road riporter 8.4

8/14/2019 Road RIPorter 8.4

1/24

How NEPAChangedMinds andManagement

By Mary OBrien

Inside

See article on page 3

The Imnaha River flows toward the Snake deep within Hells Canyon.

Photo by Marnie Criley.

The Quarterly Newsletter of Wildlands CPRWinter Solstice 2003. Volume 8 # 4

Hells Canyon 1993-2003

Check out our website at: www.wildlandscpr.org

Hells Canyon 1993-2003, by Mary

OBrien. Pages 3-5

A Non-Traditional Alliance, by Kiffin

Hope. Pages 6-7Odes to Roads: Circumventing

Paradise, by Aaron Drendel.

Pages 8-9

Depaving the Way, by BethanieWalder. Pages 10-11

Activi st Spotli ght: Andrew Harvey, by

Kiffin Hope. Pages 12-13

Field Notes, Road Decommissioning,

by Ryan Schaffer. Pages 14-15

Biblio Notes: Roads in Developing

Countries, by Carrie Brunger.Pages 16-18

Regional Reports & Updates. Page 19

Get with the Program: Restoration,

Transportation & ScienceProgram Updates. Pages 20-21

Around the Office, Membership info.

Pages 22-23


2/24

The Road-RIPorter, Winter Solstice 20032

This fall I had an o ppo rtunity to see how our European counter parts approach

road a nd wildlife issues. In a region where ro ad d ensities can reach 4.3 km/km2,

mitigating road impacts is critical in both wildland an d urb an sett ings. Most of

western Europe is so developed th at what n atural areas do exist are s mall, isolated in a

sea o f houses , farms , villages, and cities. I learned that while remo ving roads in Europe

is rare, efforts to add ress road impacts are greater than t hose in the United States.

I atten ded a con ferenc e ho sted by th e Infra Eco Network Europe (IENE), which has

been working with s ixteen cou ntries over five years to research transp ortation mitiga-

tion for wildlife. In thes e countries, more than 130 overpasses h ave been cons tructed t o

pro vide safe wildlife cross ings (sometimes com bined wildlife/h uman cro ssings). The

Netherland s alone has o ver 500 wildlife and am ph ibian tunnels, half a dozen o verp ass es

and n umer ous o the r mitigation pro jects. The goal is maintaining viable wildlife pop ula-

tions where much of the hab itat has been d estroyed. But many southwestern and

east ern Europ ean co untr ies still cont ain bear s, elk, wolves and o the r large fauna . With

many new cou ntr ies joining the Europe an Union, there will be a sur ge in road co nst ruc-

tion and development; it was encouraging to see many of these countr ies represented at

the me eting. And while Wildland s CPR has always advo cated r esto ration over m itiga-

tion, the con ference was an op port unity to share ideas abo ut integrating the two.

The biggest lesson I took away was h ow important it is to have agencies advocating

for road mitigation transportation ministries were well-represented at the meeting.

On a field tou r we learne d th at a recent ly comp leted wildlife overp ass in the Nether -

lands was developed and p romoted entirely by th e Ministry of Transp ortation, while the

Ministr y of Nature had little to d o with it. Its ha rd t o imagine th e U.S. Depa rtm ent o f

Transp or tation prom oting a wildlife cro ssing t hat wasnt initiated by t he local community.

Here at hom e, the U.S. Congres s is deb ating the n ext six-year h ighway spen ding bill

(nicknamed TEA-3), and Wildlands CPR is co ncer ned abo ut s everal asp ects of it. First,the Bush Administr ation is using it to und ermine th e National Environm ental Policy Act

(NEPA); TEA-3 would streamline NEPA such that it would be rendered meaningless.

Congress is also tr ying to cut enh ancem ents fund ing from th e bill: this is the funding

tha t pays for bike trails and wildlife mitigation. The forty-four p rop osed cros sing

str uctu res o n Highway 93 near Misso ula, Monta na for examp le, could get axed if the

enhancemen ts money d isappears; so could many bike/pedestr ian programs in cities and

towns throughout the countr y.

The transp ortation b ill also funds s everal programs that affect pu blic lands. One is

the Pu blic Land s Highways Program , which ch anne ls about $250 million per yea r into

upgr ading pub lic lands ro ads into highways. On national forest land s, for examp le, this

mon ey fund s th e Fores t Highways Progra m. On top of this, the Fores t Service is asking

the Feder al Highway Administr ation for severa l hund red million dollars pe r year to

upgr ade at least 60,000 miles of other h igh use fores t road s. Our final conc ern is thecontinued funding of the Recreational Trails Program, which su ppo rts both motorized

and n on-motorized trail developments on p ublic lands.

It is amazing how much we can learn from European tran spor tation activists,

researchers and even agency emp loyees in t erms of developing more eco logically

friend ly tran spo rta tion system s. Its even more ama zing how far beh ind we are in

designing roads with fewer impacts. In many cas es, western European nations mad e

changes becau se they h ad no other choice: natural areas are fragmented p ractically

beyond recognition, human population densities are extremely high (e.g. 450 people/km2

in the Netherlands), and th e wildlife have all but disappeared . Perhaps we can learn

some lessons from our European friends b efore we come t o the same b reaking point.

by Bethanie Walder

20 03 W ildlands CPR

Wildlands CPR works to protect and restorewildland ecosystems by preventing andremoving roads and limiting motorized

recreation. We are a national clearinghouse andnetwork, providing citizens with tools andstrategies to fight road construction, determotorized recreation, and promote road

removal and revegetation.

P.O. Box 7516Missoula, MT 59807

(406) 543-9551

[email protected]

Director

Bethanie Walder

Development DirectorTom Petersen

Restoration ProgramCoordinator

Marnie Criley

Science Coordinator

Adam Switalski

Tra nsportation PolicyOrganizer

Jason Kiely

N TW C Gra ssroots

CoordinatorLisa Philipps

Program Assistant

Kiffin Hope

N ew sletter

Dan Funsch & Jim Coefield

Interns & Volunteers

Carla Abrams, Ronni Flannery, Hank Green,Maureen Hartmann, Beth Peluso

Board of Directors

Karen Wood DiBari, Greg Fishbein, Dave Havlick,Greg Munther, Cara Nelson, Sonya Newenhouse,

Mary O'Brien, Matt Skroch, Ted Zukoski

Advisory Comm ittee

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 CPRCPRCPRCPRCPR


3/24

The Road-RIPorter, Winter Solstice 2003 3

Hells Canyon 1993-2003How NEPA Changed Minds and Management

By Mary OBrien

It too k ten year s, but on July 22, 2003, the

manager s of the Wallowa-Whitman National

Fores t (W-WNF) sh owed t hey h old a de epe r

appreciation and understanding of Hells Canyon

than they d id in Septemb er 1993.

You wou ldn t think it would take a d ecade to

finally express protectiveness toward what may be

the deepes t river-cut canyon in North America

(Kings Canyon in California may be just as deep ).

Or to commit to preser vation of the sp ectacular

native bunch grass lands that survive on the

canyon s p lunging walls, when n early all native

grass lands in the West h ave been d estro yed. Youwouldnt think it would take a d ecade to acknowl-

edge tha t veh icles and livesto ck ru nning willy-nilly

on slopes, in meadows, and across s treams might

not be co mpatible with the canyon s salmon

streams and r are plants. But it did, and the steps it

took to bring about this change are worth rep eating

on pub lic lands throughout th e world.

A bit of background

Hells Canyon National Recreation Area

(HCNRA) s pra wls its 652,000 acres a cros s t hreenational forests in northeast ern Oregon and

wester n Idah o. Administered by t he W-WNF in

Oregon, the HCNRA sur roun ds a nd includes 67

miles o f Wild a nd Scenic-stat us Snake River a nd the

214,000-acre Hells Canyon Wilder nes s. It st art s low

with des ert -like cond itions at th e Snake River,

climbs up through grassy slopes and forested

crevices, levels out on ben ches and plateaus of

forest and mead ow, and finally rises into th e

rar ified alpine ecos ystems of Idah os Seven Devils

Mountains.

When, in Sept emb er 1993, W-WNF Sup er visor

Bob Richmon d grud gingly agreed to revise th eor iginal (1982) HCNRA Comp reh ens ive Mana ge-

ment Plan (CMP), he clearly inten ded to up ho ld

Good Old Boy Busines s As Usual: Road an d

moto rized d evelopmen ts, off-road trave l, logging,

and cattle and s heep grazing. But ten years later,

W-WNF Sup er visor Kar yn Woo d s Record of

Decision for th e new CMP included eliminating one-

third of the road s; closing three key canyon-edge

and r idge-top roads t hroughout the fall hunting

seas on, winter an d sp ring; des ignating all oth er

roads closed unless pos ted op en; withdrawing the h istoric permis-

sion t o d rive sto ck tru cks, RVs, pickups and ATVs 300 feet out from

either side of every op en road ; and limiting the canyons 55 roaded

subwaters heds to no more th an 1.35 road miles per s quare mile of

land (many have less). In add ition, her decision abolished one-

qu arte r million acre s of livestock allotme nts , transforming them into

protected native grasslands. (These livestock allotments did not

have current p ermitees, but earlier plans had been to expand adja-

cent allotments to include parts of these s o-called vacant allot-

ments.)

What led to this Record of Decision?

