Reducing Road Impacts to Save Rivers
Forest roads cause serious impacts to aquatic ecosystems. PRC's goal is to reduce these harmful effects. PRC's work involves advocating for increased funding for roads remediation, education efforts about the effects of roads, litigation to protect important road-related laws, policy advocacy to ensure effective implementation of road-related policies, and providing technical expertise on effective road remediation.
Adverse Road Impacts and PRC Solutions
Roads have numerous widespread, pervasive and, if left untreated, long-lasting biological and physical impacts on aquatic ecosystems that continue long after completion of construction. Roads are the main source of sediment to water bodies from forestry operations in the United States. Most adverse effects are persistent and will not recover or reverse without human intervention. The techniques for road remediation are well established, agreed upon and readily available.
Roads Facts and Figures
Review some important facts and figures showing the need for urgent road remediation
Increasing Public Funding to Address Damaging Federal Forest Roads
PRC is partnering with many other NGOs and state agencies, with support from U.S. Representatives and Senators, to increase federal funding for targeted road-related watershed restoration and to build upon the success achieved by the Washington Watershed Restoration Initiative, through appropriations and the economic stimulus package.
Forest Service Policies for Reducing Road Impacts
PRC is committed to protecting the 2001 Roadless Rule and to securing effective implementation of the 2001 Roads Rule, which requires the Forest Service to develop a minimum roads system and decommission roads using a science-based roads analysis.
Road Repairs and Removal Create Jobs and Make Economic Sense
Investment in the repair and removal of the worst roads makes great economic sense. Over the next decade, such a program would save taxpayers millions in today's dollars in reduced maintenance costs alone for federal and state forest roads. A selective program of road removal, accompanied by remediation of roads that remain in place would also provide good jobs for heavy equipment operators and other forest workers.
Watershed Restoration and Forest Roads Symposium
PRC and co-sponsors convened a "Watershed Restoration and Forest Roads Symposium" on April 4, 2008, in Tacoma, Washington for policymakers, scientists, conservationists and the interested public. Road-related watershed restoration, including road removal, remediation and passage for aquatic organisms, is a priority need in many Western watersheds -- including our national forests and other public lands. Expert panels explained the impacts of roads on water, fish and wildlife, and how to reduce these impacts. The economic benefits of restoration, key collaborative efforts, and prospects for long-term solutions to shortfalls in public investment were explored in an interactive format. This symposium fits into a coordinated suite of actions PRC and others are taking to increase awareness of the need to address road-related threats to water quality and aquatic species across the Western United States.
Reducing the Impacts of Forest Roads on State and Private Lands in Oregon
Recent studies confirm that road drainage issues are a problem on Oregon’s nonfederal forestlands.
Road Remediation After Fire
The damage caused by forest roads increases dramatically after forest fires. PRC has worked actively to focus attention on watershed restoration through road remediation after fires, particularly in federal forests. This work creates jobs and helps restore ecosystem health, unlike the typically proposed post-fire logging.
