Secretary Glickman Proposes New Policy for Managing Forest Roads

                                           Release No.  0068.00
                                                               
                                    Susan McAvoy (202) 720-4623
                                          susan.mcavoy@usda.gov
                                   Keven Kennedy (202) 720-7173
                                         keven.kennedy@usda.gov

SECRETARY GLICKMAN PROPOSES NEW POLICY FOR  MANAGING
FOREST ROADS

     WASHINGTON, March 2, 2000--Agriculture Secretary Glickman today proposed
a new USDA Forest Service road management policy for the 380,000 miles of
forest roads.  The new policy is designed to help USDA's Forest Service and
forest dependent communities prioritize road maintenance and reconstruction
work so that the national forest road system will be more affordable to manage
in the future. 

     "The number of Americans visiting our national forests every year is
skyrocketing," said Glickman.  "This proposal addresses how to maintain our
existing road network in an environmentally and fiscally responsible way."

     Under the proposal, each of the 155 national forests and 20 grasslands
would work with the public to identify heavily-used roads that require
maintenance or upgrade, and roads that are unused or environmentally damaging
that can be decommissioned or converted to other uses.  The policy would shift
the emphasis to maintenance and reconstruction of existing roads rather than
on building new roads.

     In February 1999, the Forest Service announced an interim rule that
temporarily suspended road construction and reconstruction in certain unroaded
areas on national forests and grasslands.  The interim rule gave the agency no
more than 18 months to draft a new road policy and develop new analytical
tools.

The final road management policy is scheduled for completion this
summer.  The release of the draft opens a 60-day public comment period. 
Comments may be sent by mail to USDA Forest Service, CAET, Attn. Roads, P.O.
Box 22300, Salt Lake City, UT 84122, by fax to (801) 517-1021, or by e-mail to
roads/wo_caet-slc@fs.fed.us.

In a separate but related effort, the Forest Service is carrying out the
President's request to conduct an environmental impact statement (EIS) and to
determine how the public wants the agency to manage roadless areas on our
national forests.  The Draft EIS will be released this spring for additional
public comment.

For more information on the proposed road management policy, go to
www.fs.fed.us/news/roads.
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