful lobb y in Wash ing-

ton . By the skillful use o f misleading term s, the nation is kep t in

ignor ance o f the s ham eful exploitation of the National Forest s. The

whole problem of management of the Forests, of which th e constr uc-

tion of roads is only a part, is obscured by und ue accent on the fact

tha t, while th e Parks are for recreat ion, the Forests a re for use. But

the Forest Service reserves t o itself the interpretat ion of the word

use, and narro ws the us efulness of the Forests to the cutting of

timber and the grazing of cattle, forgetting, or willfully subo rdinating,other uses o f greater impor tance that are also the function of the

National Forests....

...CCC camp s are est ablished in hu nd reds in the National Fores ts

and th e Forests are b eing honeycomb ed with roads. Roads in the

Fores ts, if not sur faced with asp halt, are called truck tra ils. The

word trail presents to th e mind a picture of a narrow woodland path

wending its way b eneat h t he t rees. Actually, the s o-called t rail is a

grade d swat h, usu ally following a stream up a narro w valley, over

which may be transpo rted mach inery to cut huge trees, well de-

scr ibed as fores t giants . When the r ailway is reach ed, one s ection

of such a tree makes a load for a flatcar. Surely trail is a m isnomer for

a road wide enough for the mo tor truck, or the teams o f many hors es,

that are necess ary to dr aw it from the d epth o f the forest to the

highway...

. ..There would b e no profit to the lumberm an if the roads were

not b uilt at th e expense of the nation. Until the p ublic restrains th e

Fores t Service from giving to a small group the forest s th at be long to

all, every tax-payer contributes to t he profit of the lumberman. The

tru ck trails now being built, rap idly and s ecretly, up ever y exquisite

valley in th e Olympic National Forest in Wash ington te stify to the

unholy alliance between th e timber interests and the Forest Service.

The roads that are eating into th e hear t of valleys are often

wrongly declared to b e for fire prote ction. The o nly real fire

pro tection is etern al vigilance, maintained from fire towers and oth er

points o f vantage, and from airplanes. Road s are, in them selves, the

greates t of fire hazard s, for man follows ro ads , and fire follows m an.Tinder, leaves and d ead wood dr y out along the roads, and the moist

groundcover of moss and small plants dies, and dries back from the

open s paces th at have admitted the s un and wind. Time is the

impor tant element in fighting a fire. Firefighte rs from c once ntr ation

camps, who come with cumberso me equipment long distances b y

road s, often d o not r each a fire as quickly, nor extinguish it as

quickly, as can fewer men, stationed at sho rt inter vals, with the

simple tools th at they can carry along a good b ut nar row trail. ..

...Above all, the Forest s sho uld be pr eser ved

for th e recreation of those whose need impels

them to withdr aw from time to time from conven-

tional life. A mech anized world h as cro wded its

citizens into d ensely popu lated cities. The temp o

of life is spee ded beyo nd m ans cap acity for

end ura nce. The vital energy of man, whether of his

bod y, his intellect, or his emo tions, is consu med in

his uncea sing activity, and t oo close con tact with

the a ctivity of other s. When creative force is

exhausted, some mode o f re-creation must b e

foun d. Recreat ion is a first nec essity for the cu re of

maladjustments resulting from over-stimulation.

Some se ek relief thr ough a ch ange in occupa tion,

others in idleness; those who have few resources

in themselves find diversion in crowds , others

pe ace in s olitud e. The Ps almist s aid: I will lift up

mine eyes unto th e hills from whence cometh my

help, -and we are su re th at th e hills of his vision

were forest ed! Julian Huxley says: there are many

peo ple to whom the sight of wild animals, living in

untouch ed s urround ings, is profoundly stirring,

and ind eed o ne of the mo st valuable th ings of life.When t he mean ing of the p eace and solitude of the

fores ts, the me aning of the b eaut y and s ane-living

of wild creatures comes to be better un derst ood,

the National Fores ts may yet o ffer a h igher s ervice

to the people.

To all such ben efits ro ads are inimical. A

minimum of roads may be p ermitted in the

National Fores ts for the u se of travellers, for th e

taking of timber rightfully cut, and for ho nes t-to-

God fire protect ion. Only trails be long to the d eep

fores ts; a road in to a wild region is the p relude to

its dest ruct ion, its forests, its scener y and its wild

life. An increa se o f roads in the National Forestsspells th e doo m of the last of the great timber.

NotesPamph let No. 54, Emergency Conse rvation

Committee . Librar y, Sequo ia National Park, Ash

Mountain.

The Emergency Conservat ion Committee con sisted

of Ms. Rosalie Edge a nd a few of her friend s. She

wrote all the correspondence and bulletins. The

pamp hlet was pu blished in March, 1936.



10/24


For years, state and county agencies have been ass erting their

rights to roads an d trails on federal land by using an outdated statute

called R.S. 2477 (se e The RIPorter6.4 page s10-11). R.S. 2477 is a

se ction of the 1866 Mining Act allowing for right s-of-way to be

granted t o individuals or agencies without application to the govern-

ment and without any environmental assessment.

R.S. 2477 was repe aled in 1976 with th e pa ssa ge of the Federa l

Land Policy Mana geme nt Act (FLPMA); howe ver, claims in exist enc e

prior to 1976 have continued to be hon ored. In the past ten years ,stat es an d cou nties in rura l areas have u sed R.S. 2477 as a license to

bulldoze, widen , and p ave the ir asser ted rights-of-way into road less

areas, and th erefore remove th ese areas from cons ideration for

Wildernes s des ignation. Environmentalists have respond ed to th ese

activities with a flurr y of litigation, but jus t as we were ma king

pro gress, Congress placed a mo rato rium on any furth er R.S. 2477

rulemaking by feder al agencies.

Then, on Januar y 6, 2003, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

increase d th e confusion over R.S. 2477 by annou ncing an amend ment

to its regulations for issuing record able disclaimers of intere st.

While the BLM claims th is amen dme nt is not a significant regulator y

action, conservationists are concerned about the effect this ru le

may h ave on stat e and local officials rights t o creat e, modify, and

upgrade road s on federal lands.So what d o recordab le disclaimers of intere st have to d o with

R.S. 2477? A recordab le disclaimer of interest is a doc umen t issu ed

by the government th at formally renounces its interest in a piece of

land. Parties who claim ownersh ip or access to parcels of federal

land may ap ply for a disclaimer in order to clear th eir title to the

land. The amendment pas sed in January made this application

pro cess easier b y extending the t ime period for filing for a d isclaimer

and by allowing any ent ity to ap ply for o ne. In

the p ast, disclaimers could only be issued to

landowne rs; this cha nge will allow states a nd

coun ties to file for an d rece ive disclaimers as well.

