So writes retired federal wildlife biologist Bert Lowry (BLM/USFS) in this fine letter to the editor published by the Salt Lake Tribune.
But more important is Lowry’s call for the closure of some roads: “We don’t need any more roads built in our critical wildlife habitat areas. In fact, a few closures might be in order.”
Besides serving as avenues for slob hunters/road hunters and poachers, roads often have severe ecological effects.
What’s wrong with roads in wildlands?
- Roads harm fish and wildlife by destroying habitat
- Roads spread weeds like Scotch Broom and knapweed
- Collapsing roads and blown-out culverts cause erosion and water pollution
- We have too many wildland roads: our National Forests alone have 500,000 miles of roads — 12 times the size of the U.S. interstate system.
Very good article. People are often surprised when I tell them how many miles of roads exist on our national forests. This is IMHO the top conservation issue. Once you road and devlelop a place, it’s very, very hard to repair damage. Roadless areas should always be a top priority.
Absolutely. And that helps explain why so much of the East is ecologically impoverished. One of the best journal papers I’ve found on this subject is conservation biologist Reed Noss’s: http://www.wildlandscpr.org/resourcelibrary/reports/ecoleffectsroads.html