Great Strides in Watershed Restoration Funding!
On Friday, October 30, President Obama signed the Department of Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010. The bill provides funding for public lands management across the country, including the national forests.
While there are many great provisions in this legislation, Wildlands CPR is thrilled that the Act includes $90 million in funding for the Forest Service Legacy Roads and Trails Remediation Initiative for 2010. This is equivalent to the total amount allocated to Legacy Roads and Trails in 2008 and 2009 combined.
When the House/Senate conference committee sent out their press release announcing
the final bill, the $90 million allocated to Legacy Roads and Trails was the first of three key Forest Service provisions highlighted.
The Forest Service has used the past two years of Legacy Roads funds to reclaim
thousands of miles of roads, in addition to upgrading culverts and restoring fish passage on hundreds of miles of streams. This work protects and restores clean drinking water for millions of Americans while simultaneously providing high wage, high skill green jobs. For example, in 2008 and 2009, the Forest Service allocated Legacy Roads funds to:
• Fix 820 culverts restoring at least 1147 miles of stream habitat;
• Decommission 2194 miles of system and unauthorized roads;
• Improve 2215 miles of road;
• Maintain 3089 miles of road;
• Fix 166 bridges;
• Maintain or improve 3170 miles of trail; and
• Improve a minimum of 126,008 acres of habitat.
A huge thank you to Congressman Norm Dicks for spearheading the effort to increase Legacy Roads funds! If allocated as in the last two years, these funds could help decommission another 2000+ miles of roads nationally, while restoring another 1100+ miles of stream habitat. The funds should also create or maintain more than 1300 direct jobs, plus many additional indirect jobs.
The appropriations bill also included language requiring the Forest Service to undertake a science-based analysis to identify a minimum road system. The language basically directs the agency to right-size their road system to something that is both ecologically and fiscally sustainable, while also ensuring that the system provides needed access for resource management and recreation. It’s a tall order, but it’s long overdue, necessary, and achievable.
We’ve long known that the Forest Service tends to follow the money – it’s just that the money often flowed towards resource extraction or fire. It’s fantastic, then, to see the agency following this money to implement real watershed restoration on the ground — restoring and/or protecting clean drinking water for thousands of communities nationwide, while also reconnecting fish and wildlife habitat. This on-the-ground road remediation and reclamation work helps make our national forests more adaptable and resilient in the context of climate change. In a nutshell, the Legacy Roads and Trails Remediation Initiative is redefining the way the Forest Service thinks about their transportation system.
While there are many great provisions in this legislation, Wildlands CPR is thrilled that the Act includes $90 million in funding for the Forest Service Legacy Roads and Trails Remediation Initiative for 2010. This is equivalent to the total amount allocated to Legacy Roads and Trails in 2008 and 2009 combined.
When the House/Senate conference committee sent out their press release announcing
the final bill, the $90 million allocated to Legacy Roads and Trails was the first of three key Forest Service provisions highlighted.
The Forest Service has used the past two years of Legacy Roads funds to reclaim
thousands of miles of roads, in addition to upgrading culverts and restoring fish passage on hundreds of miles of streams. This work protects and restores clean drinking water for millions of Americans while simultaneously providing high wage, high skill green jobs. For example, in 2008 and 2009, the Forest Service allocated Legacy Roads funds to:
• Fix 820 culverts restoring at least 1147 miles of stream habitat;
• Decommission 2194 miles of system and unauthorized roads;
• Improve 2215 miles of road;
• Maintain 3089 miles of road;
• Fix 166 bridges;
• Maintain or improve 3170 miles of trail; and
• Improve a minimum of 126,008 acres of habitat.
A huge thank you to Congressman Norm Dicks for spearheading the effort to increase Legacy Roads funds! If allocated as in the last two years, these funds could help decommission another 2000+ miles of roads nationally, while restoring another 1100+ miles of stream habitat. The funds should also create or maintain more than 1300 direct jobs, plus many additional indirect jobs.
The appropriations bill also included language requiring the Forest Service to undertake a science-based analysis to identify a minimum road system. The language basically directs the agency to right-size their road system to something that is both ecologically and fiscally sustainable, while also ensuring that the system provides needed access for resource management and recreation. It’s a tall order, but it’s long overdue, necessary, and achievable.
We’ve long known that the Forest Service tends to follow the money – it’s just that the money often flowed towards resource extraction or fire. It’s fantastic, then, to see the agency following this money to implement real watershed restoration on the ground — restoring and/or protecting clean drinking water for thousands of communities nationwide, while also reconnecting fish and wildlife habitat. This on-the-ground road remediation and reclamation work helps make our national forests more adaptable and resilient in the context of climate change. In a nutshell, the Legacy Roads and Trails Remediation Initiative is redefining the way the Forest Service thinks about their transportation system.
Resource Information
Article Type:
A Look Down the Trail
Road RIPorter Issue:
Resource Type:
Issues:
Tribal Related:
Not Tribal-Related
Site-Wide Search
Subscribe to The Dirt