It app ears th at the recen tly declared dis-

claimer r ule may be a d eliberate attempt to

circumvent the R.S. 2477 rulemaking morato rium

and give federal agencies th e opp ortun ity to

quickly and ea sily grant rights-of-way to s tates ,counties, and others. The rule expressly states,

An e xisting o wner of an R.S. 2477 right-of-way m ay

apply for a reco rdable d isclaimer under existing

regulations or a s amen ded in this final rule, and

we expect local governments to start testing this

soon.

Agencies in Utah, Alaska, and o ther wester n

states may b e barr aged with requ ests for disclaim-

ers in th e up coming mon ths . Wildland s CPR is

working with national organizations to ad dress the

impacts of this rule change. Activists on th e

ground can help immeasurably by s taying in close

touc h with local BLM and Fores t Service o ffices

and keeping track of any new requests for d is-claimers. The earlier you know about requests ,

the eas ier it will be to tr y to challenge them. Field-

checking is an integral part o f this p rocess, so

activists knowledge of and p roximity to th ese

claimed ro utes is cru cial to th e fight. How this rule

is implemented on the ground in the next few

mont hs will deter mine its s ignificance for r oad -free

lands for years to come.

For more information ab out the disclaimer

rule and R.S. 2477, contact Bridget in our office:

br idget@wildlan ds cp r.org.

Disclaimer Rule May ReviveR.S. 2477 Claims

Look like a road to you? Under RS 2477, it could be.

Photo courtesy of Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

RS 2477 claims bisect many of our nations National Parks and recreation areas.

Photo courtesy of Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.


11/24


On December 12, 2002, the Ninth Circuit Cour t of App eals up held

the Roadless Area Conser vation Rule. The Rule, issued o n Januar y

12, 2001, protects 58.5 million a cres o f unroad ed n ational forest from

most logging and road building. Even before recent attempts by the

Bush Administra tion to increase co mmercial activity on our n ational

forests, th e vast majority of Americans su ppo rted the Roadless Rule.

When the Rule was signed two years ago, the state of Idaho ,

Boise Cascad e Corpor ation, the Kootenai Tribe of Idah o and various

motorized recreational groups s ued the Forest Service, arguing that

the Forest Service d idnt allow for adequ ate p ublic input and that the

Rule would c ause irrepar able ha rm. On May 10, 2001, the U.S.

District Court in Idaho grante d th e plaintiffs motion for a p reliminary

injunct ion blocking the Rule. Environmen talists inter vened on be half

of the government, and too k the case to the 9th Circuit, which

overturned the injunction.

The cas e is now he ade d b ack to th e U.S. District Court in Idaho

for ad ditional review. And wh ile the rec ent d ecision is inde ed a

victory, many st ill feel unease ab out th e fate of roadless area s. Infact, the 9th Circuit ruling came only one d ay after the White House

announced intentions to hasten the environmental review process

ass ociated with fire-preven tion thinning, and just two weeks after

Bush promised greater leeway for logging and other commercial

activities on national fores ts and grass lands. As such , the 9th

Circuits d ecision, accord ing to Niel Lawrence with th e Natural

Resources Defense Council, is a ra y of hope a t a time when our

national forests are under assault by th e Bush administration and its

timber industry allies.

More information abou t the Roadless Rule can b e found on the

web at http://roadless.fs.fed.us

Follow up note: A Tongass r ider attached to th e Omnibus b udget

bill was passed on February 13, which would block agency proposals

to des ignate any Tongass r oad less areas for Wilder ness . This is ablatant d isregard for the law, as th e fede ral district cou rt in Alaska

ordered the Forest Service to go back an d review all Tongass road less

areas for possible wilderness pro tection. On a positive note, the

rider to exempt Alaskas forests from the roadless r ule was drop ped

from the bill.

Roadless Area ConservationRule Upheld

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals cited a brief submitted by Montanas

Attorney General Mike McGrath, who argued that public involvem ent

in the roadless rule process had been adequate. File photo.

Chiles Road toNowhere Rerouted

On Januar y11, the gove rnme nt of Chile signed

a landmark agreement to red efine the routing of

the Coastal Range Road and establish mechanisms

for creating protected areas along the countr ys

Coastal Range home t o the o ldest and mo st

diverse rainforest remaining in sout hern South

America. (For bac kground, see The Riporter7.3.)

The agreement was signed with th e Coastal

Range Coalition, a gro up of NGOs, ind igenou s

group s, and leading scientists. The Minister o f

Public Works, t he Inten den te o f Region X (State

Governor), and the Directors of CONAMA (National

Environmen tal Commission) and CONAF (National

Forestr y Agency) signed the agreement on behalf

of the Governme nt o f Chile, and Fran cisco Solas

signed o n b ehalf of the Coastal Range Coalition.

The Coastal Range Road would ha ve con-

nect ed th e cities of Valdivia and Puer to Montt b yway of the Pac ific Coast . The p lanned ro ute p asse d

along the wes tern flanks of the Coastal Range,

which contains the oldest and mos t diverse

rainforest rema ining in sou the rn South America.

The road would have further fragmented this

ancient rainforest and facilitated its conversion to

eucalypt and p ine plantations.

The agreement represents an outs tanding

cons erva tion resu lt. Twenty p er cen t of the 200-km

road th at is already under co nstruction will be

changed from a logging penetration road (s peed

limit of 70 km/h) to a minimal environm ental

impact road (sp eed limit of 40 km/h). Add itionally,

the re maining 80 per cen t of the road will berouted ou tside forested areas ( east of the range)

and use existing minor roa ds . Significantly, each

segmen t will und ergo a full environmen tal asses s-

ment , which is n ot re qu ired b y law. Finally, the

plan also considers t he estab lishmen t of protected

areas, since less than five per cent of the Coastal

Range is currently under protection.

Only two years ago th e project was mo ving at

full speed and no com munication ch annels existed

between the environmental community and the

regional or nation al govern ment s. At th e signing,

the Chilean government reco gnized that the

Coastal Range Coalition was a legitimate, scientifi-

cally and tech nically soun d NGO, cap able ofengaging in this and ot her impor tant environmen-

tal issues in the ecoregion.


