Taxpayers for Common Sense, an independent budget watchdog organization, strongly supports the bipartisan Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2002, introduced today by Representatives Sherwood L. Boehlert (R-NY) and Representative Jay Inslee (D-WA), with more than 170 co-sponsors. This bill will protect 58.5 million acres of National Forest lands from new taxpayer-subsidized roads and logging and will prevent the growth of an already out-of-control $8.7 billion road maintenance backlog.

During the 1980’s, at the height of national forest logging, the Forest Service focused on road construction, instead of road maintenance. Since the Forest Service did not prioritize road maintenance, Congress did not adequately fund maintenance accounts, and the backlog of needed maintenance has grown substantially to $8.7 billion. The bill introduced today will require the Forest Service to concentrate its efforts on addressing the maintenance of existing roads instead of building new ones.

Many of these roadless areas have not been roaded or logged because of the high cost associated with accessing timber, which in many cases is of poor quality. If these areas were to be developed, the costs associated with administering the sales, subsidizing the road construction, and maintaining the roads would greatly outweigh the revenues generated by the federal sale of the timber.

In addition, national forest logging supplies approximately 4% of America’s domestic wood consumption. Of that 4% the Forest Service estimates that 6% would come from remaining inventoried roadless areas. That means that if the Roadless Area Conservation Act were implemented, it would affect less than one-quarter of one percent of the nation’s timber supply.

Contact: Sharon Nappier
(202) 546-8500 x127