scientists support wild forests
"Further, the Forest Service is developing a scientifically based policy for managing roadless areas in our national forests. These last remaining wild areas are precious to millions of Americans and key to protecting clean water and abundant wildlife habitat, and providing recreation opportunities. These unspoiled places must be managed through science, not politics."
--William J. Clinton, November 14, 1997
The Honorable William Jefferson Clinton
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500
December 12, 1997
Dear Mr. President:
In mid-November, you announced that the Forest Service is in the process of developing a scientifically based policy for managing roadless areas in the national forests. As scientists with many years of professional experience in biological conservation, we are writing to commend you for your leadership on this important matter and to offer some thoughts on the state of knowledge regarding the ecological values associated with roadless areas.
A substantial amount of scientific information collected from both aquatic and terrestrial environments has demonstrated the importance of roadless areas in protecting the nation's wildlife, fisheries, and water resources. Roadless areas are critical because they represent the least human-disturbed habitats in an almost universally disturbed landscape. As such, they act as de facto refuges for numerous sensitive plant and animal species, reservoirs of genetic material, and benchmarks for experimental restoration efforts in intensively managed landscapes. Streams flowing out of roadless areas typically provide supplies of the purest water, untainted by chemical pollutants and within the cool temperature range required by many native fish species. In addition, most roadless areas are dominated by steep slopes, high elevations, and unstable or highly erosive soils. The ecological risks associated with developing these areas are extremely high, and may jeopardize the flow of goods and services that the national forests currently provide to human society.
Regional ecosystem assessments completed for the Pacific Northwest (USDA et. al. 1993), the Sierra Nevada (SNEP 1996), eastern Washington and Oregon (Henjum et al. 1994) and the Interior Columbia Basin (Quigley et al. 1996) highlight the significance of roadless areas in maintaining the integrity of ecosystems on federal lands. These and other studies describe the extensive environmental damage caused by roads, road construction, and other development. Roads fragment wildlife habitat, alter the hydrological processes of watersheds, discharge excessive sediment to streams, increase disturbance to forest animals, make fish and wildlife vulnerable to excessive harvest, and facilitate the spread of alien species. In the Pacific Northwest, roads have also been implicated as a major cause of environmentally destructive and life-threatening landslides. Protection of roadless areas alone will not secure the conservation of biodiversity on the nation's federal lands, but we believe it would be a major step forward.
To date, the Forest Service has considered roadless areas only in terms of their value for primitive and semi-primitive recreation opportunities. In the late 1970s, roadless areas greater than 5,000 acres in size and those immediately adjacent to designated wilderness and national parks were identified through the Roadless Area Review and Evaluation process (i.e. RARE I and RARE II). A small proportion of these inventoried roadless areas have since been designated as official wilderness, but the vast majority remain unprotected under existing forest plans. While protecting inventoried roadless areas will contribute to overall conservation objectives, we believe that roadless areas smaller than the arbitrary 5,000 acre criteria are biologically significant and should also be considered as part of your forthcoming roadless area policy.
There is a growing consensus among academic and agency scientists that existing roadless areas - irrespective of size - contribute substantially to maintaining biodiversity and ecological integrity on the national forests. The Eastside Forests Scientific Societies Panel, including representatives from the American Fisheries Society, American Ornithologists' Union, Ecological Society of America, Society for Conservation Biology, and The Wildlife Society, recommended a prohibition on the construction of new roads and logging within existing (1) roadless regions larger than 1,000 acres, and (2) roadless regions smaller than 1,000 acres that are biologically significant (Henjum et. al. 1994). Other scientists have also recommended protection of all roadless areas greater than 1,000 acres, at least until landscapes degraded by past management have recovered (e.g., Rhodes et al. 1994).
As you have acknowledged, a national policy prohibiting road building and other forms of development in roadless areas represents a major step towards balancing sustainable forest management with conserving environmental values on federal lands. In our view, a scientifically-based policy for roadless areas on public lands should, at a minimum, protect from development all roadless areas larger than 1,000 acres and those smaller areas that have special ecological significance because of their contributions to regional landscapes.
Sincerely yours,
Michael Soule
Research Professor
University of California
Santa Cruz, CA
Chris Frissell
Research Assistant Professor
Flathead Lake Biological Station
The University of Montana
Missoula, MT
James R. Karr
Professor of Fisheries and Zoology
Adjunct Professor of Civil Engineering, Environmental Health,
and Public Affairs
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
Dominick Dellasala
Director of Forest Conservation Programs
World Wildlife Fund
Washington, D.C.