1. Legislation that requires human activities to be compatible withthe long-term health of HCN RA ecosystems.

The 1975 HCNRA Act 1 states th at human activities such as

logging, grazing, mining, and recreat ion are allowed in Hells Canyon

to th e degree th ey are comp atible with wildlife hab itat, rare and

end emic plants , free-flowing rivers, cultura l artifacts , and ou tst and ing

ecosystems and par ts of ecosystems.2 Anyth ing less tha n this comm it-

ment allows degradation and destru ction of pub lic ecosystems .

When perserverance pays off a ten year investme nt in public process by

conservationists resulted in a ne w Forest Service m anageme nt plan that

protects natural value s in Hells Canyo n. Photo by Marnie Criley.


4/24


continued from page 3

How NEPA Changed Mindsand Management

2. The National Environmental Policy Acts (NEPAs) requirementthat a full range of reasonable alternatives be rigorouslyexplore[d] and objectively evaluate[d]3 in environmental impactstatements (EISs) for any federal decisions that may significantly

affect the environment.

There is no wiser law than one th at requires cons ideration of a

full range of alternat ives. The NEPA regulations sta te th at con sider-

ation of alternatives is the h eart of the environmental impact

statement . After all, the on ly way well stop destroying the earth is to

consider (and implement) alternatives to the way were b ehaving,

e.g., our p roliferat ion of roads and off-road vehicles.

3. Drafting by citizens and scientists of a reasonable alternative.

In Januar y 1994, ten p eop le represe nting two tribes ; eight

nationa l, regional, stat e, and local cons ervat ion organizations

(including Wildland s CPR); a stat e h unting organization; and two

individu al experts , joined togeth er as the Hells Canyon CMP Tracking

Group . We not ified th e Wallowa-Whitman NF th at we were going to

write an ecosystem-based alternative to be co nsidered in the up com-

ing Draft EIS for th e HCNRA CMP. The Tra cking Group met for a t hr ee-

day mar athon to b egin d rafting our alternative, and I agreed to

facilitate pulling together the disparate pieces into one comprehen -

sive alternative. We name d ou r alternat ive what it is: the Native

Ecosys tem Alter nat ive. (We figured th at calling it a Citizens Alterna-

tive (1) would mar ginalize th e alternat ive; and (2) didn t describe the

alternative.)

significance of each of the d ocum ents . We did th is

beca use NEPA requ ires agencies to insur e the

scientific integrity of their EIS discus sions a nd

ana lyses . NEPA regu lation 1502.24 req uires

agencies to identify any methodologies used

and ...make explicit reference b y foot note t o th e

scientific and ot her sources relied upon for

conc lusions in t he [EIS].

5. Having a responsive U.S. Forest Service and

a responsive public.

In Feb ru ar y 1996 th e first Dra ft EIS (DEIS) was

released , but with no Native Ecos ystem Alterna tive.

The W-WNF gave bo gus re ason s for n ot includ ing it;

but an appeal to th e Regional Forester b rought no

he lp. Kar yn Woo d b eca me W-WNFs Sup ervisor in

1997, bu t sh e didn t want to dump two years DEIS

work. Six days before th e Final EIS was to go t o th e

printe r, I met with a num ber of then -Chief Mike

Dombecks Fores t Service s taff in Wash ington DC

and a memb er of the Council on Environmental

Quality, the execu tive bran ch office that over sees

comp liance with NEPA. That afterno on th e Fores t

Service notified Kar yn Wood that the DEIS shou ld

have included the Native Ecos ystem Altern ative

because it was both reasonab le and different from

W-WNF altern atives. Sup ervisor Wood agreed to

sta rt all over with a new DEIS.

In Decemb er 1999, the s eco nd DEIS was

released. It included our alternative and a new one

by th e Wallowa County Commiss ioners , but W-

WNFs pre ferred alternat ive remained largely

unp rotec tive of Hells Canyon . Citizens sen t in over

2,000 pu blic comm ents , with most written c om-

ments expressing preference for the Native Ecosys-

tem Alternat ive. The Nez Perce Tribe prep ared an d

submitted a science-based p aper on th e impor-

tance o f road less ridges for elk, mule deer and

bighorn she ep. The W-WNF und erto ok fur the r

analysis of Hells Canyon co nditions in light o f

substantive comments.

4. Backing the alternative wi th scientific evidence.

When we s ubm itted th e Native Ecosys tem Altern ative to the W-

WNF, we also s ubm itted h ard c opies o f 116 scientific do cume nts t hat

pro vided evidenc e we believed the W-WNF need ed to use wh en

analyzing all altern atives in th e Draft EIS. In ad dition, we su pp lied a

60-page b ibliograp hy s umma rizing the main find ings, relevance , and

The canyon bottoms give rise to forested slopes.

Photo by Marnie Criley.

The ne w CMP favors primitive expe riences ov er roaded

recreation. Photo by Scott Stouder.


5/24


On July 22, 2003, Sup ervisor Wood and her interdisciplinary tea m

released t he Final EIS and h er su rp rising Record of Decision. Roads

and off-road trave l and livesto ck were a ll finally recognized as e ntities

to b e circumscribed and limited, not simply defended , so th at Hells

Canyon could be afforde d a fighting chance to s ur vive moto rized

recreation, commodity extraction, and the invasive species they b ring

in their wake.

This account do esn t begin to des cribe the c ountless Tracking

Group dra fts, meet ings, and o ngoing commu nication with th e W-WNF

that were requ ired over t he years, but an yone who h as organized for

change can imagine. Some might say th at a ten-year proces s s hows

that NEPA doesn t work. I believe this accou nt s hows p recisely the

opp osite: that NEPA doe s wor k. NEPA sets the s tage th rough its

alternatives as sessmen t p rocess for the poss ibility of long-term,

fundamen tal changes. Such ch ange doesn t hap pen in a year, but its

what br ings real wins for the earth.

Mary OBrien ( Ph.D., Botany), is a me m ber of Wildlands CPRs Board

of Directors. She is currently workin g with a Utah coalition to write aSustainable Multiple Use Alternative for the upcoming Fishlake, Dixie,

and Manti-LaSal Forest Plans.

FOOTNOTES

1. Pub lic Law 94-199, Decembe r

31, 1975.

2. Sect ion 7, HCNRA Act .

3. Sect ion 1502.14 of NEPA

Regulations, 40 Code of

Feder al Regulations Par ts

1500-1508 (1992). If youve

never re ad th e crys tal-clear,

pla in-langu age NEPA

regulations, do so. And

defend them, because

theyre under attack by the

Bush Administra tion.

Some Positive Provisionsof the New

Hells Canyon CMP

The HCNRA will be managed as a

healthy ecosystem that is an integralcomponent of a larger biologicalregion... an area of high biologicaldiversity and endemism. Management

will...ensure that maintenance and/ orrestoration of ecological function and

sustainability of species, habitats, andecosystems ... contribute to its biologi-

cal uniqueness.

Over 245,000 acres of currently

vacant livestock allotments will be

closed to future livestock grazing andinstead managed for biodiversity and

native plant values, bringing the totallivestock-free area within the HCNRA to

around 365,000 acres.

Road density will be reduced to 1.35

miles per square mile, resulting in theclosure of approximately one third of

existing HCNRA roads (about 200miles). ATVs wi ll be limited todesig-

nated open roads and trails, with nocross-country use permitted.

Forests will be allowed to function in a

nearly natural manner through the useof natural fire, prescribed fire, and

vegetation projects aimed at restoringviable and healthy ecosystems.

Wildfire willresume a more naturalrole and is recognized as an essential

part of the health of Hells Canyon.

The CMP emphasizesmaintenance ofthe rustic and primitive character of the

HCNRA, andfavors primitive andsemi-primitive experiences over roaded

natural and rural experiences.

Prevention is recognized as a critical

part of invasive species (weed) man-agement, includingclosure or restric-

tions on use where appropriate.

The Hells Canyon NRA is home to the nations largest herd

of bighorn she ep. Photo by Marnie Criley.

About 200 miles of roads, or one -third

of the areas total, will be closed under

the new plan. Photo by Marnie Criley.


6/24


During th e final days o f work on

the Watershed Property road

remo val project, Bob Clark of

the Sierra Clubs Miss ou la, MT office

and I set off to visit the site. Although

the weat her was o nly mildly cool when

we left Misso ula on Halloween mo rn-

ing, deep winter cold had set in at the

projects 8000-foot location and sever al

inches of snow were on the ground.

Consisting of ap pro ximately 32,500acres of land b ordered on t hree sides

by road less countr y, the Watersh ed

Property was acquired this past

summer through a co operative effort

bet ween th e Rocky Moun tain Elk

Foun dat ion, the U.S. Fores t Service,

and a private timber compan y. The

area is situated along the north s lope

of the Continental Divide within th e

Beaverhead -Deerlod ge National Forest,

jus t wes t of Anac on da , MT. Altho ugh

the pro perty is heavily roaded and

logged, the area remains an integral

avenu e in the b iological corr idorbet ween th e Anaco nda -Pintler Wilder -

ness and th e Flint Creek range to th e

nor th. An impress ive array of animals

are known, in fact, to frequent t he area ,

including moose, bighorn s heep,

mou ntain goat, lynx, mou ntain lion,

wolverine, and elk. The beautiful Twin

Lakes an d Twin Lakes Creek, less tha n

a quar ter mile hike from th e project

site, are home to th reatened westslope

cutthroat trou t and bull trout.