12/24


2002 Annual Report

In a year filled with econ omic an d po litical instability, Wildland s

CPR began d eveloping new and exciting progra ms to increas e our

effectiveness . We moved to a n ew office, went th rough s ome

cha llenging staff cha nges and just abo ut finalized a ne w strat egic

plan. 2002 was a year of challenge and cha nge, and we think were astronger organization because of it .

Organizational DevelopmentIn Januar y Lisa Philipps joined us as th e new Grassroo ts Coordi-

nato r for the Natura l Trails and Water s Coalition. A few mont hs later

we concluded a year long search for a Science Coordinator when

Adam Switalksi joined o ur s taff and began develop ing his new

program. Both h ave been incredible add itions to our organization.

Replacing Jacob Smith, ou r long-time Motor ized Recreation Policy

Coordinato r, pro ved ch allenging, but we were ver y excited to fill his

pos ition b y hiring Bridget Lyons in early 2003. We ha d eight s tud ent

interns who answered all sorts of questions for us, from the ecologi-

cal effects of mounta in bikes to th e legal implications of the newCategorical Exclusion regulations. We also add ed on e excellent ne w

boa rd mem ber a nd old friend to the o rganization, Dave Havlick. For

the first t ime since iden tifying our s cience progr am comp onen t, we

have reached a full staffing level at Wildlands CPR.

On the revenue side, our found ation funding remained stab le,

with generou s grant s award ed from th e following foun dations : 444S,

Brainer d, Bullitt, Flint ridge , Fou nd ation for Deep Ecology, Harde r,

Lazar, New Land, Norcro ss , Page, Patagon ia, Temp er o f the Times, W.

Alton Jones , Weed en, and Wilbur force. Flintr idge was a new funde r

for 2002 and we also b egan d iscuss ions with th e LaSalle Adams Fund

tha t led to new funding for 2003 and 2004. Late in the year we

embarked o n our first ever major donor campaign, which netted just

over $15,000. We also expand ed ou r work with th e Comb ined Fede ralCampaigns and state workplace giving. Our mem ber sh ip grew

significantly, and we will cont inue to expan d bo th ou r memb ers hip

and our donor base.

Strategic PlanningIn May the b oard a nd st aff began a st rate gic

planning process. Thanks to a generous grant

from t he Wilburforce Found ation we were ab le toretain Shelli Bischoff of Cons ervat ion Impact and

finish th at pro cess in Decemb er. The final lan-

guage wasnt approved unt il after the ne w year, so

youll hear mor e abo ut it in next year s ann ual

report . Impor tantly, however, we mapp ed out th e

new directions we had been exploring, expand ing

our work regarding road removal on-the-ground.

We also solidified th e role we want t o p lay in

affecting off-road vehicle manageme nt ch anges,

both independently and through t he Natural Trails

and Water s Coalition.

RoadsWith th e ad dition of Adam as Science Coordi-nator, Marnie has expanded the sco pe of her road

remo val work. In addition, thanks to a new grant

from the Flintr idge Foun dat ion, Marnie is wor king

more closely with the Alliance for Sustainable Job s

and th e Environment and oth er forest workers. To

compliment th is outreach, we h ired the Center for

Environmental Economic Development to conduct

an econo mic assessment of creating a national

road re moval progra m on Nationa l Fores ts; this

stud y will be com pleted in 2003. Marnie overs aw

interns who assess ed the implementation of the

Roads Analysis Proces s, and we finalized a rep ort

comparing that pro cess to existing methods foranalyzing road sys tems o n National Forest land s.

Marnie has b een a cr itical member of the Restora-

tion Working Group , which com pleted th e resto ra-

tion principles at th e end of 2002 and h as su bmit-

ted t hem for p ublication inEcological Restoration .

The working group also hosted th e second an nual

Restorat ion Summ it and severa l field trips to b ring

together con ser vation activists, practitioners and

community forestr y advocates.

Adam s focus is on increas ing the b read th and

depth of road removal research. He began with a

comprehensive search for existing peer-reviewed

literature on road remo val; we are not su rprised t osay that th ere is an extreme paucity of such

inform ation. Adam is now working with sc ientists

around th e countr y to develop an article articulat-

ing the need for ad vanced road removal research,

and ident ifying som e key quest ions to ask. A

por tion of Adam s time is dedicate d to m aintaining

curr ent files on th e impacts of roads an d off-road

vehicles as well. Adam attend ed numero us

scientific conferences in 2002 and will be pre sent -

ing road removal research and research agendas at

conferences throughout t he coun try in 2003.

Wildlands CPRs road removal workshops are giving activists around the

country the skills nee ded to adv ocate for effective w ildland restoration.

File photo.


13/24


Off-road vehicles2002 was a challenging year for Wildlands CPR

on th e off-road vehicle front. Jacob drop ped down

to h alftime and we had trouble finding someone to

job -sh are and t hen re place him; this limited our

work. Nonethe less, we focus ed on litigation

options and researched three important, but

ultimately unsuccessful oppor tunities to bring

critical litigation against off-road vehicle ma nage-

ment . At the sam e time, two lawsuits we were

involved in (with o ther conser vation groups ) were

reso lved in our favor - one o n th e Parks Yamp a

District of the Routt National Forest and one o n

Utah BLM land s r egard ing RS 2477!

In add ition, we completed t wo temp lates for

activists to use when challenging off-road vehicle

issues related to travel management planning.

Both Jacob and Lisa continued our work with th e

Natural Trails and Waters Coalition, a significant

por tion of which was focused o n highlighting

egregious off-road vehicle violations t o th e med ia.

Lisa provided continued assistance to grassroots

activists around th e countr y and also beganconnecting with hunters and r anchers who are

opposed to indiscriminate off-road vehicle use.

ConclusionIn 2002, we reached o ut to new peop le, promoted more road

removal on the ground , and broadened the econom ic and ecological

under standing of the benefits (and drawbacks) of wildland resto ra-

tion thro ugh road r emoval. 2002 saw off-road veh icle issues rise up

high on th e list o f issues the media covers, with many sto ries detail-

ing the significant con cern s regard ing off-road vehicle abus es to

peo ple and the environment . While the curre nt political situation

leaves little room for p ositive gain on environmen tal issu es, we feel

strongly that we are using approaches an d messages th at can break

through so me part isan barriers and result in stronger environmental

protection and restoration. Thanks for your continued suppor t

please dont hesitate to tell your friends abou t us!

