Roadless Facts, by the Numbers:
- 22,083,000 – Total national forest acres in Alaska
- 14,779,000 - Number of roadless acres
- 67% - Percentage of Alaska’s national forest acres exposed to potential development by the Bush plan
- 33 - Number of public meetings and hearings on Roadless Area Conservation Rule in Alaska in 1999
- 0 – Bush plan Alaska public meetings scheduled in 2004
- 10,786 - Number of comments generated in Alaska in support of Roadless Area Conservation Rule (last comment period)
- 1,065 – Miles of logging road planned by the Forest Service on the Tongass National Forest over the next decade, at a conservative cost of $150,000 per mile, or $15 million per year in taxpayer subsidies.
- New Alaska Roadless Area Logging: The Threemile Timber Sale in the Tongass National Forest will log 665 acres of pristine coastal rainforest and build 8.4 miles of new road in areas formerly protected by the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. This sale will impact a world-class sea-kayaking area, affect habitat for wolf, deer, black bear, river otter, and bald eagles, and harm traditional hunting and fishingopportunities. The proposed Gravina Timber Sale would log from over 2,200 acres of old-growth rainforest and build nearly 22 miles of new road in an area important for local hunting and recreation. The sale is strongly opposed by local Native Alaskan tribes.
All figures are from the US Forest Service, unless otherwise noted. Map of Alaska's National Forests courtesy of http://roadless.fs.fed.us/maps/usmap2.shtml See website for individual maps of roadless areas.
Statement by Taxpayers for Common Sense:
“By announcing its intent to dismantle the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, the administration is abrogating its fundamental responsibility as the economic steward of the National Forest System. The U.S. Forest Service has consistently drained our nation’s Treasury, having lost billions on under-priced timber sales and wasteful forest road construction. In addition, the Forest Service faces a massive maintenance backlog on existing forest roads that currently exceeds $10 billion. The administration’s decision opens up more land for logging, but does nothing to solve the culture of waste, fraud, and abuse at the Forest Service. Instead, this new policy will only increase the number of taxpayer subsidized new roads and other timber subsidies.”
-- Prepared Statement by Jill Lancelot, TCS President, June 12, 2004
For More Information
- David Katz, The Wilderness Society, 202-429-2663
- Eleanor Huffines, The Wilderness Society, 907-272-9453
- Eric Zimmerman or Franz Matzner, Taxpayers for Common Sense, 202-546-8500