The pro ject itself consisted of

more tha n 13,000 feet o f road ob litera -

tion and th e removal of three culverts

within a 640 acre parce l of the t otal

Water she d Prop erty acre age. A new

foot tr ail was created along one side of

much of the obliterated road, replacing

a s ection of the original Twin Lakes

trail, which wash es out each s pring

dur ing meltoff. As we insp ected the

work that part icular d ay, we were

impressed with th e progress. Downed

trees, boulders (on e the s ize of a

Volkswagen), and plant deb ris that h ad

been pus hed aside to build the road

had now been dragged back onto the

decompacted road surface, effectively

preventing any illegal off-road vehicle

acces s while creating a foot hold for

native plant repop ulation.

This project was unique and ideal

in its bringing together of conservation

group s, local workers, a private timber

company, and a government agency.The Mont ana Chapt er of the Sierra

Club funded the much needed road

obliteration, while Wildland s CPR

acted as project consultant and

contracted a locally-based company,

Joh n Grosv old Logging & Excavating,

to com plete the actual work. Furth er,

the Forest Service provided t he on -site

pre senc e o f Joe Harper, a wildlife

biologist with t he Pintler Ranger

District. Joe, who monitore d the en tire

pro ject, said This project feels bett er

than any other Ive been associated

with in 26 years of agency work.

That th is other wise non-traditional

alliance worked is no s urpr ise to

Wildland s CPR. In o ur Summa ry Report

Investing in Communities, Investing in

the Land, pub lished earlier th is yearin assoc iation with The Center for

Environmen tal Econo mic Developme nt

(CEED), resea rch indicates tha t

concurren t with th e great need for

road remo val within U.S. national

forests, there exists an opp ortun ity to

invigorate local econ omies with road

remo val work. Road work requ iring

Editors Note: While the Forest Services recently proposed

Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest management plan is surrounded

by controversy, Wildlands CPR reports on a success story from this same

forest in the face of the present policy storm.

A Non-Traditional Alliance & the Economicsof Obliteration

By Kiffin Hope

Bob Clark of the Sierra Club ( left), and Kiffin Hope o f Wildlands CPR

(center) discuss the project with Dan Stevenson of John Grosvold

Logging & Excav ating. Photo by Jolanta Glabek .


7/24


heavy equipment tend s to b e locally-

based , and offers local contracting

companies such as John Grosvold

Logging & Excavating, its operators

and suppor t crews an opp ortunity

to generate income and pay bu siness

expenses. It also improves community

water sup plies and forest h ealth, and

enhances hunting, fishing, and o ther

backcountr y recreation opp ortunities.

While at the p roject site I spoke at

length with Dan Stevenson , a tract oroperato r for John Grosvold. Despite

the cold and sn owy conditions he was

happ y to b e working, particularly so

close to ho me. In add ition to discuss-

ing the pro ject at ha nd , I told Dan

abo ut Wildland s CPRs grassroots work

and its research regarding road

remova l and its be nefits to local

communities. Dan, whose career h as

mostly consisted of resource extrac-

tion work, was excited at the p rospect

of more road removal projects in the

Beaverhead-Deerlod ge. He said,

Theres more th an seventy miles of

road arou nd h ere that I know of that

the Forest Service wants to remove. Id

be hap py just to have a fraction of that

work. Dan s sentiment is not unusual.

In fact, numerous contractor s and

operators weve met with after years

of building roads and laying culverts innational forests would be happy to

do work that benefits th e local ecology

and econ omy.

The road obliteration and trail

work for th e Watershe d Proper ty

project was completed on November 4,

2003. Propo sed r evegetation effor ts are

sched uled to start and finish in 2004.

Bob Clark notes th at, The project

accomplishes a primary management

ob jective for th e Fores t Service bu t

perhap s more importantly, the process

itself helps illustrate how conser va-

tion groups, local economic interests,

and government agencies can work

together to accom plish sh ared goals.

Amen to that.

Kiffin Hope is Wildlands CPRs ne wProgram Assistant.

The Summary Report Investing in

Communities, Investing in the Land can

be downloaded from the Wildlands CPR

we bsite . Go to: www.wildlandscpr.org/

WCPRpdfs/ NEWECOSummary_Report.pdf

The obliterated road with new trail on right.

Photo by Kiffin Hope .

Removing an old culvert from the project

area. Photo by David Forestieri.

This pr oject feels bet ter tha n a ny

other Ive been a ss ociated w ith in

26 years of agency w ork.

Joe Ha rp er, Wildlife Biolo gist,

Bea verhea d-Deerlo dge Natio na l Fore st


8/24


Circumventing ParadiseBy Aaron Drendel

Stand ing like a t iny figurine in an infinitely large Buddh ist land-

scape painting, I someho w am missing the wond er of nature s

magic. Gener al Sher man loom s over me in the Giant Forest,

prob ably weighing more than 3 million poun ds and standing taller

tha n the t wo largest b uildings from my hom e stat e, Wyoming, stacked

upon each ot her. I gaze up its gargantuan column and co ck my head

to stare at a bran ch bigger than most trees eas t of the Mississippi,

growing over 150 feet off the ground . This giant seq uoia sp run g from

the earth before Jesus, and it is still barely an old man.

In the two millennia or so th at General Sherman has been ro oted

in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada , many changes h ave taken p lace.

Hundred s of fires h ave crisped the d uff beneath t he tree, leaving

black wounds s treaking its red b ark. Various tribes have come and

gone from unde r its canop y, and some s pecies h ave left entirely, such

as t he grizzly. If given eyes th ough , Gener al Sher man m ight h ave see n

the m ost d rama tic change in 1903. It wasn t th e year a ferocious fire

cha rred the Giant Forest, it was the year t hat a ro ad finally laid th e

path to near by Round Meadow. Soon th ereafter, the h ustle and b ustle

of moder n tou rism followed: cabins, offices, stores , and more p ave-

ment .

Today a sign mounted in the asph alt beneath th e largest general

of them all, the largest creat ure of them a ll, outlines t he tr ivial details

of Gener al Sher man s life. The statistics su pp lement a ver y brief stopalong the highway, perhaps adding something concrete to peop les

memo ry an d reaffirming why th is giant s equ oia is wort hy for a

fragmen t o f our silver dus ted rolls of film. A little

girl strangles my crowd ed sp ace, perhaps exper i-

encing Sequoia National Park for h er first time. She

asks her father, Dadd y, can we go stan d b y it? But

the fence defers her dream, confining her to th e

paved walkway connected to th e paved parking lot

connected t o a network of pavement more vast

than an y other in the universe, extending from the

Arct ic to La Tierr a d el Fuego, from New Yor k to LA.

Inst ead of discovering laws of nature , laws of man

dictate h er. If only her father knew abou t the

sequoias beyond the pa vement, about the universe

beyond th e pavement. Giants that you can hug.

Many visitors at Sequo ia and Kings Canyon

National Parks do nt free themselves from the

asph alt and visit the other 90% of the parks, the

legislatively designated Sequoia-Kings Canyon

Wilder nes s. The trend a t mos t National Parks

involves more and more lazy drives in th e par k,

scenic byways circumventing hidden treasures, and

roma ntic excurs ions winding into irksom e traffic

jams. Mode rn vacat ions are getting shor ter, and

congested h ighways equal less time for mo re stop s.

When overheated car s and broken-down pass en-

gers finally roll into a jammed par king lot, they are

dismayed to find b ig city crowds an d sidewalksleading them through nature. Take th is little girl

stan ding next to me. She might grow up kno wing

natu re as a crowde d walkway with rust ic signs, a

pas sing view from th e window of her dad s ca r. But

the window will never ro ll down all the way

beca use of the child safety feature. Like viewing

animals at a zoo, she will never be p art o f the

exhibit. A pan e of glass s epa rates her from the

reality that we are all creatures in the s ame

biosphere.

Aaron and Krista Drende l, certified tree-huggers. Photo by Aaron Drendel.

An unname d beauty in the Giant

Forest. Photo by A aron Drendel.


9/24


It is time that we br ing wilder ness bac k into th e National Parks.

Our nations drive-thru p arks mimic theme p arks rather th an an area

protected to leave the resou rce unimpaired for future generations, as

the Organic Act s pecifies. Our ch ildren aren t learning about th e

majestic nature th at we are a par t of, they are learning the natu re that

we are apart from, separated by fences and seatbelts, told b y signs

what to think, led b y railings when we walk, and con fined to o ut-

hous es when we piss. If one do esn t find s himmering stars and

flickering fires e no ugh for e venin g ente rt ainme nt in Yos emite Valley,

the y can re nt a movie at t he Village, inse rt it in th e RVs DVD p layer,

and ret urn to Hollywood.

Perhap s asp ects o f Sequ oia and Kings Canyon National Parks

could ser ve as a model for ot her p arks. Obviously, roads h ave

become ingrained in the p arks, but maybe we have gone overb oard

and s hould cons ider restoring some areas and looking to alternatives.

There is n o freedo m involved in idling beh ind a line of vehicles

stopp ed to watch a distant beaver in a pond silenced by the car s

radio. Light rail systems in our b usiest par ks would create more

opp ortun ities to get out of the car and hear the thwack of the

beaver s tail as it brings the po nd t o life. Transit time would be

reduced, and mo re time to immerse in the great outdoors would be a

benefit for all. People would no longer need to worr y about bears

breaking into cars, overheated r adiators on treacherous highways, or

even whe re they b egin or end a h ike. We could even r eplace RVspaces with Walden Pond style cabins, just large enough t o goad them

out side to d iscover why th ey left the city in the first p lace. The

greatest beneficiaries would b e th ose who live there of course, the

voiceless. By assaulting Mother Nature with our comforts rat her than

emb racing her wild h armo ny, we forget that we t oo are a nimals. We

might find tha t road closures will open new wor lds, put ou r feet in

contact with the ground, and put o ur souls in touch with our past,

present, and hop efully our future.

