Roadless Areas in the National Forests

Our Last Wild Places

Roadless areas in Southern Appalachian national forests are among the last truly wild places in the Southeast. They harbor unbroken wildlife habitat, clear-running streams that feed our rivers and drinking water supplies, and backcountry places where we can experience the kind of solitude and spiritual renewal that only undisturbed forests can provide.

SELC’s goal is to secure strong, long-term protection for the 58.5 million acres of roadless area in America’s national forests, including 723,000 acres in the Southern Appalachians. Nationally, roadless areas encompass nearly a third of all national forest land, but only 15 percent iof the Southeast's national forests.

The 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule

Roadless areas are identified and “inventoried” by the U.S. Forest Service and should be kept free from logging and other harmful resource extraction.

The standard of protection we seek to uphold is the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, a Forest Service regulation that places roadless areas off-limits to commercial timber cutting and road building. It was signed by the Secretary of Agriculture on January 12, 2001, following years of scientific study, 600 public hearings held around the country, support from eminent scientists and economists, and a record number of comments from the public.

Although the rule has been subjected to eight years of rollbacks and litigation, SELC and its partners have succeeded in keeping Southern Appalachian roadless areas free of commercial logging and road building

Now we are urging the Obama administration to uphold the protections of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule and to suspend all commercial logging and road building plans now pending in inventoried roadless areas.      
                 
Rollbacks and the “Opt-in” Process

Almost as soon as the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule was approved, the incoming Bush administration put it on hold and proceeded to gut the regulation.

• In 2005, the rule was replaced by an “opt-in" process requiring governors to petition the Secretary of Agriculture for protection of the roadless areas in their states.
• SELC helped secure the first three petitions in the country—from Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
• We continue to work with our region’s governors and their staffs to maintain their support for roadless area conservation.

Conflicting Legal Opinions

In 2006, a federal judge in California reinstated the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, but in 2008, a federal judge in Wyoming threw it out and issued an injunction against its use. Both of these decisions are being appealed. Complicating matters further, the California judge declared in December 2008 that her ruling applies only to 10 western states.

A Congressional Solution

Amid the uncertainty created by the rollbacks and court rulings, SELC and its allies are looking to Congress to settle this issue once and for all. We are seeking passage of the Roadless Area Conservation Act, which would codify the 2001 rule and make roadless area conservation the law of the land. The measure enjoys support from members of both parities, including a sizable bloc of House and Senate members from the Southeast.