Elliott Norse
President of the Marine Conservation
Biology Institute
Richmond, WA
Rick Knight
Professor of Wildlife Biology
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO
Reed Noss
President of the Conservation
Biology Institute
Corvallis, OR
David Johns
Assistant Professor
Political Science Department
Portland State University
Portland, OR
Katherine Ralls
Research Zoologist
National Zoological Park
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, D.C.
Andy Dobson
Associate Professor
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ
James C. Estes
Adjunct Professor of Biology
University of California, Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, CA Daniel Simberloff
Professor
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN
Stephen C. Trombulak
Professor
Biology and Environmental Studies
Middlebury College
Middlebury, VT
Eric Hanson
Associate Director for Wildlife
Yakama Indian Nation
Yakima, Washington
Diane Debinski
Department of Animal Ecology
Assistant Professor
Iowa State University
Ames, IA
Douglas Meffert
Assistant Director
Environmental Policy
Tulane/Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research
New Orleans, LA
Harry W. Read
Water Resources Center
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, WI
Joseph C. Mitchell
Adjunct Professor and Research Biologist
Department of Biology
University of Richmond
Richmond, VA
David Ostergren
Recreation and Parks Management
Division of Forestry
West Virginia University
Morgantown, WV
Steve Hamburg
Ittleson Associate Professor of
Environmental Studies
and Associate Professor of Biology
Brown University
Providence, RI
DeForest Mellon, Jr.
Professor of Biology
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA
Barrie K. Gilbert
Senior Scientist
Utah State University
Logan, UT
Kristina A. Schierenbeck
Assistant Professor
Department of Biology
California State University, Fresno
Fresno, CA
William K. Jaeger
Associate Professor
Economics Department
Williams College
Williamstown, MA
Peter Morrison
Project Director
Methow Research Station
Sierra Biodiversity Institute
Winthrop, WA
Dianna K. Padilla
Associate Professor
Department of Ecology and Evolution
State University of New York at Stony Brook
Stony Brook, NY
David O. Wallin
Assistant Professor
Center for Environmental Science
Huxley College of Environmental Studies
Western Washington University
Bellingham, WA
Paul Beier
Associate Professor
Wildlife Ecology
School of Forestry
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, AZ
Thomas S. Hopkins
Curator
Marine Invertebrates and
Professor
Biodiversity and Systematics Group
The University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL
Gordon R. Ultsch
Professor
Department of Biological Sciences
The University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL
Richard A. Bradley
Associate Professor
Department of Zoology
The Ohio State University
Marion, OH
George R. Sedberry
Associate Marine Scientist
Marine Resources Research Institute
South Carolina Department of
Natural Resources
Charleston, SC
Gerald R. Smith
Museum of Zoology
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI
Gerry Dinkins
Senior Ecologist
3D/International, Inc.
Knoxville, TN
Robert C. Beason
Professor
Department of Biology
State University of New York
Geneseo, NY
Ann B. Burgess
Director
Biology Core Curriculum
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, WI
Mark Westendorff
Wildlife Biologist
South Carolina Department
of Natural Resources
Charleston, SC
David M. Braun
College of Forest Resources
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
Joseph C. Mitchell
Adjunct Professor and Research Biologist
Department of Biology
University of Richmond
Richmond, VA
David R. Anderson
Professor
Department of Fishery and Wildlife Biology
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO
Gerald R. Rising
SNY Distinguished Teaching Professor
University at Buffalo
Williamsville, NY
Andy Shedlock
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Department of Environmental Science,
Policy and Management
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
Richard S. Ostfeld
Associate Scientist
Institute of Ecosystem Studies
Millbrook, NY
Tim Hunkapiller
Assistant Professor
Molecular Biotechnology
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
Robert G. Wetzel
Bishop Professor of Biological Sciences
The University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL
Marcy Ostrom
Institute for Environmental Studies
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, WI
Bradley A. Wiley
Manager and Research Assistant
KU Natural History Museum
Department of Ichthyology
Lawrence, KS
Lynn A. Maguire
Associative Professor
Nicholas School of the Environment
Duke University
Durham, NC
Robert C. Dowler
Professor
Department of Biology and
Curator of Mammals
Angelo State University
San Angelo, TX
David J. Hafner
Chairman
Science Division, New Mexico
Museum of Natural History
Albuquerque, NM
Steven H. Rogstad
Associate Professor
Biological Sciences
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, OH
David L. McNeely
Professor
Department of Biological Sciences
University of Texas at Brownsville
Brownsville, TX
W. L. Minckley
Professor of Zoology
Department of Biology
Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ
Irene M. Pepperberg
Associative Professor
Department of Ecology and
Evolutionary Biology
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ
Robert M. Hughes
Regional Aquatic Ecologist
Dynamac Corporation
Corvallis, OR
Christopher P. Dunn
Director of Research
The Morton Arboretum
Lisle, IL
Len Broberg
Professor
Environmental Studies Program
University of Montana
Missoula, MT
Leroy R. McClenaghan, Jr.