2002 Financial Report

Income: $370,310.71

Intere st/Oth er: 1.5%

Grants: 92%

Contributions: 5%

Members hip: 1.5%

Expenses: $342,560.25

Administration: 7.7%Science: 7.4%

Roads:

26.1%

Organizational

Development: 20.8%

Motorized

Recreation:

21.6%

Fundraising:

2.7%

Clearinghouse:

13.7%

Wildlands CPR is leading the way in citizen efforts to control inappropriate ATV

use. Here, ATV riders head into the Colorado-San Isabel Nation al Forest.

File photo.


14/24


Roads Program UpdateSpring 2003

By Marnie Criley, Roads Policy Coordina tor

Restor ation Principles a nd Summ itWildland s CPR has been develop ing a set of resto ration p rin-

ciples since 2001; they have c urrently been end orsed by over 80

organizations. A version of the Principles will be p ublished in th e

March issu e of the Society for Ecological Restorat ions jour nal

Ecological Restoration.

The next res tor ation su mmit will be h eld in Ash land, Oregon

March 13-15, 2003. Marnie h as b een wo rking on th e agend a for th e

sum mit, which includes a day of field trips t o various res tor ation

projects in the area, both good ones an d controvers ial ones. The

goals of this su mmit are:

Use th e Restoration Principles to stimulate a discussion and

look at restor ation projects together on-the-ground (includ-

ing controversial Federal land restoration p rojects);

Help develop an d improve method s for conser vationists and

practitioners to work to gether to supp ort, reject, monitor, or

other wise influence restoration projects;

Continue to b uild b ridges and alliances b etween the conser-

vation commu nity and forest pr actitioners and com munity

forestr y groups ;

Delve more deep ly into key issu es arou nd implemen ting

ecological restoration;

Share up dates o n efforts over the p ast year, discuss lessonslearned, and identify projects that we can work on together

within the following arenas (and pot entially other s): App ro-

priations/Legislative, Alliance Building, Multi-party Monitor-

ing, Fire and Restorat ion, Experient ial and Indigenous

Knowledge, and th e Forest Resto ration Principles.

Blue -Green DialogueMarnie has been participating in month ly blue-

green dialogues in Missoula, Monta na de signed to

bring environmental and union const ituencies

together to d iscuss issues of common interest,

including forest restoration, energy, and resource

extraction. Recently the group auth ored a resolu-

tion asking the Montana State Legislature t o call on

Congress to es tablish a t rust fund to co ver long-

term h ealth care n eed s of the citizens o f Libby,

Mont ana who suffer, or will suffer, from expos ure

to as bes tos due to th e W.R. Grace ve rmiculite

mine. Similar to Marnies wo rk with Alliance for

Sust ainable Jobs and the Environment , this is

anot her excellent foru m for Wildlands CPR todiscus s road remo val as a win-win solution for th e

environment and local communities.

Clear w a ter NF Roa d Remova lThanks to a two-year gra nt from th e LaSalle

Adam s Fund , Wildland s CPR is wo rking to d evelop

a national mod el for ro ad rem oval. To get star ted

we contracted with a local environmental re-

searc her, Beth Peluso , to:

1. Co nd uct an in -d ep th as ses smen t o f th e

Clear water National Fores ts roa d rem oval

program, and a limited assess ment of two

to three ot her programs; write a repor tdet ailing the res ults; develop a template

for a model road removal program; and,

2. Res earch fu nd in g o pp or tu nities an d

sources for road removal on private, state

and federal lands, and design a brochure

to display this inform ation. See our Policy

Primer o n p ages 20-22 for a preview of

funding op por tunities.

Science Progra mAdam cont inues to improve Wildland s CPRs

visibility within the scientific com mun ity. He has

add ed man y road an d off-road veh icle articles to

our librar y and dat abase, super vised two Univer-sity of Montana environmental stud ies program

science p rojects, an d fulfilled sever al information

requ ests for scientists and activists. He working

with numero us scientists to promote road removal

and define needed research and research s ites. He

is also coo rdinating a review and p rospectu s of

road removal, which we hope to have p ublished

this year. Finally, Adam h as sub mitted ab str acts

for present ations at the Conser vation Biology

conference and the International Conference on

Ecology and Transportation.

To restrict or restore, that is the

question. . . File ph otos.


15/24


Since our last issue ofThe Riporter, weve b eenin the midst of a hiring process to replace

Jacob Smith. That process is now complete,

and we welcome Bridget Lyons as o ur n ew Trans-

por tation Policy Coord inator. We also reworked ou r

programs a bit, so in the future this upd ate will

incorporate both road p revention and off-road

vehicle issues . Over the coming mont hs, Bridget

will tackle a number of new projects . One of the

first will be d eveloping a p rimer for local organizing

related to transp ortation planning.

Bridget also will reinvigorat e our worksh op

pro gram, so if youre interest ed in inventories and

cha llenges o f road s and ORVs, don t hes itate to

cont act her. In Febr uar y Wildlands CPR co-sp on-

sored a workshop with th e East Kootenay Environ-

mental Society to bring together so uthwestern

Canadian a ctivists working on off-road vehicle

issues . The worksh op, held in Banff, was a great

beginning to coo rdinate d off-road vehicle activism

in that region.

In the meantime, the biggest news on th e trans portat ion front is

the RS 2477 cha nges implement ed b y the Bush Administration in

early Januar y. Please see p age 10 for a com plete update on that

process . Were also working to under stand some of the chan ges

prop osed in the n ew transp ortation b ill and h ow they will affect

pub lic lands. Keep an eye out for more information on trans port

funding in future issue s ofThe Riporter. At the national level, here isa recap of some recen t work with the Natur al Trails and Water s

Coalition (NTWC).

California Commiss ion Denies Funding to Supp ort Off-

road Vehicle Use in Algod ones Dunes

In Jan uar y, th e Califor nia Off-Highway Motor Veh icle Recreat ion

Commission rejected a $1.1 million fund ing reques t from the Bureau

of Land Managem ent (BLM) to facilitat e dirt bike, ATV and du ne

buggy use in the Algodon es Dunes of south ern Californ ia. The BLM

has failed to effectively manage such use wh ile at th e same t ime

prop osing to open more cr itical habitat for th reatened p lants and

wildlife to the se ve hicles.

