by Caroline Pufalt
Ozark Chapter Conservation Chair, ExCom
My favorite Edward Abby quote is: What good is freedom without a blank spot on the map? Abby appreciated roadless areas for many reasons, but in this comment he was remarking on their importance to our character or perhaps even our spiritual development. In today's ever more crowded and roaded world we find roadless areas growing in importance for many reasons. In addition to providing an intriguing blank spot on the map, roadless areas provide enormous benefit to wildlife and overall ecological processes.
Recognizing this, at least to some extent, the US Forest Service has proposed a roadless area policy. The agency recently released its Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on its Roadless Area Conservation Proposed Rule. That Rule, when completed will direct all National Forests, except the Tongas in Alaska, on the definition of roadless areas and on what limits apply in roadless areas.
It's a good start but the DEIS falls short in several areas. By the time this article is published, the comment period on that document will likely be closed. If the Forest Service’s preferred alternative is chosen we will have work to do during the next plan revision for the Mark Twain National Forest in order to protect Missouri’s roadless areas.
The agency's preferred alternative would prohibit new road building in roadless areas. But it would permit the existing classified roads to remain and would permit logging, ORV trails and other activities that would all sorely detract from the amenities that roadless areas provide.
Potential roadless areas were identified through a roadless inventory that was completed in the late 1970’s under a program called RARE II. Through this process some areas were identified as roadless that may have had very minimal road coverage. Also, Forest Service lands contain many unclassified roads that are not on its formal road system. Some of these "roads" may be very old logging roads that were never properly closed; others may be newer, resulting from activities such as ORV use.
The MTNF has five inventoried roadless areas from the RARE II review: Anderson Mt., Spring Creek, and Swan Creek areas, plus two areas adjacent to the Irish Wilderness. There are other roadless areas we are especially concerned with but which were not officially classified through RARE II .Those areas were protected in the MTNF plan through the efforts of many Sierrans and other concerned citizens and were called Sensitive Areas. Given the limitations and the possibilities opened up under the current roadless area initiative, we will need to be very active in the next round of Forest Planning to take full advantage of those options in order to continue and enhance protection of our roadless areas. We expect the MTNF to start Forest Planning later next year. Stay tuned to learn how you can help.