Professor
San Diego State University
San Diego, CA
David B. Wake
Director, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology and
Professor of Integrative Biology
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
David S. Wilcove
Senior Ecologist
Environmental Defense Fund
Washington, D.C.
Philip K. Stoddard
Assistant Professor
Department of Biological Sciences
Florida International University
Miami, FL
Craig A. Stockwell
Assistant Professor
Zoology Department
North Dakota State University
Fargo, ND
Stanley A. Temple
Beers-Bascom Professor in Conservation
Department of Wildlife Ecology
University of Wisconsin
Madison, WI
Carol Loeffler
Assistant Professor
Department of Biology
Dickinson College
Carlisle, PA
Harry M. Tiebout, III
Associate Professor
Department of Biology
West Chester University
West Chester, PA
Richard Brewer
Professor Emeritus
Department of Biological Sciences
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo, MI
John A. Musick
Co-chair IUCN Shark Specialist Group
Head Vertebrate Ecology and
Systematics Programs
Virginia Institute of Marine Science
College of William and Mary
Gloucester Point, VA
Roy A. Stein
Aquatic Ecology Laboratory
Department of Zoology
The Ohio State University
Columbus, OH
David Schimel
Senior Scientist
National Center for Atmospheric Research
Boulder, CO
and
College of Natural Resources
Colorado State University
Ft. Collins, CO
Nancy B. Grimm
Associate Professor
Co-Director, CAP LTER Project
Department of Biology
Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ
Joseph A. Cook
Curator of Mammals
University of Alaska Museum
Fairbanks, AK
Ruth D. Yanai
Assistant Professor
Faculty of Forestry
SUNY College of
Environmental Science and Forestry
Syracuse, NY
Peter Warshall
Editor
Whole Earth Quarterly
San Rafael, CA
Joseph J. Cech, Jr.
Professor of Fisheries Biology
University of California, Davis
Davis, CA
David R. Montgomery
Associate Professor
Department of Geological Sciences
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
Lawrence M. Page
INHS Principal Scientist
Illinois Natural History Survey
Champaign, IL
Kendall W. Corbin
Professor
Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior
University of Minnesota
St. Paul, MN
Walter R. Courtenay, Jr.
Professor of Zoology and Assistant Chair
Department of Biological Sciences
Florida Atlantic University
Boca Raton, FL
Richard D. Laven
Professor
Forest Sciences
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO
Bradley J. Bergstrom
Professor
Department of Biology
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, GA
Troy Merrill
Research Consultant
LTB ON Consulting
Moscow, ID
Brett M. Johnson
Assistant Professor
Department of Fishery and Wildlife Biology
Graduate Degree Program in Ecology
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO
Henry R. Mushinsky
President of the Society for the
Study of Amphibians and Reptiles and
Chair of the Conservation Committee of the Herpetologist's League
Department of Biology
Center for Urban Ecology
University of South Florida
Tampa, FL
Paul R. Cabe
Assistant Professor of
Biology and Environmental Studies
St. Olaf College
Northfield, MN
Peter F. Brussard
Professor and Chair of
Department of Biology
University of Nevada
Reno, NV
Fred Allendorf
Professor of Biology
Division of Biological Sciences
University of Montana
Missoula, MT
P. Dee Boersma
Professor of Zoology
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
Julia K. Parrish
Research Assistant Professor
Department of Zoology
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
Daniel Klem, Jr.
