A Resolution to Control Logging and Roads Within the National Forest System

April 1, 1984 Resolutions

Number: 1984-31

 

WHEREAS, the National Forests are required by law to be managed for multiple use and sustained yield of many resources including watershed, wildlife, fish, recreation, minerals, timber and range; and

WHEREAS, logging and roading are, through current Administrative policy, becoming the dominant use of the National Forest System; and

WHEREAS, roading is often subsidized by the federal government and further obligates future expenditures for maintenance and repair of roads and for road closures; and

WHEREAS, logging and roading on some forests in some areas damage important wildlife habitat, increase flooding and sedimentation of streams to the detriment of fisheries, and reduce opportunities for roadless recreation; and

WHEREAS, wildlife, fisheries, and recreation are largely self-sustaining resources and are also the basis of a profitable tourist industry for many local and regional businesses; and

WHEREAS, road construction into presently roadless National Forest areas (Rare II Areas) may be in direct violation of a recent Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision (California v. Block);

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, in annual meeting assembled March 15-18, 1984, in Atlanta, Georgia, recommends:

  1. that roads and logging be curtailed in those areas of the National Forest System where the cost of road construction and maintenance will exceed timber revenues;
  2. that roads and logging be curtailed in National Forest areas where significant damage to other valuable resources such as watershed, wildlife, and fisheries is likely to occur;
  3. that no presently roadless National Forest areas (Rare II Areas) be roaded until the future of these areas is decided by Congress;
  4. that the Forest Service be required to prepare programmatic environmental impact statements to examine environmental consequences of roads and logging on fisheries, wildlife, wilderness, recreation, and watershed values on National Forests as a whole; and
  5. that less damaging methods of timber removal be initiated on fragile and sensitive National Forest areas where practical.