Announcement of Interim Ban on Forest Road Construction 
                                                          Release No. 0056.99

Remarks
          As Prepared for Delivery
                               by
                                
               Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman
    Announcement of Interim Ban on Forest Road Construction
              Washington, D.C.   February 11, 1999
                                
     "Thank you, Jim [Lyons] for that introduction, but most of all thank you
for the great job you've done for the past 6 years to protect America's
natural resources.  Good afternoon, everyone. I want to start by recognizing
the work of Chief Dombeck. I can't think of a better person to lead this
agency at this time. With a commitment to the public process and to the
integrity of science-based decision making, and with a sharp focus on all the
ways we value our forests   from timber harvesting to recreation to
environmental protection, Mike is giving our nation a forest policy for the
future. 

     "You know, I realize that Valentine's Day is still a few days off. But
we thought we'd start early at USDA -- giving a valentine to America's
frontier spirit. Whether it is Vice President Gore talking about livability or
President Clinton promoting land legacies, this Administration understands
that we are reaching a point in the growth of our nation where we are pressing
up against our final ecological frontiers. As we do, I think most Americans
are coming to a shared realization that we need to protect our remaining open
spaces because they are a treasure unique in the world. In short, we are
concluding that some frontiers are not meant to be conquered. 

     "It is fairly easy to fell a hundred-year-old tree or carve a road into
the side of a mountain. The harder, more disciplined approach is to refrain.
Today we have more and more reason to exercise restraint. The use of our
forest roads has changed dramatically over the last several years. The
condition of these roads has declined sharply, and the mass of scientific
evidence illuminating the often devastating impact of these roads and their
neglect has grown. As these pictures indicate, we have thousands of miles of
roads that are in severe disrepair   putting at risk wildlife habitat, water
quality and human life. We also have pristine areas that are crucial to
healthy ecosystems.

     "Our challenge is to protect all the different uses of our forests  
which well-kept roads undoubtedly serve   while protecting these remaining
untouched places. This is a long and delicate process. It will not happen
overnight. We must rely on the best science and broad-based public
participation. But inthe interim, I am prepared to authorize an 18-month
moratorium on the construction of new roads in the last pristine areas of our
national forests.
"
     "A road is one of the most indelible marks man can leave on the
landscape. This moratorium will safeguard the often irreplaceable ecological
value of unroaded areas until a permanent policy can protect our open spaces,
water and wildlife and the economic health of forest communities. So in a
sense, we are calling an official time out here, so we can examine the
science, involve the public and build a roads policy for the 21st century. 

     "It is our hope that this long-term policy will include a strategy for
how best to restore needed roads while closing those that are not necessary.
The new policy also will aim to make more informed decisions as to where, when
and   indeed -- if we should be driving into the last remaining unroaded
portions of our forests.

     "More than half of existing forest roads do not meet minimum public
safety and environmental standards   putting at risk the 1.7 million Americans
who drive them every day. We have an $8.5 billion backlog of well-traveled
roads in need of repair. It would be irresponsible to build new roads when we
do not have the resources to maintain the 383,000 miles of roads that already
exist. That's enough roads to circle the globe eight times. I think we owe it
to our last acres of pristine forest to take seriously the concerns of
reasonable people who say, 'eight is enough.' 

     "That said, I want to be clear: well-maintained roads serve an extremely
valuable purpose in our national forests. They're important to local
economies, to recreation, to habitat restoration, to law enforcement, to fire
suppression. But neglected roads are devastating   causing increased floods
and landslides; muddying streams that are some of the last spawning habitat of
endangered fish from Chinook Salmon to Bull Trout; disrupting the movements of
big game, like elk and grizzlies; and increasing the odds of man-made forest
fires.

     "We have a duty to use the broader scientific understanding that we have
today to protect our forests for all the ways we value them as a country. You
know, our first chief said that our national forest system was created 'for
the greatest good, for the greatest number, in the long run.' I believe that
this decision carries on in that proud tradition. By concentrating on
sustainable forest management, by taking a stand to protect our remaining
wilderness, we will make sure that these great natural monuments are healthy
and stand tall for generations upon generations to come. I thank you for
joining us, and it is my pleasure to introduce the man of the hour, Chief Mike
Dombeck."

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