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Post Office Box 506 Santa Cruz, CA 95061 | 831-423-3191 www.ventanawild.org vwa@ventanawild.org |
December 20, 1999
USDA Forest Service - CAET
ATTN: Roadless Area NOI
P.O. Box 221090
Salt Lake City, UT 84122
RE: ROADLESS AREA PROPOSAL EIS
Dear USDA Forest Service:
On behalf of the Ventana Wilderness Alliance (VWA) I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Clinton/Gore Administration and the United States Forest Service for its foresight and leadership in proposing such widespread protection for America's remaining heritage wildlands through the Roadless Area Proposal. In this letter are the concerns and issues that the VWA would like to see addressed in the Environmental Impact Statement that is being prepared for this proposal, as well as general comments on the issue.
Roadless areas offer outstanding opportunities for personal betterment through quiet enjoyment and communion with the natural world, as well as providing and protecting vitally necessary habitat for the many other species with which we share this planet, including those threatened and endangered species that have already been pushed to the brink by loss of such habitat. With the human population continuing to burgeon throughout our country, immediate protection of what roadless lands remain today is vitally important for both biodiversity and the future opportunity of recreational solitude in a natural environment.
Of utmost importance is that the Roadless Area EIS take into account ALL National Forest roadless areas greater than 1,000 acres, inventoried or not, and that protection for these additional areas not be deferred until the lengthy, cumbersome Forest Planning Process gets going. Please begin a detailed study of these areas immediately to determine their location and extent.
In the Roadless Area EIS, also please make sure that the following threats to quiet enjoyment, wildlife habitat and water quality be strictly forbidden within roadless areas:
- Road construction
- Road reconstruction
- Motorized vehicle use
- Logging of any kind
- Mining
- Oil, gas, and geothermal development
- Powerline construction
- Large-scale recreational developments
We urge you to base your decisions in this matter on the best available science, to make this policy permanent in order to preserve these heritage lands for future generations to enjoy, and to apply the policy to all National Forests within the United States of America, including the Tongass National Forest in Alaska.
Thank you for your consideration on this matter, and please provide us with a copy of the draft EIS when it becomes available so that we may comment further on the issue.
Sincerely,
Boon Hughey, Executive Board Member
Ventana Wilderness Alliance
Cc: Jeanine Derby, Forest Supervisor, LPNF
Will Metz, Acting District Ranger, Monterey Ranger District, LPNF
