On December 26, 2007, President Bush signed the Omnibus Appropriations Act for 2008 into law. That act contained a provision called the Legacy Roads and Trails Remediation Initiative (LRRI) that provided $39.4 million to the Forest Service for road remediation and reclamation.

According to the conference committee report, LRRI funds are to be used “for urgently needed road decommissioning, road and trail repair and maintenance, removal of certain fish passage barriers, or for protection of community water sources….” Conference Report, Division F, p. 53. The House bill and committee report contain additional guidance, which clearly state that restoration should be focused in environmentally sensitive areas, on roads and trails damaged by recent storms, and in areas where Forest Service roads are degrading fisheries and community water sources. In addition, the language recommends prioritization based on project readiness.

This report provides a brief survey of examples of road reclamation and remediation needs that meet these criteria from throughout the Forest Service (all but Regions 2 and 9 are represented in this report). Regions 1, 5 and 6 have likely experienced the most significant storm impacts to roads and watersheds in the country. Region 6 has experienced particularly intense storms for two years in a row, causing more than $30 million in damage to Forest Service roads in 2006 alone. This funding should be prioritized to go to areas that have experienced severe storm damage.

Nonetheless, while the funding provided in the LRRI is targeted to such areas, forest roads cause significant impacts to fisheries and water quality in the absence of storms as well. This survey, therefore, highlights both storm and non-storm road impacts to fisheries and watersheds around the country. We are not specifically recommending that LRRI funding be used for the projects included in the report, instead these examples are intended to represent a small sampling of the opportunities that exist within most Forest Service regions.

Click here to view the report recommendations, the full report, and additional examples of road remediation and repair need from Alaska, Colorado, and Washington:

http://www.wildlandscpr.org/road-remediation-reclamation-needs-throughou... [1]

Wildlands CPR would like to thank the following organizations who helped prepare this brief survey of road reclamation and remediation needs: Bark [2], California Wilderness Coalition [3], Forest Guardians [4], Gifford Pinchot Task Force [5], Nez Perce Tribe [6], Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition [7], Swan View Coalition [8], and The Wilderness Society [9].