Groups Defend Fish, Local Economies and Public Opinion

The Bush Administration has once again demonstrated its willingness to shun public opinion and scientific consensus, landing them in another court battle with conservationists.

According to the Pacific Rivers Council, one of the groups who filed suit Thursday against the Forest Service for its repeal of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, this battle is central to the future existence of endangered salmon, trout and other aquatic species across the country.

The roughly 58 million acres of inventoried roadless areas make up just a small percentage of national forest lands nationally, yet because these areas have had relatively little impact from logging, grazing, and other development activities they play a disproportionately large role in the conservation of rare and at-risk aquatic species. For example, in Montana alone, 223 of the state's 240 Forest Service inventoried roadless areas are known to host one or more populations of sensitive or threatened fish and amphibian species.

Studies by agency and research scientists have shown that many endangered salmon and trout retain a large proportion of their healthiest populations in roadless areas, demonstrating that their persistence depends on these areas remaining free of roads and ecologically intact. The 2001 Roadless Area Rule imposed restrictions on logging, roadbuilding and other activities that harm habitat and clean water on roughly 58 million acres of roadless forests to ensure just that.

"The 2001 Rule has been an insurance policy for native fish. Protecting the areas with the strongest fish populations provides a safety net for species that are otherwise at high risk of further decline and extinction," explains Pacific Rivers Council's senior scientist Chris Frissell, who himself has contributed to the scientific literature linking roadless area protection to the future of native fish.

But these roadless areas are important to more than just fish. Jim Van Loan owns the Steamboat Inn on Oregon's North Umpqua River, a river recognized by anglers worldwide for its superb salmon and steelhead fishing. The river flows through a national forest that contains 110,000 acres of roadless areas.

"The folks who stay at our Inn come for the recreational opportunities afforded by the national forest and the North Umpqua river hiking, boating, biking and primarily fishing," explains Van Loan. "My business relies squarely on the river and its fish, both of which rely on the health of the forest. What the administration doesnt seem to understand is that by opening these areas up to logging and roadbuilding, they will put fish at risk -- fish that we all depend on."

Celine Fulton, a professional river guide on Oregon's Rogue River echoes Van Loan's sentiment. "This river gained federal recognition because it is truly a national treasure." She notes that the Rogue was the first river in the nation to gain Wild and Scenic River status, a title given to the nation's most pristine river stretches. "My livelihood depends on this river and the people who come literally from all over the country to enjoy its unique wildness. And that wildness comes in large part from its surrounding roadless areas."

The Forest Service recently overturned the 2001 Rule and its roadless area protections, replacing it with a cumbersome petitioning process that in no way guarantees roadless area protection. Conservationists view the Forest Services abandonment of its own scientific record, coupled with unbridled discretion at both levels of government, a dangerous breach of policy that leaves little hope for protection for roadless areas.

"For the past five years, the Bush administration has been aggressively and methodically dismantling our nations framework of environmental protection, despite the scientific and public outcry to the contrary,"says PRC's Executive Director David Bayles. "The 2001 Rule not only had the support of the American public, it had a body of science clearly showing that we can't protect native fish without protecting their last remaining intact habitat -- namely roadless areas."

The areas protected by the 2001 Rule are often relatively small, mid- elevation expanses of intact forest and grassland harboring exceptionally clean water and fish habitat. "These areas, though critical for maintaining clean water and conserving of fish and wildlife species, have been overlooked in traditional designations such as wilderness, national monuments, and national parks," explains Frissell.

In 2001, after extensive study and public comment, the Forest Service recognized that without roadless area protection at the national scale, this source of valuable habitat and clean water would be eliminated, piece by piece, by road-building, mining, oil and gas, and recreational development. "By failing to protect these critical roadless lands," Frissell points out, "the Forest Service erodes the public's clean water resource and pushes a whole variety of valued fish and wildlife species toward the point where they may require endangered species listings."

The Pacific Rivers Councils lawsuit is based primarily on the Forest Service's duty to consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service before promulgating a rule that could affect threatened and endangered species. The group of plaintiffs, represented by Earthjustice, claim that the Forest Service violated the Endangered Species Act by issuing the new rule without such consultation.

"The Forest Service appears to have amnesia," says Bayles. "Not only have they apparently forgotten about their previous recognition of the importance of protecting roadless areas, they have forgotten their legal obligation to uphold the Endangered Species Act and their mandate to manage our national forests as public lands held in trust for a public who has shown overwhelming support for roadless area protection. This lawsuit is just a friendly reminder."

To read the full complaint, click here.

To read the Western Native Trout Campaign's report on the importance of roadless areas for native fish, click here.