NTWC provided a mini-grant to exp ose the ORV pro blem at the

Dunes . Andr ew Har vey, a professional ph otogra ph er, creat ed a

traveling photo exhibit documenting both the b eauty and th e

des tru ction of the fragile Dunes environmen t. The exhibit is being

shown throughout California and Arizona at mu seums, zoos, b otani-

cal gardens, etc. in an effort to reach ou t to a broad er cons tituency.

Consu mer Product Sa fety Commiss ion

Extend s Comm ent Period on ATV Safety

In Decemb er, 2002 the CPSC annou nced it was

extending the comment period on a p roposal to

better p rotect children under 16 years old from the

dan gers as soc iated with ad ult-size all-terr ain

vehicles (ATVs). The prop osal was submitted b y

nine consumer, medical and conser vation organi-

zations, including the Consumer Federation of

America, American Acad emy of Pediatr ics and

Bluewa ter Networ k. Major ATV man ufactu rer s

requested the extension; the comment p eriod will

now clos e on March 16, 2003.

The CPSC will release n ew rep or ts a bo ut ATV-

related injuries to up dat e a 1998 stud y, which

foun d th at nea rly 96% of injured ch ildren were

injured b y adu lt-size ATVs. The Natur al Trails and

Water s Coalition will analyze th ese repo rts ; we will

also submit comments using the new data.

In Augus t, Natur al Trails and Wate rs , CFA and

Bluewater released a rep ort on th e growing ATV

safety issu e in the U.S. We are con tinuing to pus h

for increased regulation through this process . For

more information abo ut s afety issues go to

naturaltrails.org.

For mo re information o n the Natural Trails and

Waters Coalition visit w ww.na turaltrails.org.

ORV Program UpdateSpring 2003

By Lisa Philipps

While we have changed the nam e of our ORV program, w e w ont change our

em phasis: preve nting ORV damage lik e this w ill still be one of our top

priorities. File pho to BLM land north of Boise, ID.


16/24


Bibliography Notes sum ma riz es a nd h ighlights

some of the scientific literature in our 6,000 citation

bibliography on the ecological effects of roads.

We offer bibliographic searches to help activists

access im portant biological research relevant to

roads. We keep copies of most articles cited in

Bibliography Notes in our office library.

IntroductionAcross the United States, outd oor recreation continues to rise in

pop ularity while wildlife habitat cont inues to shr ink. These con verg-

ing trends incre ase th e pot ential for ne gative human-wildlife interac-

tions and make it imperative that society recognize how recreationaffect s wildlife (Knight an d Temp le 1995). This ar ticle reviews the

literature concerning the impacts of snowmobiling and cross-countr y

skiing on ungulates, and comment s on the limitations of this research.

Ungulates are h oofed mam mals such as de er, elk, bison , and

moose. Although it is important to know how hum ans affect these

animals thro ughou t the year, the hars h, limiting conditions of winter

make this a par ticularly vulnerab le season for ungulates . As a result,

wildlife biologists comm only recognize that winter recre ationists

potentially have a greater impact than th eir warm season coun ter-

par ts (McCool 1978). During the winter, ungulates ma y be more

suscep tible to d isturbance, which caus es an increase in energy

expen diture. Disturb ances can elevate hea rt rate, increase vigilance,

displace animals from their h abitat, and can be d etrimental if pro-

longed or repea ted (Canfield et al. 1999).

Literature ReviewScientific studies find that both snowmobiling and cross-country

skiing distur b un gulates, however, which form of recreation ha s a

greater impact is still a source of cont rovers y. Furt her more, most

studies use different meth ods t o measure th e impacts of winter

recrea tion, resulting in con flicting conclusions . Here is a b rief review

of the literatu re.

SnowmobilingSeveral studies have examined the impacts of

sno wmob ilers o n ungulates . Bollinger et al. (1972)

found that deer did not change their home r ange, or

the area of land o ver which they moved , as a resultof sno wmobile activity. He did repo rt tho ugh, that

deer movement s increased when snowmob iles were

present. Dorrance et al. (1975) concluded that deer

moved away from s nowmobile tr ails d uring periods

of snowmobile use, and that, at a tes t site with

historically low sno wmobile us e, deer home ranges

increased as a res ult of sno wmobile activity.

A 1978 stud y by Riche ns an d Lavigne rep ort ed

that while snowmobiles did n ot cause [deer] to

[permanen tly] abando n preferred bedding and

feed ing sights, the deer did flee when s nowmo biles

approach ed. They even concluded that snowmo-

biles us ed in a judicious ma nner to create trails

by comp acting snow would benefit deer by

facilitating movemen t to ne w source s of fora ge.

Stud ying reindeer, Tyler (1991) found tha t flight

respons e from snowmob iles con sumed 0.4% of the

reindeer s daily energy expend iture. He conc luded

that, with one snowmob ile disturban ce per d ay, the

reindeer were not adver sely affected . However,

Moen et al. (1982) found th at deer heart rates

increased in response to snowmobile provocation,

raising energy expend itures without necessarily

changing behavior.

Creel et al. (2001) compa red fecal glucocor ti-

coid levels in elk and wolves with sn owmob ile

activity. He and h is colleagues found t hat elk stress

hormo ne levels ros e and fell daily corresp onding to

the amo unt of snowmob ile traffic. They also foun dthat these levels were higher during snowmob ile

season th an dur ing the off season. For wolves, they

reported that fecal glucocorticoid levels were

sub stan tially higher in an area with diffuse s now-

mobile traffic compared to an area where snowmo-

biles were not permitted.

The Impacts of Snowmobiling andCross-Country Skiing on Ungulates

By Teresa Elise Welsh

Young-of-the-year moose feed with their mother in the

Clearw ater National Forest. Young anim als are particularly

suscep tible to ene rgy loss caused by disturbance s. Photo by

Jim Coefield.


17/24


SkiingLiterature on the impacts of cross co untr y

skiing is much mo re limited. Ferguso n and Keith

(1982) were the first to pu blish a study o n th e

effects o f cros s-coun tr y skiing on th e distribu tion of

moose and elk. They found th at both moos e andelk moved away from ski trails whe n th e tra ils were

in use. Furth er, they concluded that cros s-countr y

skiing influenced moose distribution during the

winter, with moo se b eing less likely to reside in

areas used by cross-countr y skiers. Cassirer et al.

(1992) repor ted th at when peop le walked or skied

directly towards elk, the e lk were temp orar ily

displaced, but returned shor tly after p eople left the

area.

