Three-hundred-year-old lodgepole pines and a spectacular stream occupy the heavily forested Rock Creek Roadless Area. Black bear and goshawk inhabit this stunning canyon located just 40 miles northwest of Laramie in the Snowy Range. Rock Creek is a favorite of Laramie residents who can be found hiking, wildlife viewing, and enjoying the untrammeled area that is not far from their homes. In the early 1990s, the Forest Service pushed to log the Rock Creek Roadless Area; however, these plans were thwarted by a coalition of concerned citizens.
But the Rock Creek Roadless Area is not safe from timber companies.
"Logging is a serious threat to the Medicine Bow National Forest, the most fragmented and overcut forest in the southern Rockies. Scientific studies have shown that the degree of fragmentation here is as bad as in the Oregon Cascades, where logging has been halted due to wildlife viability concerns. The roadless areas of the forest are under constant pressure. Given the high level of fragmentation on the Medicine Bow, all of the remaining roadless areas are ecologically important. Mining also threatens Medicine Bow roadless areas."
- Jeff Kessler, Biodiversity Associates, Laramie
Additionally, off-road vehicle use is a growing problem on the Medicine Bow National Forest and threatens areas such as Pennock Mountain, Libby Flats, and Illinois Creek roadless areas. The Forest Service estimates that there have been hundreds of miles of user-created roads and trails, and under current Forest Service policy, these roads and trails remain open; some have even received signs and been given route numbers to legitimize this illegal use.
Roadless Rule Would Protect Rock Creek from Logging
The Forest Service estimates that the Roadless Area Conservation Rule would protect 18,800 acres of Rock Creek from logging and road building. Citizens groups, however, have identified an additional 2,700 acres of the Rock Creek Roadless Area that should be protected from logging and road building. The Roadless Area Conservation Rule would protect nearly 60 million acres of unspoiled National Forest land across the United States, including 3.2 million acres in Wyoming, from road building and most logging. The Rule is under assault by the Bush administration, which suspended it in early 2001 and appears intent on dismantling it as quickly as possible.
Currently only 7% of the Medicine Bow is protected as Congressionally-designated wilderness. If the Roadless Conservation Rule is repealed, more than 320,000 roadless acres on the Medicine Bow National Forest could forever lose their wild, roadless quality. If the Rule is revoked, the Rock Creek Roadless Area and the other equally beautiful wildlands on the Medicine Bow could be lost to logging, irresponsible motorized recreation use, or other industrial activities.
Roadless areas receiving protection under the Roadless Area Conservation Rule in the Medicine Bow would give critical habitat protection to Colorado River cutthroat trout populations, black bear, northern goshawks, boreal toad, boreal owl, American marten, brown-capped rosy finch, leopard frog, Prebles meadow jumping mice, and 500-year old growth stands and rare plants.
Roadless Areas Sustain Wyoming's High Quality of Life
The Roadless Area Conservation Rule makes good economic sense for Wyoming. Our economy and quality of life are tied to Wyoming's outstanding public wildlands. Millions of tourists and numerous new businesses and residents come to Wyoming each year to enjoy these special places, not to see clearcuts and sediment-filled streams caused by logging and road building. Logging and wood products industries contribute less than one percent to the state's pool of jobs. The Rule would not limit public access to roadless lands for recreation nor would it close any existing roads.
Wyoming Citizens Support the Roadless Rule
The Forest Service issued the Rule after three years of research and analysis that included extensive public involvement. More than 600 public meetings were held nationwide. More than 1.6 million public comments were submitted, including more than 2,700 from Wyoming citizens. The vast majority of comments nationwide and over 65 percent of those from Wyoming supported the Rule or urged stronger protection for roadless areas than the Rule would provide.