Today as I beat my way through the foot t raffic surround ing

General Sherman, my sn eakers squ eak on th e blacktop as I bob and

weave toward s th e par king lot. I begin to da ydream o f put ting my

arms aroun d th e Boole Tree, which stands o ff the b eaten path

bet ween General Sher man an d th e Kings Canyon . Noth ing divides us.My arms d o not even reach h is ankles. His bark is spongy and more

tha n 2 feet th ick. The Californ ia sun h as ra diated off the t ree s auburn

bar k for th e entire day, tran sferring ancient warmth into me. I ope n

my arm s to h is soft flesh, and he s tand s indifferent to my a ffection. I,

alone with Boole, am blus hing a rosy red ma tch ing his bark, blushing

because I am a b ona fide tree hugger having an

affair with a lone ly old sequoiadendron giganteum .

Boole has been in this fores t for s ome 2000 years .

His com mun ity was once t he largest grove o f giant

sequoias on t he earth , at least th e largest since we

have kep t trac k of time. He watch ed loggers ha ck

his friend s do wn early in the 20th centur y, but th e

pillagers left him stand ing, stan ding alone amon gthe largest stump s on earth . Then, they named the

forlorn giant after the man who sent th e trees

friends do wn to th e mill, Frank Boole. They

tacked a s ign up honor ing the biped Frank Boole, a

man who h elped turn the mos t awe striking trees

on ear th into millions of shingles and fence p osts.

Finally, they hosted square d ances on the su r-

rounding decap itated stump s, celebrating as Boole

the tree mourned . Accordingly the last centu ry h as

been tor ment for this ancient specimen, but at

least today, the Boole Tree has no pavement

smother ing his roots.

Aaron Drendel is currently working on a masters

degree in environmental writing at the University of

Montana. He has worked as a naturalist ranger at

Kings Canyon National Park in the Sierra Nevada

and Glen Canyon NRA. Aaron spent two years

working on various grassroots en vironmental

projects in the Dominican Republic while serving as

a Peace Corps volunteer. Though a form er ranger, his

views should in no way be confused with current NPS

opinion.

Fire scars reve al a glimpse into the forests history.

Photo by Aaron Drendel.

A mule deer forages w ithin Redw ood Canyon, amon g the giants.

Photo by Aaron Drendel.


10/24


Be Careful What You Ask For:

FS Revs Up for New ORV RulesBy Bethanie Walder

This prop osed change i s one of many tha t the

Bush Administra t ion has ini t ia ted w ith l it t le

pu blic comment or overs ight .

In December 1999, Wildland s CPR and more tha n

100 oth er grou ps as ked th e Fores t Ser vice (FS)

to r ewrite th eir regulations regard ing off-road

vehicles. At the t ime, the agency said they had too

much on th eir plate they were swamped tr ying

to finish th e road less rule, rewrite the National

Fores t Management Act regulations and finish

many other big projects. As they p ut it , their

wheelbar row was n ot on ly full, bu t overflowing.

This fall we learned t hat t hey ve finally light -

ened th eir load eno ugh to make room for this issue.

The FS recen tly anno unce d th at the y will overhau l

the ir regulations for off-road vehicles, most o f

which a re found in the FS Code of Federal Regula-

tion s (CFR) at 36CFR295 and 36CFR261. Thes e

regulations de rive from two execut ive ord ers (EO

11644, EO 11989) that control off-road vehicles on

all pu blic lands; each land man agement agen cy

developed regulations to implement these execu-

tive order s (or iginally enacte d by Pres ident Nixon

in 1972 and stren gthened by President Carter in

1977). The FS is the only agency that h as an-nounced a national regulatory change.

This prop osed ch ange is one of many that the

Bush Administr ation h as initiated with little pub lic

comment or overs ight. Rather th an attacking rules

hea d on , this administrat ion is fond of making rule

changes beh ind closed doors . For example, near

the s ame time that we learned about the off-road

vehicle r egulatory change, the administration

announced that it was changing the ru les for

defining streams and wetlands under the Clean

Water Act, effectively reducing p rotec tions for a

significant numb er of wetlands an d water ways. We

can only speculate what t he ad ministration mightdo with th e off-road vehicle regulations. Judging

from th eir treatmen t of sno wmob iles in

Yellowsto ne National Park, it is clear th at t hey a re

more fond of motorized recreation than no n-

motorized recreation.

Following in the trad ition of othe r recen t

agency rule changes, our un derst anding from the

FS is that th ey have little intent to co nd uct p ub lic

meetings o r co llect p ublic comm ent u ntil after theyhave figured out exactly what they want the new

rules to say. Our intent, on the oth er hand , is to

ensure th ey hear what the p ublic thinks about this

process before it is a done d eal, and th at the r ule

change pro vides a real opp ortun ity for m eaningful

reform.

A cou ple yea rs ago, FS Chief Dale Boswo rt h

pres ided over the largest o ff-road vehicle regula-

tory reform to date on twen ty-six national

forests and three Bureau of Land Management

(BLM) areas in Montan a, Nort h Dakota and Sout h

Dakota. This proces s resu lted in NO real cha nge on

the ground and the continued expans ion of ren-egade routes thro ughout the reform area. If this

exercise in futility is th e mod el for n ational reform,

the resu lt will only exacerb ate th e off-road vehicle

management prob lems that already exist.

But rath er than s peculate about what th e FS

might d o, it makes more sense to offer so me

solutions . When we sub mitted our 1999 rulemaking

petition, we scr utinized th e regulations and worked

with lawyers, conservation biologists and activists

to deter mine what language would make the mo st

sense from a regulatory persp ective. It comes

down to s everal basic issues:

Wildlands CPR

file photo.


11/24


Off road veh icle us e sh all be a llowed only

on system roads and routes d esignated

and posted as open for such use. Cross-

coun tr y travel by off-road vehicles sha ll be

prohibited.

Route designation shall only occur where

the FS can demons trate (through an op en,

pub lic proces s), that us e of the route willnot cause ad verse environmental impacts.

All rout e des ignations , upgrade s, etc. shall

be fully analyzed und er th e National

Environmen tal Po licy Act.

Off-road vehicle use s hall be p rohibited

unless adeq uate monitoring and enforce-

ment of the u se and impacts are fully

funded and implemented. Resource

mana gement d ecisions regard ing off-road

vehicles mus t be directly tied to th e

agencys ability to manage thos e resourceseffectively.

Off-road vehicle use s hall be p rohibited in

areas such as roadless areas, designated

wilderness areas and ot her wildernes s

quality lands, and oth er areas with

roadless values.

These five basic rules wou ld enab le the FS to

mana ge off-road vehicle use m ore e ffectively and to

limit ecological impacts . But the se regulatory

app roach es will have no impact if the FS do es no t

have fund ing for effective o ff-road vehicle enforce-

ment and monitoring.

The FS and BLM have given off-roa d v eh icle

use rs free reign over pu blic lands. The agencies

have failed to regulate moto rized recreat ion

effectively, and have almost wholly failed to

enforce thos e regulations th at do exist. Until local

and federal lawmakers d evelop real consequences

for violating off-road vehicle regulations, the

curr ent att itude of lawlessnes s will cont inue

throughout the sport .

These conseq uences cou ld include expensive

fines and th e impoundm ent of vehicles th at are

driven in unauth orized places. They could alsoinclude such con sequen ces as permanent closure

of routes where users continuously violate closure

orders . (In other words, if the agencies grant the

pr ivilege to us e moto rized recreat ional vehicles on

pub lic land roads /routes, then that p rivilege comes

with a res po ns ibility to follow the law. If off-roa d

vehicle us ers cannot follow the laws, they shou ld

lose their privileges.) This hap pens in nearly every

other sector o f our s ociety, but for so me reason we

cont inue to tolerate illegal beh avior by o ff-road

vehicle u sers and th at beh avior only growswors e. Without real conse que nces , off-road veh icle

recreat ion will cont inue to be p lagued by lawless -

ness. With real conseq uences such as perma-

nent closures a nd loss o f recreational access, we

will see off-road vehicle user s s tart patro lling

themselves.

The FS announcem ent ab out their rule-change

process elicits mixed em otions for peop le con-

cern ed with off-road vehicle use. The agency is

claiming that they are taking on this proces s

because t hey must cont rol use before it is out of

control. We are trepidatious abo ut the outcome.

We recognize that we as ked th e Forest Service tounder take just such a process , and we can only

hop e th at th e safety, ecological and econ omic

impacts of off-road vehicle recreation on n ational

forest lands will be so profound as to offer no other

op tion but rea l regulator y reform . Well, at least we

can give them th e benefit of the doub t

Will the Forest Services new ORV regulations address the critical issues of

resource dam age and rider respo nsibility? Or will this process take us around

in circles? Photo by Mark Alan Wilson.

The use r-created route around this gate is an e xam ple of what has

becom e a comm on disregard for ORV rules. Photo by Dan Funsch.


12/24


The Activist Spotlight shares the stories of some of

the awesom e activists we wo rk with, both as a

tribute to them and as a way of highlighting

successful strategies and lessons learned. Please

email your nomination for the Activist Spotlight to

k iffin@wildla ndscp r.org.