Limitations of the ResearchA direct comparison of the impacts of snowmo-

biles and cross-country skiers has b een address edin only two published stu dies (Freddy et al. 1986;

Hardy 2001). Both s tudies found that cross -countr y

skiers h ave a greater immediate impact b ecause

they are less p redictable, and t herefore more

startling. Other stud ies have also found predict-

ability to be a major factor in animal response t o

distur ban ce (Vaske et al. 1995). However, no

studies compa re the impacts of cross-country

skiers and snowmobilers using the same predictable trails. Nor have

any studies obser ved ungulate respons e to snowmobiles and cross -

coun try skiers both t raveling in unp redictab le locations. Add itionally,

no stud ies have considered th e difference in noise produced by the

two types o f recrea tion, or the differenc e in distan ces tr avelled by

motorized and no n-motorized recreationists. Snowmobiles prod uce

73 decibels record ed from 50 feet, a level similar to a bu sy city street

(WWA 2001; Smith 2002). A car efully con tro lled s tu dy is ne ed ed t o

estab lish t he effects o f noise.

A major limitation o f published research o n th e impacts of

snowmobiles is a failure to co nsider ch anges in sno wmobile tech nol-

ogy over the last few years. Modern s nowmobiles have more p ower

and can exceed sp eeds of 100 mph, but the st udies cited here re-

str icted sp eeds to 15 mph (Fredd y et al. 1986; Tyler 1991). In add i-

tion, the power of new snowmob iles allows them to travers e terrain

not p reviously possible, and to enter wildlands that were on ce devoid

of any human disturb ance during the winter month s. This combina-

tion of speed and ran ge has revolutionized access to remote h abitat,

and with it the p oten tial for distur ban ce to wildlife.

Another gap in the research is in s nowmobiles impacts to

vegetation. Both vegetation tr ampling and mo rtality and h ave been

well do cumen ted (e .g. Wanek and Pot ter 1974), bu t no stu dy has

measured if a d ecrease in forage could impact ungulate pop ulations.

Finally, the pu blished s tud ies lack data o n th e long-term imp acts

of recreat ion. While sh ort -term stu dies measur ing the immediaterespons e of individual ungulates are easier to accomp lish, they d o not

address how accumulated expos ure affects a p opulation over several

seasons.

ConclusionWhile the scientific litera ture is inconclus ive, a sno wmob iles

ability to cover large distance s into remot e areas, as well as the re ach

of its no ise, may imply that s nowmobiles h ave a greater impact on

ungulates than previously under stood . These concerns combined

with snowmobiles other environmental impacts may be of more

consequ ence than the finding that when cross -countr y skiers are in

unpred ictable locations, they can h ave a greater impact th an snowmo-

biles in predictable locations.Research h as shown, however, that both groups have the po ten-

tial to negat ively affect un gulates; therefore our p rimary co ncer n

should be on cumu lative detrimental impacts. Although none of the

published stu dies have proven that either type of recreation influ-

ences ungulates at th e po pulation level, Creel et al. (2002) and Hardy

(2001) have pre sent ed evidenc e that ind ividua ls are feeling stres s

from wintertime recrea tion. The cumu lative effects of this stres s may

someday lead to a red uction in ungulate pop ulations.

It would be wise to take steps now to man age recreation access

and edu cate recreationists ab out the impacts of their behavior. A

good management str ategy would restr ict recreation to es tablished ,

and th erefore, predictab le trails. Limiting the exten sive range of

sno wmob iles may also be a good m itigation strat egy, and keep ing

trails out of critical ungulate hab itat areas is essential. Edu cationalmeasures s hould focus on teaching recreationists not to seek close

encounters with wildlife, and ho w to act s o as to decrease ungulate

disturbance.

Teresa Elise Welsh is a graduate student in Environme ntal Studies at the

University of Montana.

References on nex t pa ge.

Advances in snowmobile technology now make it

possible to reach rem ote backcountry areas.

Photo by Phil Knight.


18/24


BibliographyBollinger, J. G., O. J. Rongstad, A. Soom, and T. Larson. 1972. Snowmobile

no ise effects o n wildlife. Final Repor t. University of Wisco ns in-

Madison.Canfield, J. E., L. J. Lyon , J. M. Hillis, an d M. J. Thomp so n. 1999.

Ungulates. Chapter 6 in Effects of Recreation on Rocky Mountain

Wildlife: A Review for Mont ana , coordina ted by G. Joslin and H.

Youm ans . Comm ittee o n Effects o f Recre ation on Wildlife, Mont ana

Chapt er of The Wildlife Society.

Cass irer, E. F., D. J. Fred dy, and E. D. Ables. 1992. Elk res po ns es to

distur bance by cro ss-countr y skiers in Yellowston e National Park.

Wildlife Society Bulletin 20:375-381.

Creel, S., J. E. Fox, A. R. Hardy, J. Sands, B. Garrot, and R. O. Peterson.

2002. Snowmob ile activity and glucocort icoid s tress resp onse s in

wolves and elk. Conservation Biology 16(3):809-14.

Dorrance, M. J., P. J. Savage, and D. E. Huff. 1975. Effects of snowmobiles

on white-tailed deer.Journal of Wildlife Management39(3):563-69.

Ferguson, M. A. D., and L. B. Keith. 1982. Influence of Nordic skiing on

distribution of moose and elk in Elk Island National Park, Alberta.

Canadian Field-Naturalist96(1):69-72.

Freddy, D. J., W. M. Bronaugh, and M. C. Fowler. 1986. Responses of mule

deer to d isturbance by persons afoot and snowmobiles. Wildlife

Society Bulletin 14:63-68.

Hardy, A. R. 2001. Bison and elk responses to winter recreation in

Yellowston e National Park. Mast ers th esis, Montan a State

University.

Knight, R. L., and S. A. Temple. 1995. Wildlife and recreationists:

coexistence thro ugh m anagement. Chap 20 in Wildlife an d

Recreationists: Coexistence Throu gh Management and Research ,

edited by R. L. Knight, and K. J. Gutzwiller. Washington D.C.: Island

Press.

continued from last page

McCool, S. F. 1978. Snowm ob iles, an imals, and man : Inte rac tions andmanagemen t issues. Transactions o f the Nort h American Wildlife

Conference 43:140-48.

