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Standing in the middle of one of America's 58 million acres of national forest roadless areas, what does one see in the surrounding forest? A timber industry executive might see dollar signs in standing timber. A hiker delights in the solitude of a wooded playground. An out-of-work logger sees food on the table and a future for his family. A hunter or angler revels in prime habitat for landing 'the big one.'
In directing the future course of forestlands without roads, which view should prevail? The Bush Administration this week in a sweeping overhaul of Clinton-era roadless forest policies made it known what side it aligns itself with -- the timber industry and logging-dependent rural communities. Calling its plan a "common-sense path for balancing environmental necessities and commercial pressures," the Administration plans to open up former roadless areas on national forests to logging and energy exploration. In doing so, it is placing the onus on individual states' governors to request that roadless areas either remain protected or be opened up.
"Our announcements today illustrate our commitment to working closely with the nation's governors to meet the needs of local communities and to maintaining the undeveloped character of the most pristine areas of the national forest system," U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman during an announcement in Boise, Idaho.
Yet from a strictly economic benefit perspective, the Bush team might want to take a second look at its decision through the eyes of hunters, anglers and outdoor recreationists. A number of reports and studies reveal that hunting, fishing, hiking and other outdoor activities are not only intimately tied to the fate of roadless areas, but they also contribute a growing economic return to states and rural communities that have staked their economic future in luring people to the forests to recreate.
"Our best habitat, our cleanest water, and therefore our best opportunities for hunting and fishing exist because of our roadless areas on our National Forests and Bureau of Land Management-controlled lands," writes Jim Martin, former chief of fisheries for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, in the Daily Astorian. "Our roadless areas, such as those in the mountains of Oregon and Central Idaho, are the best, most productive spawning and rearing streams we have left. They provide fish for anglers who may never visit those headwaters."
Martin cited two studies from Trout Unlimited that link the health of fish and big game populations with roadless areas in both Oregon and Idaho.
The group found that Oregon's roadless forests, which comprise about 20 percent of the state's land base, contain 18 of the 20 watersheds where native cutthroat trout thrive. The state's bull trout population, now reduced a fraction of its historic range, has 83 percent of its crucial spawning and rearing habitat in roadless lands. And roadless areas are present in 54 percent of the watersheds that support strong populations of Columbia Basin redband trout, a.k.a. the famous Oregon "redsides."
Idaho contains the most roadless lands in the lower 48 states. With all that room to roam, wildlife officials are able to offer months-long deer and elk hunting seasons in an era when states such as Oregon, Washington and Utah have been forced to shift to limited-entry hunting seasons with restrictions, reports Trout Unlimited.
"Popular game animals like elk, mule deer and bighorn sheep benefit from having expansive areas where they can escape some of the pressure of hunting season," adds Martin in the Daily Astorian. "As a result, roadless areas provide hunters with bigger bull elk and buck mule deer and longer hunting seasons and more liberal hunting regulations."
What's more, the fish, deer and elk found in those roadless areas equates to revenue. According to figures from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, hunting, angling and wildlife viewing activities bring in an estimated $2.1 billion annually, with Oregonians themselves contributing about $1.7 billion of the total.
Numbers from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife are similar. Fishers, hunters and wildlife viewers spend a combined total of over $2.18 billion annually. The Columbia River spring Chinook fishery alone is estimated to generate a $15.4 million economic impact, according to the Northwest Sportfishing Association. And the state ranks first in the region and seventh nationally when it comes to wildlife viewing, with at least 12 rural communities across the state hosting wildlife-themed festivals throughout the year.
The rise in recreationists heading to public forestlands and the corresponding economic returns reflect a national and regional trend of decreasing access to private lands, which in turn drives more anglers and hunters onto national forestland.
"As we get more and more away from traditional country-style living and as urban development grows, private property owners seem to have adopted the mindset 'What's mine is mine,' and these landowners are not allowing anglers on their property," John Eckhardt, a fisheries biologist at the Siuslaw National Forest, said in Utah
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