North Lochsa Slope Roadless Area is an absolutely amazing national treasure of biological, cultural and historic resources. Its 114,000 acres, which border the Wild and Scenic Lochsa River, provide habitat for fish species-bull trout, chinook salmon and steelhead-that the federal government lists as endangered or threatened and for the marten, wolverine, fisher, lynx and bald eagle. Its location on the Clearwater National Forest makes the North Lochsa Slope an important link in the Yellowstone-to-Yukon chain of forested areas that is so important for many of these species.
This roadless area also contains archaeological sites that suggest human occupation going back 9,000 years. More recently, Nez Perce used the area for subsistence and for moving to and from the Great Plains to hunt buffalo, while tribes from Montana followed trails through North Lochsa Slope to reach the salmon runs of Columbia River tributaries. And the area boasts the longest undeveloped overland section of the route traveled by Lewis and Clark in 1805 and 1806 on their way to and from the Pacific Coast. Known as the Lolo Trail, this route is a National Historic Landmark.
Just 15 percent of the culturally and historically rich North Lochsa Slope has been inventoried for its national heritage values, and there is still much scientific knowledge to be gained from its biological resources. Still, the Forest Service is proposing timber sales and road construction that threaten the viability of the area's many resources and will have negative repercussions on the agency's goals for retention of old-growth forest.
