2010

Legacy Roads and Trails Campaign

Congress approved a record $90 million for the Legacy Roads and Trails (LRT) program for Fiscal Year 2010 (FY10). In FY10, the Forest Service accomplished more than ever with LRT funds, including:

• 261 culverts fixed to provide aquatic organism passage
• 1509 miles of system and non-system road decommissioned (split about evenly)
• 887 miles of road improved
• 2618 miles of road maintained
• 76 bridges treated (e.g. maintained, replaced, upgraded, or installed) to reduce water quality impacts/restore fish passage

We began three new projects related to LRT in 2010.

Received funding from the National Forest Foundation to develop a wildlife and vegetation monitoring program for LRT projects in Montana/Northern Idaho (Forest Service Region One). We partnered with the University of Great Falls, Yaak Valley Forest Council and Friends of the Clearwater to set up wildlife monitoring sites on five different national forests. We set up plots for a 5-10 year monitoring program to measure changes in wildlife use of reclaimed roads, and to look at the reasons for these changes (e.g. return of vegetation that provides food post-treatment). Our baseline data was collected before roads were reclaimed, and in 2011 we will begin post-treatment data collection. Our Science Program Director, Adam Switalski, coordinated this project.

Created an ad-hoc coalition to support LRT in Montana, the “Montana Legacy Roads, Trails and Jobs Coalition.” Its 27 organizations include six unions, the Salish Kootenai Tribe, and a soil/agricultural coalition that understands how important national forest water is to agriculture. The MT coalition is broad-based and has already been successful.

Met with Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) in October to stress the link between LRT and the emerging restoration economy. Senator Tester is now taking a much more active role in supporting LRT in the halls of Congress!

Developed a series of maps demonstrating the relationship between municipal watersheds/water supply, roads, and water quality. We partnered with the Geos Institute in Oregon, and are now using the maps in our advocacy. These maps have the potential to become a powerful tool that will be important not just to secure continued funding for LRT, but also to influence future Forest Plan Revisions, efforts to identify a minimum road system, and more.

Travel Management

Our efforts on this portion  (subpart B) of the travel management rule started to come to fruition across the west. As of December 2010, 68% of the national forests had issued subpart B decisions designating roads, trails and areas for off road vehicle use. The results are impressive:

• 32.2 million acres of Forest Service land have been closed to cross-country travel by off-road vehicles
• More than 31,000 miles of renegade, user-created routes have not been added to the formal transportation system
• More than 8,000 miles of system roads have been closed to motorized recreational use

2009

Legacy Roads and Trails

LRT funding increased $10 million increase to $50 million. The Forest Service accomplished the following, nationally, with this funding:

• Improve 731 miles of road;
• Maintain 1862 miles of road;
• Decommission 929 miles of system and unauthorized roads; and
• Maintain or improve 190 miles of trail

Pushed hard for road reclamation to be included in the stimulus bill, and it was. The Forest Service received $650 million for capital improvement and maintenance over a two-year period, of which approximately $228 million was dedicated to road management. According to the agency, they allocated about 10% of that, or $25 million to road reclamation projects on Forest Service lands!

“Six Strategies for Success” report and other Resources

Released an updated version (electronic only) of our landmark, “Six Strategies for Success” report about effective off-road vehicle enforcement. And in the fall, Josh Hurd, our Restoration Research Associate, completed a six-part series on the political economy of watershed restoration. The series included six reports, which constitute a huge step forward in understanding some of the funding mechanisms, public perceptions, economic implications, etc. of the developing restoration sector of the economy.

Cost share agreement with the FS

Entered into our first formal cost-share agreement with the Forest Service – specifically the Lolo National Forest (MT). The four-month project included inventorying hundreds of miles of roads to document road condition, weeds, water impacts, and other damage. In one area, for example, our field crew found an extensive network of user-created, illegal off-road vehicle routes. The project was a great success, and the data was used in a proposed restoration project.

Transportation Program

Co-led (with The Wilderness Society) a national Forest Service travel management campaign since the agency adopted a new travel planning rule in 2005. The results have been stupendous. The rule required all forests to end the extremely damaging practice of off-road vehicle cross-country travel (though small play areas are still allowed). All travel plans were supposed to be completed by December 2009, but many deadlines have now been extended.

This national campaign has resulted in the following changes to date:

• More than 18,000 miles of user created routes have not been added to the Forest Service road or trail system as part of this process,
• More than  6,000 miles of agency roads have been removed from the formal system as part of final travel planning decisions
• Another 2,000 miles of Forest Service roads are slated for removal (at least on paper) as part of already released draft plans plus an additional 14,000 miles of user-created routes.

Our Montana and Utah ORV coordinators (Adam Rissien – MT, Laurel Hagen – UT) focused their attention on protecting roadless areas from off-road vehicle designations. Each chose 2-3 forests to focus on in their states, and they were successful.

• Laurel and her local partners were able to protect important roadless areas on the Dixie National Forest from any off-road vehicle designations.
• She also helped build a rural coalition of local citizens working to stop off-road vehicle abuse in southern UT.
• Adam was able to protect 9 of 11 roadless areas on the Bitterroot National Forest from designations as well, at least through the draft phase of planning
• Adam also worked with Western Environmental Law Center to file a lawsuit challenging illegal snowmobile grooming in the West Pioneers Wilderness Study Area on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. The result: the Forest Service agreed to stop grooming 95 miles of snowmobile trails in this important roadless area