by Mike Dombeck, Dale Bosworth, Tom Tidwell, and Vicki Christiansen for The Hill.
Twenty-five years ago, the Forest Service adopted one of the boldest conservation measures in American history, the Roadless Area Conservation Rule.
The National Forest System already contained 380,000 miles of roads, enough to wrap around the Earth about 15 times. Carving more roads into the remaining undisturbed forests didn’t make economic or ecological sense. The Roadless Area Conservation Rule would protect more than 58 million acres of National Forests from road-building and logging, across 38 states and Puerto Rico.
The Forest Service didn’t come to this decision alone. In fact, it facilitated the most extensive public involvement process in the history of public land management. They learned that the American public wanted protections for these backcountry forestlands, too.
Together, we have served as U.S. Forest Service chiefs for both Republican and Democratic administrations. We know that forest management decisions never come without debate, opinions and — more often than not — disagreement. Each of us has had to strike the difficult balance between leaving some forests intact, while sustainably using others to benefit communities and economies….
Photo: Tall Forb Meadows in the Bald Mountain Roadless Area, Caribou-Targhee National Forest (Forest Service photo).
