PRC and WWRI efforts to secure funding for the Legacy Roads and Trails Remediation Initiative

Improperly managed forest roads cause harm to water quality and native aquatic species. PRC is partnering with 11 other NGOs, the Washington State Department of Ecology, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, with support from Governor Gregoire's office, to educate policymakers about the need to stormproof our federal road systems to accomplish real watershed restoration. We met our goal to increase funding in 2008, and we are now seeking ongoing funding for targeted road-related watershed restoration. This program is a federal lands watershed restoration initiative that is focused on National Forest roads in Washington State, beginning with those that drain to the Puget Sound.

This coalition, called the Washington Watershed Restoration Initiative (WRRI), began as an effort to secure funding for federal lands watershed restoration focused on National Forest roads in Washington State, beginning with those that drain to the Puget Sound. Read more about the original policy and ecological reasons that drove the push for funding in Washington State.

A SUCCESSFUL OUTCOME!

Due to the hard work of the Washington Watershed Restoration Initiative, on December 19, 2007, Congress passed an appropriations bill that included $39.4 million for urgently needed watershed restoration on National Forest lands. The funding program is now known as the Legacy Roads and Trails Remediation Initiative, and it has been renewed and increased each year. The money is intended to go to areas where decaying U.S. Forest Service Roads contribute to water quality problems, especially to areas that support threatened or endangered species, like salmon and steelhead, and provide clean drinking water for communities. For more information on the original funding, read the Press Release by the WWRI: Congress Approves $39 Million for Vital Watershed Restoration on National Forest Lands: Funds to target crumbling forest roads that harm clean water and salmon habitat.

The efforts of WRRI have led to nationwide funding that benefits federal lands around the country. The funding througThe Forest Service also recently recognized PRC and the work WRRI by presenting the coalition with the Rise to the Future Award on December 16, 2009.

Materials in Support of Appropriations

Download a fact sheet PRC prepared for a congressional briefing to encourage continued funding of the program.

Visit the Washington Watershed Restoration Initiative website at www.wawatersheds.blogspot.com; WWRI is also transitioning to a new website at www.washingtonwatersheds.org.

View the FY 2010 brochure for WWRI.

Download a previous brochure about WWRI.

Read a June 2008 policy resolution by the Western Governors' Association in support of restoring and maintaining National Forest roads.

Read a March 2008 letter from 14 members of Congress in support of the initiative.

Read an April 2008 letter from six U.S. Senators to the Chair and Ranking member of the Interior Appropriations Committee in support of the initiative.

Read a 14-group sign on letter to Senator Smith and Senator Wyden about the Legacy Roads Remediation Initiative in FY2008 Appropriations (10/10/07).

Read a letter we submitted to Senators Murray and Cantwell regarding funding in the FY 2008 Interior Appropriations Act to address the serious problem of deteriorating Forest Service roads in the national forests of Washington State (7/12/07).

On June 29, 2007, Washington Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, and Washington Congressmen Norm Dicks, Brian Baird, Rick Larsen, and Jay Inslee, sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns asking the U.S. Forest Service to improve maintenance of the deteriorating forest roads in Washington state. Click here to read that letter (found below the press release).

PRC submitted written testimony before the House Committee on Appropriations (4/19/07) regarding the Washington Watershed Restoration Initiative. Click here to read that testimony.