Preventing
Road Construction
and Protecting Roadless Areas
The 1986 Flathead Forest Plan called for some 6,000 miles of road on the Flathead
National Forest alone. Our lawsuits and continued pressure have essentially
kept the "formal" road mileage from exceding the some 4,000 miles that
existed when the Plan was issued by making it nearly impossible to justify
new road construction in grizzly bear habitat and roadless areas.
We continue to appeal timber sales that would log in roadless areas, while
regional and national "wilderness" and "wildlife" groups look the other
way. Many of these groups are currently collaborating with the Forest
Service on logging projects in already roaded or over-roaded areas.
Road Obliteration
and
Watershed Rehabilitation
Since the mid-1980's we have secured the closure and revegetation of
some 400 miles of "ghost roads" on the Flathead National Forest. These
roads were still being used by motorized vehicles but had been dropped
from the Forest Service's maps and computer inventories. The inventory
and legal procedures we developed and used to get these roads closed have
since been further refined and are being used across the country.
In addition, and as a result of our lawsuits, the Flathead National Forest
has scheduled the "hydrologic obliteration" of some 650 miles of road by the
year 2005. This means that all culverts and road-fill at stream crossings will
be removed and the land in the immediate area returned to near its native contours
in order to ensure that culverts will not plug and cause the road to be eroded
into the streams. Streams will flow freeely once more and the decrease in human
use of the area will increase its availability for use by grizzly bear, wolf,
elk, wolverine and many other terrestrial species. Less dirt in the water means
improved habitat for sensitive fish species like bull trout and westslope cutthroat
trout.
Working to Restore
and
Maintain Peace and Quiet
The indescriminate use of noisy machinery destroys Peace and Quiet, perhaps
the most rapidly vanishing resources on Earth. Besides working to decrease
the miles of noisy roads on public lands, we are also working to limit
the use of snowmobiles and other motorized off-road vehicles which destroy
Peace and Quiet for not just the user, but for everyone and everthing
else in the area. W also maintain the Code
of Quiet page for individuals and organizations to endorse.
We encourage decision-makers to prohibit the use of jet-skis in our National
Parks, to prohibit scenic flights over our National Parks, to provide for nonmotorized
waterways and camping opportunities, to provide safe, nonmotorized alternatives
to public highways, and to favor public transportation over the proliferation
of private automobiles and asphalt.
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