Public lands are part of our nation’s natural heritage. They provide clean water, abundant wildlife and solitude for all Americans to enjoy. But a profusion of roads and the activities of a vocal minority of off-road vehicle users increasingly degrade these lands. Wildlands CPR works to promote balance, save money and create jobs by restoring unneeded forest roads to their natural state and by limiting off-road vehicle use.
Roads take the Wild out of Wildlands
• They create and transport sediment that dirties our drinking water and degrades fisheries.
• Their spider web networks fragment wildlife habitat.
• They invite the spread of invasive weeds, which compete with native vegetation.
• They are costly to build and expensive to maintain. (The U.S. Forest Service alone has a $10 billion road maintenance backlog).
• More than 500,000 miles of roads already crisscross our national forests, cutting into nearly every corner of our public lands. How many roads do we need?
Wildlands CPR seeks to connect fragmented landscapes, protect our natural heritage, and restore our public lands into healthy, beautiful, natural places.
Off-Road Vehicles Destroy Wild Nature
• Off-road vehicles go everywhere, killing and harassing wildlife.
• They rip up our most fragile and remote lands.
• Dirt bikes and other off-road vehicles drown out the peace and quiet of nature.
• They’re often driven recklessly, posing a physical threat to hikers and horseback riders.
• Off-roaders violate the rights of other forest users.
• They frequently trespass on private land.
• Their inefficient two-stroke engines dump unburned fuel into the air, ground and water.
Wildlands CPR protects healthy habitat and quiet places, and reclaims access for muscle-powered recreation.
A Positive Solution
We can restore clean water, encourage wild nature, and help to rebuild local economies by protecting our public lands from new roads and off-road vehicles, and by removing roads that are unneeded and damaging.
Water
Removing roads from watersheds enhances clean water supplies for drinking, irrigation and fishing. (For example, rather than spending far more to build and maintain a water-treatment plant, the city of Seattle is investing
$6 million to remove roads.)
Habitat
Wildlife thrives in roadless forests, which offer people better viewing, and hunters higher quality and longer seasons.
Fisheries
Clean, clear water means healthier fisheries for salmon and other fish.
Communities
Restoring public lands brings skilled, family wage jobs to rural communities.
Wildlands CPR has been working with citizens, grassroots groups and land managers to protect and revive natural areas since 1994. We go wherever we are needed – from the cypress woodlands of Florida, to the red-rock canyons of Utah, to the fragile tundra of the Arctic.
Together we can make a difference – Donate to Wildlands CPR Today! Your contribution goes a long way to help us continue this work.