Spotlight on Andrew HarveyBy Kiffin Hope

Stretching for forty miles n orth -

ward into Californ ia from the

Mexico bord er, the Sonor an

Desert s Algod ones Dunes area is the

oldest d une s ystem in California and

the largest in th e U.S. Cons tantly

shifting sands and extreme dryness

and temper ature changes create a

fragile and u nique h abitat. The 160,000

acre area h arb ors a t least 160 different

animal and plant sp ecies, including

many rare, threatened, and endemic

species such as Peirsons milkvetch ,

sand food (an unu sual, edible plant),

Algodones Dunes sun flower, des ert

tortoise, and n ine known endemic

bee tle sp ecies. High inten sity off-road

vehicle use, h owever, is n egatively

impacting th e life within th is rare

ecos ystem, which t he California

Wilder ness Coalition ha s des ignate d as

on e of California s ten most endan-

gered wild places .

In recen t years , the Algodoneshave been waylaid upon b y as many as

one million o ff-road enth usiasts

annu ally. On any given weekend , one

can witness dun e bu ggies, jeeps, all-

terrain vehicles, motorcycles, and

monster trucks driving recklessly

across th e tenuous landscap e. Particu-

larly bus y holiday weekends in

November 1999, Octob er 2000, and

November 2001 saw large and un ru ly

crowd s of off-road vehicle user s hitting

the dunes . Much mayhem occurred ,

including widespread violence,

injuries, an d s everal fatalities.

While many conser vation groups

and individuals have gotten the word

out ab out th e Algodo nes o ff-road

abu se issu e, Los Angeles-based

pho tographer Andrew Harvey has b een

using images. And rew said, I got

exposed to t he dun es in an intimate

manner d uring a closure mon itoring

visit with Daniel Patters on an d

Brendan Cummings of the Center for

Biological Diversity. Given his com -

pan y, Andre w quickly learned t hat ,

upon closer inspection, a delicate and

unu sual mat rix of life st ruggles to e xist

in the harsh deser t conditions made

more h ost ile by off-road vehicle use.

With his field experience in th e du nes,

and th e knowledge that th e off-road

friendly Bush adm inistr ation cou ld

read ily overtu rn a November 2000

court d ecision that tem porar ily

pro tecte d 49,000 acres of the

Algodon es from moto rized use, the

time was ripe to te ll the s aga of the

dun es in a whole new way.

Teaming up with t he Center for

Biological Diversity, Natur al Trails &

Water Coalition, Deser t Protect ive

Council, and the San Diego Sierra Club,

in May 2003 Andre w emb arked on a

traveling photographic exhibition

showcasing images he captu red in the

du nes. To dat e, the Algodo nes Dunes

Traveling Exhibit has b een se en by an

estimate d 350,000 peop le in cities from

Los Angeles and San Diego to Tucson,

Phoe nix, and El Centro . The exhibit

engages visitors in a moving and

memorab le visual experience of the

dunes an d the plants and animals that

depen d on its delicate ecosystem. The

pho tos graphically documen t both the

exotic beaut y of the dunes and t he off-

road d amage inflicted up on th em.

Andr ew told me, The ob jective of this

exhibition is to us e art as a mechanism

for en vironmental educat ion and

positive change.

Even t hou gh it is difficult to

quantify the impact th e exhibit has had

Copyright Andrew M. Harvey 2003 www.visualjourneys.net


13/24



on its visitors, Andre w pers onally

mailed over 120 letter s t o Californ ias

sen ator s Diane Feinstein (D) and

Barbara Boxer (D) signed b y Los

Angeles atten dees alone. Inter views

with Andrew and ar ticles ab out th e

exhibition have b een featured in many

area newspap ers along the way,

creat ing interest in th e Algodo nes

Dunes and encouraging individuals to

come and view the ph otograph y. The

images cap tured in Andrews

Algodones pho tographs are so comp el-

ling that they are in demand from

newspaper s, national publications, and

environmental and lobbying groups ,

including the LA Time s, Yuma Sun,

Back Packer, Earth First! Journal, Sierra

Club , and The Wilderne ss Society. The

California Wilderness Coalition used

Andrews ph otos both within the

Algodones Dunes feature and on th e

bac k cover o f its 2003 California s 10

Most Threate ned Wild Places . Th e

images have also been used onnum erous web sites and in scientific

and legal documen ts.

Its obvious that th e images are

sp eaking for t hem selves. I asked

Andrew h ow he feels ab out th e

pop ularity of his Algod ones Dunes

images. He sa id, Ive always been an

environmentalist at hear t, so its

gratifying that my p hotos of the dunes

are influencing and educating so many

people.

In Octob er 2003 a cour t dec isionuph eld the temporary protection of the

49,000 acre tr act men tioned earlier.

Andrew has some misgivings about

this, however. Things are very

ten tat ive. The BLM (Bure au o f Land

Management) isnt neces sarily going to

make a dec ision in favor o f prot ecting

the dunes. In fact, BLM is p rop os ing

opening the protected area to motor-

ized use, even th ough n early 70,000

acres ( 106 squ are miles) of the

Algodones Dunes are already open to

off-road vehicle use. And rew never the -

less remains confident that groups liketh e Cente r for Biological Divers ity,

Sierra Club, and Public Employees for

Environmen tal Resp ons ibility will keep

the pres sure on BLM and th e courts.

For th e time being, Andre w and

the Algod ones Dunes Traveling

Exhibition are taking a well-des erved

break. With so much moving around,

the p hotos , frames, and p rotective

glass are in need of repair or rep lace-

ment . With som e luck, additional

fund ing, and political sup po rt, Andr ewhopes to take the exhibition to Wash-

ington, D.C. in the near futur e. He h as

provided Senators Feinstein and Boxer

and Congres sm an Bob Filner ( D-CA)

with pho tographs , information, and

news stories abo ut the Algodones

Dunes and has even sub mitted a formal

requ est to Filners office seeking

ass istance for a D.C. exhibition.

Recently, Andr ew has bee n

photographing areas in Tejon Ranch

and the Surpr ise Canyon Wilderness.

Hes also wor king on getting his own

non -pro fit or ganization, Visua l Jour -neys, up and run ning. Throu gh Visual

Journeys I hope to create visual and

educational exhibits that ignite pass ion

and ap preciation, and encour age the

pre ser vation of biological diversity.

We wish And rew much succ ess in

his endeavors.

To con tact Andrew or to view

images from the Algodo nes Dunes

Traveling Exhibition, visit

www.visualjourneys.net.



14/24


IntroductionRoad d ecommissioning has b een d efined as th e

physical treatment of a roadb ed to res tore the integrity of

associated hillslopes, ch annels, and flood plains and their

related h ydrologic, geomorp hic, and ecological process es

and p ropert ies (Switalski et al. in press ). In pr actical terms,

deco mmissioning is a proc ess in which the Forest Service

(FS) determ ines that a road is no longer need ed or desirable

and t hen p hysically removes it from th e ground, the road

databas e, and/or pu blished maps . Road decommissioning

shou ld not be confused with road closure. Road closureimplies temp orar ily prohibiting acces s to a road . This is an

important d istinction because som e forests say they are

decommissioning road s while in reality they are closing

roads. For example, they may be placing a gate or barrier on

the road entrance, but are leaving culverts and th e road

prism in place.

The FS is decommissioning thous ands of miles of

roads for a variety of reasons. The most common are:

to eliminate environmental degradation;

to redu ce impacts associated with motorized

access;

to m eet s pecific management requ irements defined

in Forest plans or co urt ord ers; and, to avoid long-term road maintenance costs.

Decom missioning activities emp loyed b y the FS include

reestablishing natural drainage patterns and stream chan -

nels, out-sloping the road surface, scattering deb ris on t he

roadbed , ripping the s oil and p lanting vegetation on the road

bed, blocking the entran ce to a road , and posting closure

signs. One or more of these activities may be used . The

common denominator in FS road d ecommissioning is

removing the road from the road system databas e, but even

this is not cert ain. An on-the-ground inves tigation is

generally required to d eter mine exactly which ac tivitieswere used to d ecommission a particular road.

During th e su mmer of 2003, Wildland s CPR cond ucte d a

sur vey of all nationa l fores t road deco mmissioning. This

pro ject was prom pted , in pa rt, by FS claims th at from 1998-

2002 they decommissioned fourteen miles of road for every

one m ile bu ilt. While we confirmed tha t th e agency is

decommissioning roads, we also learned th at they have n o

cons istent d efinition for decommissioning.

In th is stud y, our goal was to collect data to illustrat e

what activities the FS employs to decommission roads and

in what pro por tions. Is the agency actually decommission-

ing roads or simply closing them? It is also important to

unders tand which kinds of roads (system o r non-system) are

being decommissioned. System roads were engineered,

constru cted, and inventoried b y the FS; non-system road s

were either created b y users or co nstruct ed for timber s ales,

grazing, and mining, but never placed on the inventory (and

are ther efore difficult to categor ize). It app ears th at in many

cases , the FS is taking credit for d ecomm issioning non-

syste m road s while not taking respo nsibility for th eir

development.

Based on our research , it appears that t he FS is invest-

ing in road removal and s tream chan nel restoration in

cert ain places, while investing very little in other p laces. In

all cases, ground truthing will be necessar y to determine

what level of work is being done in reported road d ecommis-

sioning pro grams.