Moen, A. N., S. Whitte more, and B. Buxton. 1982. Effects of distu rb anc e

by sn owmob iles on hear t rate of captive white-tailed d eer.New

York Fish and Game Journal 29(2):176-83.

Richens V. B., and G. R. Lavigne. 1987. Resp ons e o f white-tailed d eer to

snowmo biles and snowmo bile trails in Maine. Canadian Field-

Naturalist92(4):334-43.

Smith , S. 2002. The s nowm obile lobb ys sn ow job.Earth Island Journal .

Summer : 13.

Tyler, N. J. C. 1991. Short -ter m be haviou ral res po nses o f svalbard

reindeer Rangifer tarandus p latyrhynchus to direct provocation by a

snowmobile.Biological Conservation 56: 179-94.

Vaske, J. J., D. J. Decke r, and M. J. Manfredo. 1995. Wildlife ma nagement:An integrated framework for coexistence. Chap 3 in Wildlife and

Recreationists: Coexistence th rough Management and Research,

edited by R. L. Knight, and K. J. Gutzwiller. Washington D.C.: Island

Press.

Wane k, W. E. and D. Potter. 1974. A con tinuing stu dy of the eco logical

impact of snowmob iling in nor ther n Minnes ota (final research

rep or t for 1973-1974). The Center for Environm ent al Studies,

Bemidji State College, Bemidji, Minnes ota . 53pp.

Winter Wildland s Allianc e. 2001. Los ing ground: The fight to p rese rve

winter solitude. 13 November. Available at http://

www.winterwildlands.org

In one study, cross country skie rs were m ore likely than

snowmobiles to surprise, and startle elk. Photo by JimCoefield.

When considering impacts such as noise p ollution and

trampling of vegetation, snowm obilers might well have a

more profound impact than sk iers on wildlife populations.

File photo.


19/24


The Activist Spotlight shares the stories of so me of

the awesome activists we work with, both as a

tribute to them and a s a wa y of highlighting

successful strategies and lessons learned. Please

em ail your nom ination for the Activist Spotlight to

jenbarry@wildland scpr.org.

In each of the places sh es called hom e, Lynda Bilbro ughs act i-

vism h as focused on s aving our precious water resources: Lake

Erie, the Cuyahoga River, the Chesap eake Bay, the Great Barrier

Reef, the China Sea. All the se water s are bet ter off due in pa rt to

Lynda s work. Surp risingly, her b ackground is in corp orat e pub lic

relations with For tune 500 compan ies, and s hes also don e pub lic

relations work with interna tional charities. Lynda says h er love of

children is tied to h er desire to protect na tural beaches; a mother of

three, she b elieves that o ur children deser ve to inherit a healthy

world.

At pr esen t, the b ulk of Lynda s act ivism ce nter s on saving Nort h

Carolinas North End b each from the d evasta ting effects of beach

dr iving. Erosion, wetlands des tru ction, and wildlife disp lacement

are just some of the results of this reckless recreation, not to mentionthe n oise, pollution, litter, hu man an d d og waste even violent

crime. (See The RIPorter6.5 for b ackground inform ation.)

The North End o f Carolina Beach (known as Freeman Beach) is a

nearly three mile st retch o f one of the last undeveloped Atlantic

Coast barr ier islands. Its shore, sand du nes and wetlands were once

teeming with wildlife before bea ch d riving exploded . On a typical

weekend , hund reds o f off-road ve hicles (ORVs) cro wd th e beac h; on a

sun shine-filled holiday weekend tha t numb er can to p 1,000.

The Town of Carolina Beach man ages th e first 1000 feet o f the

beach and allows 24-hour motorized access. The rest is private, the

majority owned by h eirs to Robert Bruce Freeman, Sr. who pu rchased

the land in 1886. Thou gh the Freeman heirs o pp ose it, 4-wheel drive

cars an d ORVs continu ally drive on their prope rt y. The Town of

Carolina Beach and New Hanover County do little to pro tect p rivateprop erty rights; indeed , when Lynda and the o wners urged th e Town

Council to enforce a 1997 law prohibiting the pr actice, the cou ncil

voted to reverse th e no beach d riving ordinance!

The North End beach is habitat for s horebirds including Ameri-

can o ystercatchers, willets, least terns, commo n t erns, black skim-

mers, brown p elicans and the en dangered p iping plover. In fact, part

of the beac h was des ignated b y th e U.S. Fish an d Wildlife Service

(USFWS) as Critical Hab itat for the p lover. Loggerh ead , green an d

leatherback sea turtles once used the inlet to nest. As beach driving

increased, use of the area by wildlife and birds d ecreased: according

to the North Carolina Wildlife Commission, in 1995, 475 nes ts of least

terns, black skimmers and common terns were found o n th e North

End. Toda y, zero nesting pairs remain. Most sh oreb irds nes ts are

hollow indentations in the san d; when vehicles ap proach, the birdsfly away, leaving their e ggs or hatc hlings vulnerab le.

Lynda p oints to clear evidence that the Endangered Species Act

(ESA) and the Migrator y Bird Treaty Act are b eing violated. When

sh e and o the r citizens first made t he Carolina Beach Town Coun cil

aware of this, they were ignore d.

When Lyndas p leas went unheard, sh e tried oth er avenues.

National Audu bo n Society agreed to mo nitor th e area once t heres a

ban on be ach dr iving. Lynda also organized credible scientists and

citizens to do cume nt dama ge and violations. She wrote politicians,

officials, and feder al agencies, and p ers uad ed U.S. Senato r Joh n

Edward s (D-NC) to get involved. She co nvinced local and n ational

news reporters to cover the issue. She worked

with p ropert y owners to req uest New Hanover

County to close private property to vehicles. The

largest p rop erty owner, Evelyn Williams, an

attorney, recently presented evidence of violations

of seven feder al laws, nine state laws and two

county ordinances. Lynda add ressed the New

Hanover County Commission o n be half of Ms.

Williams an d th e oth er owne rs an d in early 2003,

she helped form Citizens for t he Conservation of

the North End (CCNE).

Lyndas hard work has reap ed s ome p ositivechan ge: ATVs, dun e-buggies, campe rs, b oats and

jet s kis were tec hnically proh ibited in May 2002.

Speed limits were reduced to 15 mph and a

dr ivable corr idor was estab lish ed. However,

people frequently violate these regulations and

ther es still very little enforcemen t. In ad dition,

the b each is st ill open all night, there are n o

sanitation facilities, alcoholic bevera ges are

prevalent , do gs are allowed to ro am, and vehicle

trespass on Freeman Beach continues.