Professor of Biology
Muhlenberg College
Allentown, PA
Michael S. Putnam
President
Aldo Leopold Chapter of the
Society for Conservation Biology
Department of Zoology
University of Wisconsin
Madison, WI
C. Ronald Carroll
Director
Institute of Ecology
University of Georgia
Athens, GA
David Inouye
Director
Sustainable Development and Conservation Biology Graduate Program
University of Maryland
College Park, MD
Stephen T. Ross
Professor
Biological Sciences and Curator of Fishes
Department of Biological Sciences
University of Southern Mississippi
Hattiesburg, MS
Andrew T. Smith
Department of Biology
Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ
Arthur C. Benke
Professor of Biological Sciences and Aquatic Biology
The University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL
Scott Orcutt
Associate Professor and Assistant Chair
Department of Biology
University of Akron
Akron, OH
Gary D. Schnell
Director
Oklahoma Biological Survey and
Professor of Zoology
University of Oklahoma
Norman, OK
P. J. DeVries
Assistant Professor
Ecology and Evolution
Department of Biology
University of Oregon
Eugene, OR
Robert C. Vrijenhoek
Director
Center for Theoretical and
Applied Genetics
Rutgers, State University of New Jersey
New Brunswick, NJ
Edwin P. (Phil) Pister
Executive Secretary
Desert Fishes Council
Bishop, CA
David A. Etnier
Department of Ecology and
Evolutionary Biology
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN
Robert J. Meese
Research Associate III
Biodiversity Group
Information Center for the Environment
Division of Environmental Studies
University of California, Davis
Davis, CA
Dave Anderson
Department of Biology
Wake Forest University
Winston-Salem, NC
Richard L. Mayden
Associate Professor and
Curator of Ichthyology
The University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL
Dirk H. Van Vuren
Associate Professor
University of California, Davis
Davis, CA
Paul C. Paquet
Conservation Biology Institute
Corvallis, OR
and
University of Calgary
Adjunct Professor
Faculty of Environmental Design
Calgary, Canada
Diana Kimberling
Research Scientist
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
Jill S. Schneiderman
Associate Professor of Geology
Associate Chair of the Department
Vassar College
Poughkeepsie, NY
David Lighthall
Assistant Professor
Department of Geography
Colgate University
Hamilton, NY
Ellen W. Chu
Ecologist and Editor
Department of Environmental Health
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
William A. Calder
Department of Ecology and
Evolutionary Biology
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ
Kent E. Holsinger
Associate Professor
Department of Ecology and
Evolutionary Biology
University of Connecticut
Storrs, CT
James E. Deacon
Distinguished Professor and Chair
Department of Environmental Studies
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Las Vegas, NV
Judith S. Weis
Department of Biological Sciences
Rutgers University
Newark, NJ
Ken Lindeman
Coastal Research and Education, Inc.
Division of Marine Biology and Fisheries
Rosenstiel School of Marine and
Atmospheric Sciences
University of Miami
Miami, FL
D. Byron White
Marine Biologist
Marine Resources Research Institute
South Carolina Department of
Natural Resources
Charleston, SC
Eric Dinerstein
Chief Scientist
Conservation Science Program
World Wildlife Fund
Washington, D.C.
David Olson
Conservation Scientist
Conservation Science Program
World Wildlife Fund
Washington, D.C.
Michael Gilpin
Professor of Conservation Biology
University of California, San Diego
La Jolla, CA
Bob Zink
Professor and
Breckenridge Chair in Ornithology
University of Minnesota
Duluth, MN
Gordon Orions
Professor Emeritus of Zoology
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
R.D. Stevenson
Department of Biology
University of Massachusetts, Boston
Boston, MA
Eric Roden
Department of Biological Sciences
The University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL
A. Joy Belsky
Staff Ecologist
Oregon Natural Desert Association
Bend, OR
Howard F. Towner
Professor of Biology
Loyola Marymount University
Los Angeles, CA
Gary K. Meffe
Editor
Conservation Biology
Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL
George Robinson
Assistant Professor
Department of Biological Sciences
State University of New York at Albany
Albany, NY
James W. Grier
Professor of Zoology
Department of Zoology
North Dakota State University
Fargo, ND
Mary O'Brien
Board of Directors and Staff Scientist
Wildlands Center for Preventing Roads
Eugene, OR
Robert L. Jeanne
Professor of Entomology
Department of Entomology
University of Wisconsin
Madison, WI
Glenn R. Stewart
Professor of Zoology
California State Polytechnic University
Pomona, CA
Winston C. Lancaster
Research Fellow
University of Gothenburg
Gothenburg, Sweden
G. Thomas Bancroft
Vice President
Ecology and Economics Research Department
The Wilderness Society
Washington, D.C.
