Roadless Facts, by the Numbers:
- 9,214,000 - Total national forest acres in Washington
- 2,015,000 - Number of roadless acres
- 22% - Percentage of Washington’s national forest at risk of being developed over time under the Bush Administration’s plan
- 45 - Number of public meetings and hearings on Roadless Area Conservation Rule in Washington in 1999
- 81,762 - Number of comments generated in Washington in support of Roadless Area Conservation Rule (last comment period)
- 3,309,763 – People who participated in outdoor recreation in Washington in 2003 (Outdoor Industry Foundation)
- Area of Special Interest: Icicle Creek encompasses three separate roadless areas totaling about 30,000 acres: Icicle Ridge, Snow Creek, and Mt. Cashmere. While this area is well known for its extensive rock climbing selections, Icicle Creek also offers advanced class V kayaking. The nearby Devil’s Gulch houses 30,000 acres of roadless area and offers some of the premier areas for hiking in the state.
All figures are from the US Forest Service, unless otherwise noted. Map of Washington's National Forests courtesy of http://roadless.fs.fed.us/maps/usmap2.shtml See website for individual maps of roadless areas.
Editorial Comments:
"Forest Service rules that are in place work. No one can articulate any urgency for more logging roads taxpayers cannot afford. Stick with the balanced approach in place."
-- Seattle Times, "Roadless policy should be salvaged," July 18, 2004
"Grab the chain saws, rev up the bulldozers, open the federal Treasury to subsidize construction of more logging roads. The Bush administration has made its decision."
-- Seattle Post-Intelligencer, "Chain saws trump sound forest policy," July 14, 2004
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