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Roadless areas in America's national forests, which produce clean drinking water for millions of Americans, would have far less protection under a proposed Forest Service rule change, said REP America, the national grassroots organization of Republicans for environmental protection.
"Of all the resources that unroaded wild forests provide for Americans, none is as valuable as fresh, clean water. More than 350 watersheds in 39 states have national forest roadless lands that are source areas for community drinking water systems. With the nation's population and need for clean water growing, it is remarkably short-sighted for the administration to propose weakening protections for drinking water source areas," said Jim DiPeso, REP America policy director.
A proposed rule change made public today would effectively eliminate national protection for 58.5 million acres of roadless areas that was adopted in 2001 following extensive deliberation and public input. Instead, governors would have to petition the secretary of Agriculture for protection of roadless areas in their states.
"The weakness of this proposal is two-fold. One, citizens who want their drinking water protected could not be assured that governors would file such petitions, and two, there is no guarantee that the secretary would approve them," DiPeso said. "Assuring protection for drinking water source areas should not be left up to such a foolishly vague standard."
Logging roads and timber cutting threaten costly harm to drinking water in several ways. Erosion and landslides from clear-cut slopes can send tons of silt and unwanted nutrients into forest streams. Roads and soil compaction caused by timber cutting can cause floods, degrading stream water quality and reducing recharge of underground aquifers.
"Wild forests are an endowment that produce clean water free of charge. Weakening protection of these forests is like raiding a college savings account for vacation money. It's not wise and it's certainly not conservative," DiPeso said.
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