MethodsWe contacted the road manager or lead engineer at each

regional office of the FS and requ este d th e Road Accom plish-

ment Report Summa ries (RARS) for 1997 2002. Each forest

in the National Forest System mus t su bmit this annu al

report , which tracks add itions to and d eletions from the

road system, maintenance, construction, reconstruction,

deco mmissioning miles and assoc iated costs . The RARS

also tracks whether activity occurred on s ystem or non -

syste m road s. We used a formal Freed om of Information Act

request to acq uire data from Regions 1 and 6.

National Forest Service Road DecommissioningAn attempt to read through the numbers

By Ryan Schaffer

Many types of activities meet the Forest Service definition of

decommissioning, from blocking a roads access (above), to

fully removing it and re-establishing vegetative cover (right).

Photos by Edgar va n de r Grift.


15/24


Results and DiscussionAccord ing to th e RARS repo rt , the FS is deco mmission-

ing roads in near ly ever y national fores t in the United States .

Below we articulate the mo st impor tant an d significant

results of the data we gathered and des cribe noteworthy

regions for futu re investigation. The full repo rt is available

on ou r website and also identifies noteworthy forests.

National Results (All FS Regions)Nationwide, the FS is decom missioning an avera ge of

2,038 miles of road per year (system and non-system road s

comb ined) at a cost of $3,911 per mile. When b roken down ,

the FS is decom missioning 1,290 miles of syste m road per

year and 748 miles of non-system road per year at a c ost of

$3,521 per mile an d $4,591 per mile res pec tively (Figures 1,

2). It is worth noting that th e cost p er mile for non -system

road d ecommissioning is higher than that for system road

dec ommiss ioning; this is entirely due t o the inclusion of

Alaska in this dat a. Alaska spend s more th an $22,000 per

mile to de comm ission non-system ro ads , nearly 350% more

than th e rest of the country.

When Alaska is taken out o f the p icture th e cost -per -

mile da ta ch anges s ignificantly while th e miles-per -year d atais barely affected . In th e lower forty-eight, the FS is deco m-

missioning 2,019 miles (sys tem and non -syst em comb ined)

at a co st o f $2,803 per mile. This includes 1,281 miles o f

system road s p er year an d 737 miles of non-system road s

per year at a n avera ge cost per mile of $3,365 and $2,030

respectively.

Nationally, the numb er of road miles deco mmissioned

per year p eaked in 1999 and then dropp ed by near ly 65% by

2002. Expend itures on road decomm issioning rose stea dily

after 1999, peaking in 2001 and the n d ropp ing 55% in 2002.

Costs-per-mile were highes t in 1998, largely du e to the

inclusion of Alaska in our dat a samp le. However, besides

1998, costs-per-mile have not fluctuated much , rising

stea dily thro ugh 2002.

Noteworthy Regions Region 6 (Pacific Nort hwest ) deco mmissions t he

most miles of road (system and no n-system com-

bined) and th e most miles of system road in the

country.

Regions 1 (North ern) and 3 (Southwest) are also

decommissioning relatively high numbers of system

road s, averaging more than 300 miles p er year.

Regions 5 (Pac ific South west) and 10 (Alaska) are

deco mmissioning relatively few miles of road b ut

are making a considerable investment in the

decommissioning they do accomplish.

Regions 2 (Rocky Moun tains) an d 4 (Interm oun tain)

are decommissioning relatively high numbers of

road (genera lly non-system roa ds) for on ly limited

financial invest ment ( with the excep tion of the

Payette National Fores t).

Regions 8 (Souther n) and 9 (Eastern) are decom mis-

sioning relatively few miles o f road at a low cos t-

per -mile investment .

ConclusionsThis research has made it clear that the term decom-

missioning can mea n a variety of different th ings. There is

tremendou s variation in the number of miles being decom-

missioned, th e costs associated with deco mmissioning, and

the activities being employed to decommission roads acrossthe cou ntr y. Ultimately, all tha t can be ass ured is that a

decommissioned road likely has been removed from the FS

databas e. In this vein, the term decommissioning must be

qua lified if it is to r epres ent s ome s ort of on-the-ground

accom plishmen t for th e FS. The next logical step wou ld be

to docum ent what is being accomplished on the ground.

A full version o f this rep ort is available on line a t

www.wildlandsc pr.org. We recen tly sent th e full repor t along

with our road removal economics repor t to many forest

advoc ates . Using the two repo rt s togethe r, activists will be

able to gauge the po tent ial for eco nomic ben efits from road

deco mmissioning in the ir region. We hop e to work with

many of these organizations to conduct inspections and

determine what is actually happ ening on the ground . Please

contact u s if you re interested in condu cting a

groundtruth ing project on your forest.

Ryan Schaffer recently completed this report as an

internship with Wildlands CPR. He is currently pursuing a law

degree at Lewis & Clark College.

Figure 1. Forest Service annual average

system decommissioning mileage andannual average system cost comparison

(1995-2002).

Figure 2. Forest Service annual average non-system

decommissioning mileage and annual average non-system cost comparison (1995-2002).

annual average miles

annual average cost per mile

annual average miles

annual average cost per mile


16/24


Bibliography Notes summarizes and highlights some of the

scientific literature in our 10,000 citation bibliography on the

physical and ecological effects of roads and off-road vehicles. 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.

Indirect Impacts of Road-Building inDeveloping CountriesBy Carrie Brunger

OverviewRoads pose a par ticularly challenging problem to those

interested in forest con servation in d eveloping nations

(Wilkie et al. 2000). Scientists stu dy the effects of road

building from ma ny per sp ectives including ecological,

soc ial, econom ic, and cultura l. While the d irect ecological

impacts of roads h ave been well documented, indirecteffects are mo re d ifficult to qu antify and mo re ch allenging to

examine. This doesnt, however, diminish the ir impa ct on

local pop ulations, liveliho od, b iodiversity, and o verall

hum an vitality. This review examines som e of the major

indirect impacts of road bu ilding in developing countr ies in

order to under stand the factors involved and effects created

in this ever -growing business of road bu ilding.

MigrationRoad building can lead to th e resett lement of large

number s of people from rur al to urban areas, placing

pressu re on urban infrastru cture. Conversely, roads can

facilitate m igration o f peo ple to on ce isolated a reas, leading

to indirect impacts such as increased hunting and po aching,agricultural development , and eco nomic change. Next, I

review the impacts of this increased migration and examine

the integra l role that roa ds p lay in migration.

Hunting a nd Poa chingThe increase in access and h unting pressure enabled by

road building is on e of the major indirect impacts cur rently

add ress ed b y researc h (Bennet t et al. 2001; Fimbe l et al.

2001; Wilkie et al. 2000; Auze l et al. 2000; Wilkie e t a l. 2001;

Pere s et a l. 2003; Minn eme yer 2002). The h un ting of wildlife

in forests is a common practice associated with timber

extraction, mining, agricultural development and deforesta-

tion as a whole (Rumiz et al 2001). Many road s crea ted for

logging and mining become points of entry into other wise

isolated area s. As a resu lt of such road b uilding in th e

Republic of Congo, travel time for hun ters to reach an

access p oint declined from twelve hours to less than t wo,

turning what was once a four day journey into a one day

event (Wilkie 2000). Also, road netwo rks c reate d for logging

and m ining have been proven to subs tantially increase

acces s to game while also facilitating tran spo rt to ma rkets

(Fimbe l et al. 2001). Even road s in national reser ves ha ve

been found to as sist poach ing and hu nting in Bolivia

(Townsend 2000) and Sout h Africa ( Kotze 2002).

Agricultura l Developmen tRoad bu ilding can res ult in a significant loss o f prod uc-

tive agricultural lands as they are develop ed. Research also

reveals th at road s increase agricultural development inpreviously isolated areas as migrants p ursue economic gain

and st ab ility (Mahar 1989; Mahar et al. 1994; Ayres et al.

1991). For e xample, with t he ad vent of road building in th e

Amazon b asin, settlers, immigrants , colonization enter -

prises, cattle ranchers , and agricultural projects ar rived in

the region and created economic opp ortun ities (Ayres et

al.1991; Price 1989), while degrad ing native ecosyst ems. The

same d evelopmen t followed roa d bu ilding halfway around

the world in r ura l Africa (Mwase 1991), Sout heas t Asia

(Kumme r and Turner 1994), and in Central America

(Chomitz and Gray 1995).

Agricultural development increases primarily through

logging practices and government spons orsh ip. Whilelogging concessions add ro ads into untouch ed areas,

government co lonization programs also increase agricultural

development and cattle ranching by providing access and

econ omic incen tives to migrate to the frontier (Mahar 1989).

In Brazil in the 1960s and 1970s, mass ive government road

projects mad e large areas access ible for th e first time, and

agricultural colonization schemes attracted migrants (Mahar

1989). With the d evelopmen t of the governm ent-fund ed

Belem-Brasilia Highway, cattle ranching firms and millions of

migrants poured into the ru ral area. In add ition to cheap

land, the government o ffered t ax and credit incentives to

Road building in the Ivory Coast connected rural farmers with large

scale cotton compa nies. Photo by Carrie Brunger.


17/24


enco ura ge agriculture. Official estimate s suggest t hat t he

total human popu lation in the zone of the highway increased

from 100,000 in 1960 to a bou t two million ten years later

(Mahar 1989).

Econom ic Grow th a nd DevelopmentNational economic growth and development h ave long

been seen as th e ultimate goals of road building in d evelop-

ing countries. Roads generate economic growth by creating

demand for new s ervices and labor. Employment comesfrom a va riety of so urces including farming, logging, selling

or maintaining goods, and service related bu sinesses. As

logging compan ies move into an are a, employment o f local

workers rises ( Fores t Monitor 2003; Bennett an d Gumal 2001;

Wilkie et al. 2000). But in many cas es su bs istence op por tu-

nities decrease, creating new depend ence on a mon etary

economy that req uires increased reso urce extraction.

