As the new home of OSPIRG's environmental work, Environment Oregon can be contacted regarding this news release.
PORTLAND—On the final
day of the public comment period on the Bush administration's proposal to repeal
the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, OSPIRG released a report documenting the
clean drinking water, recreation, and wildlife habitat benefits of roadless
areas in America's National Forests. The report titled "Our
Natural Legacy: The Value of America's Roadless National Forests,"
is now available at www.ospirg.org.
The Roadless Rule was enacted
in January 2001 to protect 58.5 million acres of national forests across the
country. The report, "Our
Natural Legacy: The Value of America's Roadless National Forests,"
finds that:
- Sixty million Americans
rely on clean drinking water from the national forests. Roadless areas provide
the purest source of that water due to their pristine and road-free condition.
In the Pacific Northwest Forest Service Region, which includes Oregon, drinking
water is worth $951.4 million annually.
- Outdoor recreation has
become more and more popular over time as Americans participate in everything
from mountain-biking to hunting in roadless areas. Approximately 1.5 million
Oregon residents took part in hunting, fishing, and wildlife-watching in 2001,
contributing $1.5 billion to the state economy.
- A majority of the unspoiled
habitat for hundreds of threatened, endangered, and declining species is found
in roadless areas. In Oregon, 32 at-risk species are found in national forests
and could be harmed by destruction of roadless areas.
"Oregon residents have
made crystal clear that they value national forests, and they want national
protections to preserve roadless areas for the clean drinking water, wildlife
habitat, and recreational opportunities they provide," said OSPIRG Environmental
Advocate Jeremy Wright.
"The right decision
for the Bush administration seems clear. Roadless areas are among the nation's
greatest natural assets; their ecological and economic value is too great to
sacrifice," he concluded.
OSPIRG also announced that
a record-breaking 1.5 million Americans nationally and 55,000 in Oregon have
spoken out against the Bush administration's July 16th proposal to repeal the
Roadless Rule and replace it with a meaningless process that allows governors
to seek protections—or logging, mining, and drilling—for roadless
areas in their states. This brings the total number of comments in support of
the 2001 Roadless Rule to more than 4 million nationally and more than 120,000
in Oregon over the last several years. In addition, during the comment period,
more than 140 members of Congress, 130 scientists, and 110 economists spoke
out in opposition to the administration's proposal to repeal forest protections.
The Roadless Rule was finalized
in January 2001 after years of scientific study, 600 local public hearings and
meetings and a record number of public comments. Enacted to protect 58.5 million
acres of national forests across the country, including 2 million acres in Oregon,
it allows temporary road construction in order to fight wildfires, ensure public
safety, and protect forest health. Despite indisputable public support for the
rule, the Bush administration suspended it almost immediately after taking office,
failed to defend it in court, exempted Alaska's Tongass Rainforest, and in July
2004 proposed an outright repeal.
"We urge the Bush administration
to heed the overwhelming public mandate to protect our last wild forests,"
said Wright. "They should start by keeping the Roadless Rule intact in
the Lower 48 and in Alaska's Chugach and reinstating the rule in Alaska's Tongass
Rainforest."
Oregon State Public Interest
Research Group is a non profit, non partisan public interest advocacy organization
with 28,000 citizen members.
