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W.J. McCabe Chapter Izaak Walton League of America

© Michael Furtman, 2000   (A version of this article originally appeared in TROUT, the magazine of Trout Unlimited.)    

The Roads Less Traveled
How do hunters and anglers feel about the National Forest "roadless" debate?

By Michael Furtman

  “Our suspension of road construction in roadless areas is final. It is my expectation that in the future, we will rarely build new roads into roadless areas. If we wish to restore the health of our watersheds, we must address the already roaded areas, too. We will move aggressively to close, obliterate, or otherwise decommission unauthorized and unneeded roads.”

 When Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, Mike Dombeck spoke these words a year and a half ago, he likely knew that a firestorm would erupt. But he also knew whereof he speaks. A former fishing guide and a fisheries biologist, few people are more well versed on just how effective roads are at killing fish than is this visionary leader. What he proposed was an 18 month moratorium on new road building while the agency got a handle on the problem, as well as finally resolving which areas would remain forever roadless. About six months later, President Clinton reaffirmed this direction by announcing a proposal to identify and protect the National Forest’s remaining roadless areas.

 Dombeck’s announcement was cheered by Trout Unlimited.

 "This is a positive step that is very much in sync with Mike Dombeck's strong emphasis on watershed health on our National Forests," said Charles Gauvin, President and CEO of Trout Unlimited. "Roadless areas provide some of the best remaining habitats for trout and salmon across the nation, and deserve the strongest possible protection. Many forest roads are a real threat to coldwater fisheries, and it's time to take a much closer look at those impacts." 

But not everyone was as happy as TU. Groups like the Blue Ribbon Coalition, which represents OHV interests and is one of the original signatories to the Wise Use Agenda, and politicians beholding to timber and mining industries, screamed bloody murder, claiming that the Forest Service is trying to “lock up” the land. Dombeck and his staff have been grilled unmercifully in Congressional hearings by politicians with Wise-Use leanings, and the state of Idaho, along with OHV and snowmobile groups, sued the Forest Service, claiming that the agency was in cahoots with environmental groups to create de facto wilderness areas without full public participation. The suit was ultimately rejected by the federal courts.

 Still the debate rages on. Our National Forests have more than 380,000 miles of every kind of road from permanent, double-lane, paved highways to single-lane, low-standard roads intended only for use by high-clearance vehicles. Most were constructed to facilitate timber harvesting, and many were built before environmental impacts were considered. There are also more than 60,000 miles of unauthorized “ghost” roads on National Forest System lands that do not meet environmental standards, developed over time by users such as off-highway vehicle (OHV) clubs. And herein lies the rub. The Forest Service has a growing $8.4 billion maintenance and reconstruction backlog but receives only 20 percent of the annual maintenance funding it needs to maintain its existing system to environmental and safety standards.

 Meanwhile, these roads continue to create real environmental problems. Some roads have caused whole hillsides to slough off, dumping tons of trout choking sediment into streams. Others contribute sediment in small but constant doses, degrading habitat. The use of culverts sometimes create high velocity tunnels through which trout and salmon can’t migrate, cutting off spawning grounds. And in still other instances, the road ditches actually create their own artificial watershed, diverting water away from streams, or increasing the speed at which it enters them, leading to unnaturally high peak flows which channelize the main stem, or abnormally dry low flows which raises water temperatures. Finally, though many of us like being able to drive to our favorite stream, easy access can lead to unmerciful fishing pressure, remote fishing experiences are becoming increasingly rare, and traffic noise detracts from our back country experience. 

Road-created habitat problems result in measurable cold water fishery losses. In the West, 25 species of trout and salmon federally listed as threatened or endangered, in part due to habitat destruction from roads. In the National Forests of the upper Midwest and in the Appalachian Mountains, trout and Atlantic salmon are threatened by new forest roads. Almost every species of native trout and salmon in the U.S. is threatened to some degree by forest roads. The direction of the new Forest Service road reform policy makes sense, especially to many TU activists who’ve worked hard on local road issues (to see the impressive work of Oregon members in obliterating a road in the Malheur National Forest’s Middle Fork John Day River Basin, visit their website at www.teleport.com/~wsc/octu/index.shtml).