Add itionally, socio-cultura l values may b e altered and

exposure to rapid social change or tourism may create

instab ility in th e com mun ity (USAID 2003). On the oth er

hand , economic development and long-term, sustainable

improvements in society are also indirect impacts of road

building in developing countries, measured primarily

through d evelopment s in healthcare, access to edu cation,infrastruct ure, commerce and com munication systems .

Without road s, commerce can b arely exist, let alone expan d.

Not s urpr isingly, reconstru ction of roads is a p rominent

compon ent of the governments plan to restore t he Demo-

crat ic Repu blic of Congo s ec on omy ( Wilkie et al. 2000).

While road bu ilding can improve Gross Domest ic Product

and facilitate inter national tra de, it also dra matically

reduces biodiversity, increases habitat fragmentation, and

increases economic costs caus ed b y environmental damage

like landslides. Add itionally, decreas es in scen ic quality and

tou rism following road b uilding can resu lt in furth er eco -

no mic los se s (USAID 2003).

Imp acts on Huma n Hea lth and SafetyThere are also a number of indirect impacts on hu manhea lth an d safety res ulting from road building (USAID 2003).

Unpaved road s generate du st and noise that can n egatively

affect road constr uction workers and local communities.

Roads increase connections b etween commun ities resulting

in increased potential for s exually transmitted diseases such

as HIV/AIDs and oth er com municab le diseases s uch as

tub erculosis. Add itionally, road s with poo r drainage create

standing water and increase the r isk of water b orn d isease

such as ch olera and malaria. Road improvements increase

vehicular speed, which results in increased collisions

between both h uman and animal populations.

ConclusionNot only do researchers agree that b oth d irect and

indirect impacts o f road b uilding in develop ing coun tries areimportant top ics to examine, but they also focus on solu-

tions to m itigate tho se impact s. The following suggestions

are only the t ip of the iceb erg in mitigating the impact s of

roads in developing countr ies:

Developing a strategic appro ach to ro ad recons truc-

tion (Wilkie e t a l. 2000);

Reviewing policies (Mason and Putz 2001, Maha r

1989, Mahar et a l. 1994);

Creating and expan ding wildlife reser ves in deve lop-

ing cou ntr ies (Switalski 2002; Smith et a l. 1998;

Peres 2003);

Regulating logging trans por t and re quiring road

de mo lition a fter logging (Auzel et al. 2000; Fimb el etal. 2001; Bennett et al. 2001; Wilkie et al. 2001);

Examining road cons truc tion, tree felling, and

extraction m ethod s (Mason and Putz 2001); and,

Training, educa ting, and involving local pop ulations

(Fimb el et al 2001; Forest Monitor 2003;

Buschb acher 1990).

Due to gaps and weaknesses in research meth odology,

the intr icacies of dyna mic societies, and evolving cultures,

unders tanding the indirect impacts of roads in developing

coun tries is a challenge. In man y cases , information is not

easily quant ifiable. Expand ing the focus of research from

ecological effects t o include so cial, cultura l and eco nom ic

effects will benefit sust ainable man agement , habitat vitality

and r ural livelihood . This shift in researc h, however, mus t

not o nly come from ind ividu als but also from th e organiza-

tions and governments that fund road building. Quantitative

resea rch is vital in under stan ding impa cts, but local knowl-

edge and app reciation is also of utmost import ance. Road

building projects can b e bo th b eneficial and d etrimental to

local cultures, and while environmental impacts su ch as

deforesta tion and loss o f biodivers ity may never b e elimi-

nated , they can b e diminished. To do s o, local involvemen t

and un derstan ding must be p rioritized. This proces s, along

with ap propr iate needs ass essment, will be key to ensur ing

that new transp ortation infrastructu res have the least

poss ible impacts.

Carrie Brunger is a Graduate Student in the Environmental

Studies Program at the Unive rsity of Montana.

Due to road building in developing countries, many regional markets

are now linke d to rem ote areas. Photo by Carrie Brunger.

References follow on nex t page


18/24


ReferencesAuzel, P. and D.S. Wilkie. 2000. Wildlife use in North ern Con go:

hunting in a commercial logging concession. In: Hunting

for Sustainability in Tropical Forests. (J.G. Robinson and

E.L. Benn ett, ed itors ), Columb ia Univers ity Press , New

Yor k, 413-454.

Ayres , J.M, D.M Lima, E. S. Mart ins and J.L.K. Barre iros . 1991.

On the track of the road: changes in subsistence huntingin a Brazilian Amazonian village. In: Neotropical Wildlife

Use and Conservation (J.G. Robinson and K.H Redford,

ed itors ), The University of Chicago Press , Chicago, 82-92.

Bennet t, E.L. and M.T. Guma l. 2001. The interrelations hips of

com merc ial logging, hunt ing, and wildlife in Sarawak:

recomm enda tions for forest managemen t. In: The Cutting

Edge: Conser ving Wildlife in Logged Tropical Fores ts.

(editors: R.A. Fimbel, A. Grajal and J.G. Robinson).

Columb ia Univer sity Press, New Yor k, 359-374.

Buschbac her, R.J. 1990. Natura l forest managemen t in t he

hum id trop ics: ecological, social and econo mic

considerations.Ambio 19(5): 253-58.

Chomitz, K.M. and D.A. Gray. 1995. Road s, land use a nd

deforestation: A spatial mode l applied to Belize.Environment, Infrastructure and Agriculture Division.

Working Pape r 3, The Wor ld Bank, Wash ington, D.C. 50 pp .

Fimb el, R.A., A. Gra jal and J.G. Robinson. 2001. Logging a nd

wildlife in the trop ics: impacts a nd options for

con ser vation. In: The Cutting Edge: Conse rving Wildlife in

Logged Tropical Fores ts. (ed itors : R.A. Fimb el, A. Grajal

and J.G. Rob inson ). Columbia University Pres s, New York,

667-695.

Forests Monitor. 2003. Part III: Impacts of the logging indu str y.

[www.forestsmonitor.org/reports/highstakes/part3a.htm]

Access ed on 10/30/03.

Kotze, N.J. 2002. The con sequ ences of road d evelopment in the

Golden Gate Highland s Nationa l Park, Sou th Africa:

paradise lost? World Leisure 3: 54-60.Kumm er, D.M. and B.L.II Turner. 1994. The hu man causes of

deforestation in South east Asia.BioScience 44(5): 323-329.

Mahar, D.J. 1989. Government policies and deforestation in

Brazils Amazon region. Report 8910. International Bank

for Reconst ruction an d Developm ent an d The World

Bank, Wash ington, DC. 56 pp .

Mahar, D. and R. Schneide r. 1994. Ince ntives for tro pical

deforestation: some examples from Latin America. In: The

Causes of Tropical Deforestation. (editors K. Brown and

D.W. Pea rce ), UBC Press Limited , 159-171.

Mason, D.J. and F.E. Putz. 2001. Redu cing th e impacts of

tro pical forestr y on wildlife. In: The Cutting Edge:

Conse rving Wildlife in Logged Trop ical Fores ts. (ed itors :

R.A. Fimbel, A. Grajal and J.G. Robinson). ColumbiaUnivers ity Pre ss , New York, 473-502.

Minne meyer, S. 2002. An a nalysis o f acces s into cen tra l Africas

rainforest. World Forest Watch Report. World Resources

Institute. 26pp. [http://www.wri.org/pdf/

gfw_centr alafrica_full.pd f] Acces sed on 9/15/2003.

Mwase, N.R.L. 1991. Role of tra nsport in rural develop men t in

Africa. Impact of Science on Society 41(2): 137-48.

Peres , C.A. and I.R. Lake. 2003. Extent of non timbe r re sou rce

extraction in t ropical forest s: accessibility to game

vertebrates b y hunters in the Amazon basin. Conservation

Biology 17(2): 521-35.

Price, D. 1989. Before t he Bulldozer : the Nambiquar a Indians

and the World Bank. Seven Locks Press, Cabin John,

Maryland, 212 pp .

Rumiz, D.I., D. Guinar t, L. Solar, J.C. Herre ra . 2001. Logging and

hunting in commun ity forests and corporate concessions.

In: The Cutting Edge: Conserving Wildlife in Logged

Tropical Fores ts. ( ed itors : R.A. Fimbel, A. Grajal and J.G.

Robinso n). Columb ia University Pre ss , New York, 333-357.

Switalski, A. 2002. Bibliograp hy note s: the imp act o f road s on

large carnivores around the world. The Road-Riporter7(3):

14-16.

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

analysis of tiger distribu tion and hab itat quality in Nepal.

Conservation Biology 12(6): 1338-1346.

Towns end , W.R. 2000. The sust ainab ility of Subsist enc e hu nting

by t he Siriono Ind ians o f Boliva. In: Hunting for

Sus tainab ility in Tropical Forests . (J.G. Robinson and E.L.

Bennet t, editor s), Columbia Univers ity Press, New York,

267-281.

Verm ilye, K. Personal obser vation. Interviewed on 10/24/03.

Wilkie, D.E. Shaw, F. Rotberg, G. Morelli and P. Auzel. 2000.Roads, development and conservation in the con go basin.

Conservation Biology 14(6): 1614-22.

Wilkie, D.S., J.G. Sidle, G.C. Boundzanga, P.Auzel and S. Blake.