Lynda ma intains h er st amina by staying

dete rmined to fight for th e beach . And a thick skin

helps : At count y commissioner s meetings, Lynda

has been b ooed and s houted at to , go back towhere she came from, but she hasnt been

deterred . Shes also enlisted the supp ort and

advice of others who ve worked on similar causes.

In p art icular, insp iration from Shirley Reynolds h as

pro ven invaluab le. Shirley sued Volusia County in

Florida over bea ch d riving on b ehalf of sea

tur tles and won! Now, miles of Florida bea ch

are closed to off-road vehicles. Due to Lyndas

hard work, someday we may be able to say the

same a bou t North Carolinas North End Beach.

Thank you Lynda !

Spotlight on Lynda Bilbrough

Lynda Bilbrough. Photo by Jessica Nemeth.


20/24


The Policy Primer is a column

designed to highlight the ins &

outs of a specific road or ORV

policy. If you have a po licy youd

like us to inv estigate,

let us know!

Funding Opportunities For Road RemovalBy Beth Peluso

This issue of the Policy Primer focuse s on var ious

funding opp ort unities available for ro ad rem oval. As

you will see, these opp ortunities exist for p rojects

on federal, state and private lands.

The growing preference for funder s is projects th at

involve part ner ships . From n on-profits joining with Native

American t ribes to fede ral agencies working with p rivate

landowners and job creation programs, sometimes the most

unlikely part ner p roves th e mos t lucrative, tapping into

funds that would other wise b e inaccessible. For m ore

information on creating part nersh ips for road removal go to:

http://www.wildlandscpr.org/resourcelibrary/reports/PartnershipforFunding.htm

Community-Bas ed Restora tion Program, Natio na l

Oceanic and Atmosph eric Administration

Resto ra tion Center1315 Eas t-Wes t Highway Silver Spring, MD 20910 301-

713-0174 www.nmfs.noaa .gov/ha bitat /res tor ation

Background: This program funds coastal and riparian

habitat restoration and some monitoring. It focuses on anadro-

mous fish s pecies, endangered and threatened mar ine sp ecies,

and co mmercial and recreational fisheries. Projects shou ld

include community participation and education/outreach.

Who qualifies: Community organizations, n onp rofits,government agencies, businesses, commercial and recreation

fishing groups , students and ed ucational institutions, youth

conservation corps , private land owners

Maximum/Average amount: Ranges from $1,000 to

$500,000; average is $5,000 to $50,000

What activities/scale : Projects are chosen for technical

merit, commu nity involvement, and ecological benefits to fish

habitat, with an emph asis on partn erships and collaboration.

Funding term: Multi-year par tners hips up to 3 years

Funding type: Grants

Enda ngered Species Recover y Programs Private

Stew ar ds hip Program , US Fish a nd Wildlife Service4401 North Fairfax Drive, Room 420 Arlingto n, VA 22203

703-358-2390 ht tp ://end angere d.fws.gov See Web s ite for

regional cont act information.

Background: Focuses on forming partnerships for projects

that reduce threats or otherwise benefit populations of

imperiled ( not necess arily federally listed ) sp ecies.

Who qualifies: Feder al, state, and local agencies; tribes;

researchers; conservation organizations; businesses; landown-

ers; and individua lsMaximum/Average amount: Varies ; progra m to tal of $10

million a vailable in 2003

What activities/scale : The pro gram is for individuals and

groups doing local, private, voluntar y cons ervat ion efforts .

Term o f funding: Varies

Type of funding: Grants awarded through regional

competition.

Far m Security a nd Rura l Investm ent Act of 2002

(Farm Bill)see http ://www.usda.gov/farmb ill

Background: Forest Land Enhan cement Program (FLEP):The Depar tment of Agriculture p rovides management expe r-

tise, financial assistanc e, and ed ucational program s to private

landholder s thro ugh state forest agencies. Program goals

include restoration and enhancement of riparian zones, water

and s oil quality, and h abitat for plants an d animals.

Wildlife Hab itat Incen tives Progra m (WHIP): Provides

financial and techn ical aid to p rojects that create high quality

wildlife h abitats that sup por t wildlife popu lations of national,

state, tribal, and local significance. Special emphasis on aiding

declining species. After th e landowner co mpletes th is habitat

comp onent , WHIP also helps with mon itoring and mana gement.

Resource Conservation and Development Program

(RCDP): The Secretary of Agriculture designates up to 450

locally-spo nsore d areas . The four ma in goals of the p rogramare land conservation, water management, economic develop-

ment, and commu nity susta inability.

Who qualifies: FLEP: Tribes, pr ivate individua ls, groups,

associations and corporations who own nonindustrial, private

forest lands.

WHIP: Private landowners ; conser vation d istricts, Federal,

State, and Tribal agencies. Projects can b e on tribal, private,

feder al (if the m ain benefit is on tr ibal or private land), and a

limited amou nt of state and local government land .

RCDP: Tribal, state, or local governments; nonprofit

organizations in rural areas.Road rem oval is the only sure way to prevent dam age like

this. Photo courtesy of Florida Biodiv ersity Project.


21/24


Maximum/Average amount: Not sp ecified

What activities/scale :

FLEP: Contac t you r state forest agency for a list of ap-

proved activities. Treatmen t areas m ust b e und er 1,000 acres

(with poss ible wavers up to 5,000 acres).

WHIP: Applies to projects dealing with upland, wetland,

riparian, and aquatic habitat

RCDP: Fish and wildlife habitat enhancement, soil erosion

contro l, water qua ntity and qua lity

Funding Term:

FLEP: Not less t han 10 years, unless app roved b y the s tate

forester. The Program has $100 million to use between 2002-07.

WHIP: Usually 5 to 10 year s, bu t can be s hort er in wildlife

emergencies and 15 years or more for essential plant and

animal hab itat.

RCDP: Not s pe cified

Funding Type:

FLEP: Cost sh are, not m ore t han 75 percent o f total cost.

WHIP: Cost share

RCDP: Tech nical and finan cial assist ance

Job s in t he Woods , US Fish a nd Wildlife Servicewww.fws.gov.Pacific r egion.Fores t resources

Background: The Northwes t Forest Plan initiated th is

program nine year s a go for Wash ington, California, and Oregon.

Future fund i

road riporter 8.1

Documents