06.29.07

Cantwell Demands Answers from the U.S. Forest Service on Road Maintenance

Backlog grows by $8M yearly; neglected forest roads cause environmental damage and jeopardize salmon runs

WASHINGTON, DC – Friday, U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Patty Murray (D-WA) along with Congressmen Norm Dicks (D-WA), Brian Baird (D-WA), Rick Larsen (D-WA), and Jay Inslee (D-WA), 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.

The Forest Service is responsible for managing over 22,000 miles of roads in Washington and over $300 million alone will be needed to maintain the existing roads, replace culverts, and decommission old roads. Currently, $3 million is spent annually on road maintenance in the state’s national forests, while the backlog of deferred maintenance grows by $8 million each year.

"We believe that the federal government must promptly take the actions necessary to reduce the harmful impacts of deteriorating Forest Service roads," wrote Cantwell and her colleagues. "There needs to be a clear plan that identifies what has to be done to achieve an ecologically and fiscally sustainable road system that reasonably meets the future needs for public access and agency administration."

Cantwell is the primary Senate champion to preserve America’s remaining roadless areas, and has made the protection of these lands a priority since taking office. On May 24, Cantwell and Senator John Warner (R-VA), along with Inslee, reintroduced legislation to protect 58.5 million acres of roadless national forests, including two million acres in Washington state. The bill will enable the Forest Service to tackle the estimated $8.4 million backlog of road maintenance in the existing road system, and prevent the building of additional roads that would only exacerbate the problem.

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[The text of the letter follows below]

June 29, 2007

The Honorable Mike Johanns

Secretary of Agriculture

U.S. Department of Agriculture

1400 Independence Ave., S.W.

Washington, DC 20250

RE: Forest Service Roads

Dear Secretary Johanns:

We are very concerned about the decline in the health of national forest watersheds due to the poor condition of U.S. Forest Service roads in Washington State and across the nation. As you may know, the Forest Service is responsible for managing 380,000 miles of roads nationally, including over 22,000 miles in Washington. Due to inadequate funding, storm damage, and neglect, many of these roads are deteriorating and causing serious environmental damage.

In Washington, neglected Forest Service roads are jeopardizing state and federal efforts to restore salmon runs in Puget Sound and elsewhere. Road culverts block fish passage on hundreds of streams. Badly maintained Forest Service roads in Washington resulted in more than $30 million in damage from severe storms in November 2006. Impassable roads also diminish access to trailheads and the outstanding recreational opportunities that millions of Americans seek in our national forests.

The Forest Service estimates that it needs several billion dollars nationwide to maintain existing roads, replace culverts, and decommission old roads, including over $300 million in Washington. However, the Forest Service is spending just $3 million annually on road maintenance in Washington’s national forests, while the backlog of deferred maintenance grows by $8 million each year. The Forest Service has acknowledged that, at this rate, it will fall far short of complying with a Memorandum of Agreement with the Department of Ecology to comply with Clean Water Act requirements and road maintenance standards by 2016.

Unfortunately, the Administration’s budget request for FY 2008 will significantly worsen the problem of Forest Service roads. Nationally, the budget proposes a 31 percent cut in Forest Service road maintenance, while road decommissioning will decline from 682 miles in 2006 to 375 miles in 2008 – a 55 percent reduction. At the same time, the budget proposes a 184 percent increase in funding for timber sales in the Pacific Northwest. These budget proposals reflect a serious misallocation of resources to address Forest Service management issues in Washington and nationally.

We believe that the federal government must promptly take the actions necessary to reduce the harmful impacts of deteriorating Forest Service roads. There needs to be a clear plan that identifies what has to be done to achieve an ecologically and fiscally sustainable road system that reasonably meets the future needs for public access and agency administration.

To this end, we ask that you provide responses to the following questions. In your responses, please provide information for both Washington State and the nation.

What are the current estimated costs of deferred road maintenance, culvert replacement and repairs, and road decommissioning? How have those estimated costs changed since 2000, when the Forest Service estimated $8.6 billion in road needs? To what extent are those changes due to better road information versus reduced maintenance standards?

What process does the Forest Service use to identify road needs? How complete is the analysis? Does the analysis identify roads that should be closed and decommissioned? Please provide this office the specific data on Washington's national forest road needs.

What are recent trends and current conditions of Forest Service roads with respect to (a) compliance with road maintenance and construction standards in forest plans and state-adopted Best Management Practices under the Clean Water Act; (b) impairment of water quality and habitat for salmon, trout, and other aquatic life, including impediments to fish passage; and (c) the extent to which lack of maintenance has led to the forced closure of roads to public access.

Assuming the Administration’s FY 2008 budget request to fully fund the Northwest Forest Plan, to what extent has the agency requested funding for other, non-timber aspects of the Northwest Forest Plan, such as culvert replacement and road decommissioning for watershed and aquatic restoration?

What is the Forest Service’s strategy to come into compliance with the Clean Water Act through reducing deferred maintenance, replacing culverts and decommissioning roads to a level that the agency can afford to maintain?

What are the likely hydrological impacts of global climate change on the Forest Service road system and associated aquatic systems? How does the Forest Service plan to address these impacts in terms of the size, design, and long-term maintenance of the road system?

We would appreciate a prompt reply to these questions, and I look forward to working with you to address this serious problem of Forest Service roads and to restore our national forest watersheds and ecosystems.

Sincerely,

Maria Cantwell, Patty Murray, Norm Dicks, Brian Baird, Rick Larsen, and Jay Inslee.