by Caroline Pufalt
It’s somewhere in the southeast part of Yellowstone National Park. It’s a special place, worth the visit, but don’t expect to drive there. It’s the most remote spot in the U.S. outside of Alaska, and yet it is only 20 miles from the nearest road. That’s as far as one can get in the lower 48 to that proverbial blank spot on the map. Which reminds me of one of my favorite Edward Abbey quotes: “What good is freedom without a blank spot on the map?”
Those blank spots are getting rarer. You can read comments on the proliferation of roads by Edward Abbey and others in the book entitled A Road Runs Through It, edited by Thomas R Peterson. The book has a copyright 2006 by Wildlands CPS. It’s a collection of articles, musings and rants on wild areas, wilderness, parks, forests, beaches—all influenced by roads.
We all appreciate roads (with public transportation) and use them daily. But as much as we love our metropolitan area roads, we have an instinctive understanding that roads, from the paved interstates to dirt logging roads, are problematic in wild areas. Our instincts in this case are correct.
Roads damage wildlife habitat in many ways. The obvious is direct road kill associated with more developed roads. Other adverse effects are fragmented habitats that separate potential breeding populations or diminish suitable remote areas for raising young. Roads are associated with greater fire risk, poaching, and the introduction of nonnative plant species. Roads diminish interior habitat and provide greater access for native animals, such as raccoons, jays, cowbirds which thrive on “edge habitat” thus putting pressure on less common species such as oven birds and thrushes.
The contributors to A Road Runs Through It provide insights into the natural history of a particular area and to the social conflict involved in development and access, resulting in the usually offending road. Yet their accounts and approaches are varied.
I was surprised to find a piece by Rosalie Edge who wrote concerning the proliferation of roads in our National Parks and our National Forests. She complains that visitors are too eager for fast transport and that roads actually add to fire risk. And, she wrote, in National Forests roads will eventually lead to logging in areas which should be left alone for the wildlife and hearty recreationists. Ms Edge wrote her thoughts in 1936! She was concerned that “build a road” was the first response of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and other agencies when looking for work. And those visitors who were in such a hurry, wanted to be able to travel at 40 miles an hour through the public lands. How much things change and stay the same.
A more contemporary writer, Peter Matthiesson, covers the history of a battle over a proposed road in what is now the Smith River Recreation Area in the Siskiyous. That effort, lasting 1967–1990, was eventually successful due to citizen pressure and a variety of administrative and economic influences over time. The Sierra Club played a part in that effort. Victory included closing a potential corridor along which the road was planned. Opposition to the road was in part due to the fact that it would have provided greater access for logging. Defeating the road was a victory, but only in part as under the guise of “healthy forests” the corridor was open at least temporarily for logging in 1997.
The proliferation of traffic on small formerly rarely used logging roads and then off-road travel from Off Road Vehicles (ORVs) can wreak particular havoc on ecosystems. One poignant example is provide by Susan Cerulean in an article about the Apalachicola National Forest in Florida. There ORV use threatens rare amphibians, which inhabit ephemeral ponds that dot the forest. The most damaging traffic is illegal off road use. Unfortunately as any honest person will say, it is extremely difficult to limit ORV use to designated roads or trails. Once introduced to an area it will often take more resources than the Forest Service has or is willing to commit to keep down illegal use. But in the Apalachicola the very ephemeral ponds that are dry part of the year provide an inviting “playground” for irresponsible ORV users. So far the Forest Service has not responded with an adequate plan for protection. The agency as usual is relying on designated trails and sacrifice areas.
There are 29 contributors to the “road essays” in A Road Runs Through It, including Annie Proulx who wrote the introduction. She reminds us to take the knowledge we have about the importance of roadless areas and advocate for our local areas and try to hold our representatives accountable for legislation and enforcement.
Here in Missouri the Ozark Chapter of the Sierra Club and other conservation groups and interested citizens have appealed the new forest plan for the Mark Twain National Forest. A major part of the appeal rests on the Forest Service’s misapplication of a potential federally recognized designation for a “roadless area.” Our appeal is an effort to achieve more roadless area protections for parts of the National Forest that we think qualify for such.
Unfortunately the appeal process is a slow one and at the time of this writing we have no resolution. Our appeal was complicated by a proposed timber sale and prescribed burn on one area, Lower Rock Creek, which is also at issue in our appeal. The good news is that we have had some meaningful dialogue with the Forest Service on the details of that project. Maybe someday we in Missouri could contribute a chapter to a future book on protecting roadless areas.
Sierra Club appeals new MTNF plan
Missouri’s Ozark Chapter Sierra Club and other conservation interested groups …have appealed the new forest plan for the Mark Twain National Forest (MTNF). A major part of the appeal rests on the Forest Service’s misapplication of the federally recognized designation for a “roadless area.”
Overall, the Plan is thought to contain “serious legal, biological, economic and ethical flaws.” See the October - December 2006 Ozark Sierran newsletter for more information on the MTNF plan.