 With so much at stake – thousands of miles of coldwater fishery habitat, and 40-50 million acres of potential roadless areas to delineate – the need for meaningful participation by traditional conservation groups is clear. Many OHV groups claim to speak for sportsmen and women, stating we want and need these roads, and would be denied access without them.

 Enter the Teddy Roosevelt Conservation Alliance (TRCA), named after our 26th President, and embracing his conservation philosophy. Funded by a $2.3 million grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts, its founding organizations are Trout Unlimited, the Izaak Walton League of America, Mule Deer Foundation, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, the Wildlife Management Institute, and Wildlife Forever, which is the fiscal agent for the grant. The alliance doesn’t usurp the roles of any of its organization, but only hopes to amplify their voice in this, and other, National Forest debates. 

“The issues of roadless areas and forest planning are bigger than just any one group,” said Dave Nolte, TU’s TRCA Field Coordinator. “It is important to have allies, and each of the partners in TRCA brings special insight to the table. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, for instance, brings knowledge on the uplands. And then there’s just the truth that there is strength in numbers. Combined we represent a broad cross section of America’s hunters and anglers whose voice, until now, hadn’t been adequately heard.”

 This coalition of anglers and hunters is a natural fit, since both groups are impacted by roads. For instance, even in the BlueRibbon Coalition's home state of Idaho, the state Fish and Game Department reports that at least 86 percent of elk hunters find motorized vehicles detract from their outdoor experience. But until now, few other surveys measured anglers or hunters support for road closures or roadless areas. This void allowed OHV groups to continue their claim that hunters and anglers want more roads, not less. That is changing, thanks to the TRCA.

 “Contrary to what the critics say, this isn’t about locking up the land or denying access,” said Nolte. “The fact remains that even in a wilderness area you can hike, fish, hunt – you just can’t use an OHV, and for good reasons. There are real habitat issues involved, both for fish and wildlife. And frankly, people in our surveys are also reaffirming that they want places where they can go and not hear road noise, and to feel like they’re out in the middle of nowhere.”

 Despite the political haranguing the Forest Service is getting, it is continuing its road building moratorium and proceeding with roadless area planning. By this September, the agency hopes to finalize its plans. The TRCA wants to help anglers and hunters weigh in. The stakes for fish and wildlife are high, and the Forest Service is begging for your input.

 Addressing the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation national convention, Chief Dombeck said, “Unfortunately I must tell you today…and surveys back me up…the reasoned voices of hunters and anglers are not being heard among the cacophony surrounding the public lands management debates.”

 That can change. But it requires TU members to take up the challenge.

 “This kind of participation may not push your button immediately,” said TU’s Nolte, “but if you’ve been in a National Forest, and seen for yourself the blown out roads, the culverts stopping fish migration, then you realize the importance. If you talked to the people who worked on the Edward’s dam removal, they probably thought at first that this was an impossible task. But going to meetings and writing comments yielded huge positive results for fish there. And that’s the kind of return I think TU members can expect from participating in National Forest issues – a big bang for their effort buck.”

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TRCA Surveys Show Angler and Hunters Support USFS Road Initiatives

 An April 2000 TRCA survey shows sportsmen and women clearly want existing roads fixed, and roadless areas protected. This survey, drawn from six hundred hunters who actually had hunted on National Forest lands within the last two years, found that hunters place a high value on National Forests for:

 ·        protecting water quality - 98%

 ·        improving fish and game management - 97%

 ·        providing places for solitude and natural experiences - 88%

 ·        providing hunting opportunities in remote areas with few roads and few other people - 87%  

When asked direct questions about current forest roads and roadless areas, these same hunters strongly feel forest policy should:

 ·        repair and maintain existing roads before building new roads - 85%

 ·        keep existing roadless areas in their current roadless state - 83%

 A similar January 2000 TRCA survey that questioned anglers as well as hunters on these issues showed very similar results, with 99% of anglers stating National Forests are important for protecting water quality, and 81% wanted them to provide fishing opportunities in remote areas with few roads.

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