2001. Defaunation, not deforestation: commercial logging

and m arket hu nting in nor ther n Congo. In: The Cutting

Edge: Conser ving Wildlife in Logged Tropical Forest s.

(ed itors : R.A. Fimbel, A. Grajal and J.G. Robinson) .

Columb ia Univer sity Pres s, New Yor k, 375-399.

World Bank.1997. Roads and the Environment: A Handbook.

World Bank Techn ical Repor t TWU 13, and up dat e WB

Tech nical Pap er No. 376. Wor ld Bank, Wash ington, D.C.

(Part II details s pecific environmental, social, and o ther

impacts). Online: http://www.worldb ank.org/transp or t/

publicat/reh/toc.htm

Road building changes the migration

patterns and cultural dynamics of

deve loping nations. Photo by Adam

Slater.


19/24


Rich Mountain RoadLawsuit

Adjacent to th e Rich Moun tain Wilder ness in

North Georgia, the re is a road called t he Rich

Mountain Road , or the Old Road by th e locals. It

cuts across countr y, through the Chattahooch ee

National Forest , and b orde rs th e Rich Moun tain

Wilder ness . The Old Road is barely pass able by

anyth ing othe r t han all-terr ain vehicles (ATVs) o r

high-clearance off-road vehicles (ORVs) (See TheRoad-RIPorter7:4: Odes to Roads ).

In tru th th e Old Road isn t officially a road .

There is no record th at it was ever a public county

road , nor did Gilmer County ever ma intain it,

tho ugh the y claimed it for years. Early this year,

the cou nty wrote a letter disavowing the road and

affirming the fact th at it is not a p ub lic coun ty road

and th at it never was. Ownersh ip fell to the Forest

Service, who, for years , had st ated th at the road

was substand ard and needed to be closed. Unfor-

tun ately, the y have yet to close it. The road

continues to pour sediment into Stanley Creek (a

trou t s tream) , Wolf Creek, and Briar Creek; it has

also sp rout ed n ew ATV trails into th e Wilder ness

area. Just th is Septe mbe r a woman lost her life in

an ATV acciden t on the Old Road .

In Septemb er o f this year, the Turne r Environ-

men tal Law Clinic and WildLaw filed s uit on be ha lf

of Georgia Fores twatch and Wilder ness Watch

against th e Fores t Service for violating the National

Fores t Managemen t Act (NFMA) an d the Wilder ness

Act. The prem ise is tha t by failing to close th e

road , monitor its effects, or enforce laws pro hibit-

ing ATVs off designa ted tr ails, the Fores t Service is

violating its own regulat ions a s well as NFMA and

the Wildernes s Act. The cas e is likely to be

controversial and one to watch. We hope th at avictory h ere will set a good precedent for th e rest

of the cou ntr y. For more inform ation please

cont act Kather ine Medlock, staff ecologist for

Georgia Forestwatch at (706) 635-8733.

Wilderness Study Area LawsuitWildland s CPR often joins with oth er grou ps in litigation to

protect natural areas from road constr uction and off-road veh icle

dam age. In 1999 we joined the South ern Utah Wilderne ss Alliance

(SUWA) and six othe r grou ps in a lawsuit against the Bureau of Land

Management (BLM) ove r o ff-road vehicle abu ses in four Wilder ness

Study Areas in Utah. The cas e was dismissed b y the d istrict court as

not being ripe for judicial review, but SUWA appealed to the 10th

Circu it Cou rt o f App eals. In 2002 th e 10th Circuit agree d with SUWA

and remand ed the cas e back to the district court for a decision on th e

merits. This sum mer, ho wever, th e Bush Administra tion appealed

that r uling to th e Supreme Court, and on November 3 the Supreme

Court ann ounced th at they would take the case.

While the facts of the case ap pear simple, the Bush Administra -

tion is tr ying to use th is case to open up new ground and invite

mismanagement. Theyve appealed the procedur al aspects o f the

case, arguing that th e case wasn t ripe for re view becaus e BLMs

failure to act to p rotec t Wilder ness Stud y Areas was not a final agency

action. If they win on these p roced ural ground s, the implications will

go far beyon d wilderness or environmental protection.

The Bush Administration argues that conser vationists sh ould not

be allowed to su e the land mana gement agen cy for failing to act, but

on ly for acting ineffect ively or illegally. However, we argue d th at th e

failure to act amo unt ed to a d ecision in and of itself.

There is a similar cas e in the 9th Circuit that is no w on ho ld

pend ing the outco me of this case. We expect them to h ear the case in

th e Spring of 2004.

Wildlands CPR file ph oto.


20/24


Restoration Program Update

By Marnie Criley

From d eveloping and analyzing pu blic policy, to pu blishing

groundbreaking economics research, to making a difference on-the-

ground, our restoration/road rem oval program has been very active

th is fall.

Restor ation PrinciplesMarnie has been a key member of The Restoration Principles

Steer ing Committee for th ree years , helping to cra ft the miss ion and

pr inciples that will guide resto ration effort s for year s to com e. The

Committee just added 5 new members from the forest p ractitioner/

community forestr y arena, all of who are interested in prom oting on-

the-ground restoration projects. Were in the p rocess o f developinggoals and strategies for t he n ext year bas ed on th e following mission:

The mission of the res toration steering committee is to create a

restoration d ialogue and build a movement to ad vance ecologically

and socio-economically sustainable forest and watershed restoration.

The steer ing committee utilizes a co llaborative process to ad vance on-

the-ground restoration p rojects, employ the Restoration Principles as

a reference guide, promote their use in discuss ions and in pr actice,

and facilitate a general dialogue on issues critical to th e ach ievement

of ecologically and s ocio-econ omically desirab le restorat ion on

private and p ublic lands.

Economics ResearchThe Summar y Report from ou r econo mic study,Inve sting in

Communities, Investing in the Land, is finally pr inted an d was d istrib-uted to more than 500 activists, targeted coun ty commissioners, road

removal practitioners, trade associations, economists, etc. Weve

already b een gett ing quite a bit of interes t from agency folks and

others . The Summar y Repor t can be viewed on our website (the full

rep ort is com ing soon). If you d like a copy, or you re interested in

distributing hard cop ies to folks you work with, please contact

mar nie@wildlan ds cp r.org.

Model Road Removal ProgramBeth Peluso has put to gether a road removal flowchart titled Nine steps to a

successful road removal program, which can be viewed on o ur webs ite. Marnie

made a poster based on th is flowchart and t he Clearwater National Forest s road

remo val model, which Adam pres ente d at th e Yellowsto ne to Yukon an nual

gather ing in Misso ula in October. Beth is now in th e pr oces s of finalizing her full

repor t on the com ponent s of a model road removal program, and p utting together

a funding brochure on private/federal funding sources for road removal. Both

documen ts shou ld be completed by the end of the year we ll keep yo u in-

formed.

Finally, Wildlands CPR worked with the Sierra Club on a ro ad removal p roject

in south cent ral Monta na th is fall; see p ages 6-7 for a co mplete up date .

Wildlands CPRs road restoration projects are

educating citize ns and land ma nagers nationwide

while he aling the land directly. Photo by Bethan ie

Walder.


21/24


Transportation ProgramUpdate

By Lisa Philipps

Science Program Update

By Adam Switalski

Our science program continues to d isseminate and

promote cutting edge research on the effects of roads and

off-road vehicles and th e bene fits of road rem oval. With the

help of Erich Zimmer man an d Hank Green, we have up dat ed

our roa d and off-road veh icle datab ase. We comp iled th is

bibliography to help people access relevant scientific

literature on erosion, fragmentation, sedimentation, pollu-

tion, effects on wildlife, aqu atic and hyd rologic effects , and

other topics relating to t he impacts of roads and off-road

vehicles. The datab ase now conta ins over 10,000 citations

doc umen ting the phys ical and ec ological effects o f road s

and off-road vehicles. Check it out at www.wildlandscp r.org.

In a c ollabo rative effort this fall bet ween th e Clear water

National Forest, Nez Perce Tribe, Montana Conser vation

Corp, and Wildland s CPR, we planted 1,700 shru bs on a

recontoured helipad and reestablished sprigged willows in a

restored stream crossing. Hopefully, these shru bs and

willows will jump start the resto ration proces s on another

piece of the Clear water National Fores t. Fund ing was

pro vided b y the Yellowsto ne to Yukon Conse rvat ion

Initiative s minigrant program.

We have s everal stud ents from th e University of

Montanas Environm enta l Stud ies Program investigating

road an d off-road veh icle issu es. The stud ents will developshor t paper s and s ummaries for pu blication in upcom ing

issues ofThe Road-RIPorter. This years top ics include the

impacts o f per son al watercr aft on water fowl, the indirect

impacts o f road s in the develop ing world (see Bibliograph y

Notes, this issu e, pages 16-18), and an an alysis of the

different t ypes o f linear bar riers.

Adam co ntinues to provide research findings from the

latest road , off-road ve hicle, and r oad r emoval stu dies to

activists, agency folks, and oth er researchers . He has b een

meeting with a wide var iety of scientists from Universities

and th e Forest Service, as well as independen t researcher s,

to promo te scientific advancement in our und erstand ing of

road remo val. Recently, Adam travelled to Austin, Texas and

presented a talk entitled Priorities for road removal

research at t he Society for Ecological Restora tions annual

meeting.

New StaffIn mid-November, Jaso n Kiely becam e our t rans po

road riporter 8.4

Documents