Charlie Barans
South Carolina Marine Resources Division
South Carolina Department
of Natural Resources
Charleston, SC
Joan E. Nichols
Instructor
University of Texas
Medical Branch at Galveston
Galveston, Texas
Edward Grumbine
Director
Sierra Institute
University of California, Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, CA
Dr. Curt Meine
Coordinator, IUCN Action Plan for Cranes
International Crane Foundation
Baraboo, WI
P. A. Harcombe
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Rice University
Houston, TX
Walter D. Koenig
Research Zoologist
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
Matthew Rowe
Professor
Department of Biology
Appalachian State University
Boone, NC
Steven R. Sheffield
Research Assistant Professor
The Institute of Wildlife and
Environmental Toxicology
Department of Environmental Toxicology
Clemson University
Pendleton, SC
Donald Norman
Norman Wildlife Consulting
Shoreline, WA
and
LSU Museum of Natural Science
Baton Rouge, LA
Robert C. Cashner
Dean of Graduate School
University of New Orleans
New Orleans, LA
Dennis Paulson
Director
Slater Museum of Natural History
University of Puget Sound
Tacoma, WA
Camm C. Swift
Department of Biology
Loyola Marymount University
Los Angeles, CA
and
Emeritus Associate Curator of Fishes
Los Angeles County
Museum of Natural History
and
President, California-Nevada
Chapter of the
American Fisheries Society
William Willers
Professor Emeritus of Biology
University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh
Oshkosh, WI
Gregory S. Butcher
Executive Director
American Birding Association
Colorado Springs, CO
David H. Firmage
Piper Professor of Environmental Studies
Department of Biology
Colby College
Waterville, ME
William H. Romme
Biology Department
Fort Lewis College
Durango, CO
Ross Goldingay
Lecturer in Wildlife Biology
School of Resource Science and Management
Southern Cross University
Lismore, NSW
Australia
James L. Boone, Jr.
Animal Ecologist
Las Vegas, NV
Robert Michael Pyle
Guggenheim Fellow
Gray's River, Washington
Mary Ann Hawke
Research Scientist
School of Fisheries
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
Arthur Dean Partridge
Professor Emeritus
Forest Disease and Insect problems
University of Idaho
Moscow, ID
and
President
TREAZ, Trees From A to Z, Inc.
Moscow, ID
Margaret Ottum
Professor of Environmental Science
Johnson State College
Johnson, VT
Nancy Gore
Hunger Professor of Environmental Studies
Department of Ecology and
Evolutionary Biology
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN
James Halfpenny
Carnivore and Ecosystem Ecologist
Gardiner, MT
John Novak
Department of Biology
Colgate University
Hamilton, NY
Michael G. Smith, PhD
Los Alamos, New Mexico
Melissa A. Fleming
Research Associate
University of Alaska Museum and the
Institute of Arctic Biology
University of Alaska
Fairbanks, AK
Margaret M. Stewart
Professor
Department of Biological Sciences
State University of New York
Albany, NY
Pepper Trail
Adjunct Professor
Biology Department
Southern Oregon University
Ashland, OR
David E. Blockstein
Chair
The Ornithological Council
Washington, DC
John Terborgh
James B. Duke Professor and Co-Director
Duke University Center for
Tropical Conservation
Durham, NC
Mary E. Power
Department of Integrative Biology
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
Ralph E.J. Boerner
Professor and Chair
Department of Plant Biology
Ohio State University
Columbus, OH
Brina Kessel
Past-President of the
American Ornithologists' Union
Fairbanks, AK
Curt Lively
Professor of Biology
Indiana University
Bloomington, IN
Brian Rasnow
Research Scientist
Amgen Inc.
Research Automation Technologies
Thousand Oaks, CA
cc:
Michael Dombeck, Chief, US Forest Service
James Lyons, Under Secretary for Environment, USDA
Kathleen McGinty, Chair, CEQ
T.J. Glauthier, OMB
REFERENCES CITED
Henjum, M.G., J.R. Karr, D.L. Bottom, D.A. Perry, J.C. Bednarz, S.G. Wright, S.A.Beckwitt and E. Beckwitt. 1994. Interim protection for late-successional forests, fisheries, and watersheds: National forests east of the Cascade crest, Oregon and Washington. The Wildlife Society Technical Review 94-2. Bethesda, MD. 245 pp.
Quigley, T.M., R.W. Haynes and R.T. Graham, eds. Integrated scientific assessment for ecosystem management in the Interior Columbia Basin and portions of the Klamath and Great Basins. USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-382.
Rhodes, J.J., D.A. McCullough, and F.A. Espinosa. 1994. A Coarse Screening Process for Potential Application in ESA Consultations. National Marine Fisheries Service Technical Report 94-4.
Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project, Final Report to Congress, Volume I, Assessment summaries and management strategies. Centers for Water and Wildland Resources, University of California, Davis, CA. 209 pp.
USDA, USDC, USDI, and EPA. 1993. Forest ecosystem management: An ecological, economic, and social assessment. USDA Forest Service. Portland, OR.
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