Illegal Roads on Forest Service Contribute to $10Billion Problem

[JoseCuervo]

Maybe ol' Ten Beers will have more roads to ride his ATV, if the remaining roads fall into dissrepair, of course the damage done to Watersheds will be ignored..... Maybe it will even be good for Grizzlies, as they like the roads. And we know the Elk become Acclimated...

Forest Service roads nationwide are suffering from a $10 billion maintenance backlog, according to a national taxpayer’s watchdog group.


In its report released earlier this week, Taxpayers for Common Sense states that the U.S. Forest Service is “ignoring a growing crisis” of road disrepair, while the Bush administration is considering easing rules that restrict building more roads within National Forest boundaries.


“The federal government is paving the way to even more dangerous forest road disrepair,” said Jill Lancelot, president of Taxpayers for Common Sense. “It is crystal clear that Forest Service bureaucrats have been unwilling and unable to keep this road disrepair crisis in check. Rather than focus on fixing the current road system, they would rather build roads to cheap timber as a favor to their timber industry buddies.”


According to the report, which analyzed data from fiscal year 2002 – the most recent year for which complete date was available – Montana ranks third in the nation for the amount of backlogged maintenance.


Montana’s 32,000 miles of Forest Service roads have a backlog of $669 million, including $98 million in critical deferred maintenance; $390 million in non-critical deferred maintenance; $13 million in critical capital improvements; and $166 million in non-critical capital improvements, the report states.


California tops the TCS’s list with a backlog of $1.1 billion in deferred maintenance and capital improvements, followed by Alaska with a $900 million backlog. Rounding out the top five are Oregon, with a $664 million backlog, and Idaho, with a $660 million backlog.


Those states, plus New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Washington and Utah, make up more than $7 billion of the $10 billion backlog.


The National Forest road system includes more than 436,000 official and unofficial roads, which provide access to 192 million acres of National Forests and Grasslands.


However, many of the unofficial roads were created illegally, according to John Gatchell, conservation director with the Montana Wilderness Association, and others from the 1980s don’t lead anywhere and simply dead-end.


“These excessive roads continue to damage the watershed and wildlife habitat,” said Gatchell, who has long advocated obliterating some of the thousands of miles of illegal or poorly built roads. “They have a roads system they can’t possibly maintain. We can now work with local mills and loggers, who can operate on the forest with a much reduced road system.


“These roads are a problem and need to be dealt with, and that has to be done on a site-specific basis.”


Forest Service officials readily admit that they need to deal with the deferred maintenance and improvements. The federal agency even released a nationwide draft Environmental Assessment in 2000 that promoted building fewer roads in national forests, closing unnecessary roads and maintaining existing roads better.


The plan was to shift road management emphasis from transportation development to managing environmentally sound access.


That’s long been the goal of the Helena National Forest, which is working on two travel plans and plans to undertake two more when funding becomes available. But with limited time and money, these plans often are pushed to the backburners when forest fires or lawsuits take precedence.


That’s also too often the case for the entire Northern Region of the Forest Service, which is trying to establish these travel plans in order to set priorities.


“Certainly we’re focusing on roads – it’s important because if they’re not maintained they can create problems with the ecosystem,” said Paula Nelson, public affairs specialist for the U.S. Forest Service’s Northern Region. “We are doing travel management plans as our budgets and workloads allow us.


“But it’s no different than with any organization, or even with your home budget. You have limited money and limited hours in a day.”

Edited to change the "M" to a "b", to help Ten Beers do his math....

[ 04-07-2004, 21:39: Message edited by: ElkGunner ]

 

[Ithaca 37]

"Forest Service roads nationwide are suffering from a $10 million maintenance backlog, according to a national taxpayer’s watchdog group."

It's ten BILLION, not million.

 

[Ten Bears]

However, many of the unofficial roads were created illegally, according to John Gatchell, conservation director with the Montana Wilderness Association, and others from the 1980s don’t lead anywhere and simply dead-end.

Based on what information???

It's ten BILLION, not million.

IT, can you show a source (other then an envirometal group site)?

That’s long been the goal of the Helena National Forest, which is working on two travel plans and plans to undertake two more when funding becomes available. But with limited time and money, these plans often are pushed to the backburners when forest fires or lawsuits take precedence.

 

[Oak]

IT, can you show a source (other then an envirometal group site)?

I can. Go re-read the article and do some math.

Oak

 

[yz1]

I read ElkGunner's post, I found no reference from where it originated, I believe that is what Ten Bears referred to. No matter how one does the math, without supportable information to back up the source, it doesn't compute, by providing information within the “quote” feature doesn’t prove that it is factual, it may just be ones own claptrap, to support their position.

Ken

 

[mtmiller]

Just passing along info. Here is what I found by typing in a search.

http://www.taxpayer.net/forest/roadwrecked/index.htm

 

[BuzzH]

Hey Ten beers, check out millers link, they did the math for you.

 

[Michaelr]

[ 04-07-2004, 16:16: Message edited by: michaelr ]

 

[JoseCuervo]

Hey Ten Beers,

This might be a good time to go check with the school principal and make sure he has you signed up for Math class in Summer School, and not just Reading, History, Science, and Civics. You obviously must enjoy the 3rd grade, as you sure sound like your going to keep the 3rd grade going through the summer....

Montana’s 32,000 miles of Forest Service roads have a backlog of $669 million, including $98 million in critical deferred maintenance; $390 million in non-critical deferred maintenance; $13 million in critical capital improvements; and $166 million in non-critical capital improvements, the report states.


California tops the TCS’s list with a backlog of $1.1 billion in deferred maintenance and capital improvements, followed by Alaska with a $900 million backlog. Rounding out the top five are Oregon, with a $664 million backlog, and Idaho, with a $660 million backlog.


Those states, plus New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Washington and Utah, make up more than $7 billion of the $10 billion backlog.

I would guess all the 4th graders on the Bus would be able to see that those numbers add to more than $10 million , maybe you can ask them to help you with math. You know, where you put one number down, and carry the other digit to the top of the next column....

 

[Ten Bears]

Nice bit of bashing, but the quote:

Forest Service roads nationwide are suffering from a $10 million maintenance backlog, according to a national taxpayer’s watchdog group.

Came from your posting, not mine. Maybe check your sources better? It would be just as easy to think that maybe somebody inflatedly typoed the other figures. That is, without a refernece source.

OAK, somedays I get the feeling that if GUNNER made any sharp turns or sudden stops he'd break your neck.

Thanks MTMILLER for the clarification.

[ 04-07-2004, 17:07: Message edited by: Ten Bears ]

 

[Oak]

Ten Bears, some days I get the feeling you've whacked your head on your ATV handlebars one too many times.

The title of this post says billion. A little math before you posted would have shown you which figure was correct.

Oak

 

[yz1]

michaelr

Like your pic.


Ken

[ 04-14-2004, 19:44: Message edited by: yz1 ]

 

[Ten Bears]

So now, questioning a typo posted by EG is somehow my problem???

 

[Ithaca 37]

Ten, Yup. It's your problem. Only an idiot wouldn't realize it was a typo. You got a real bad problem there, Ten. That's what we've all been tellin' ya for a long time. Think of it this way; if everyone keeps tellin' ya you're an idiot---even your mother---it's time to consider the possibility they're right.

 

[Wapiti Slayer]

Originally posted by ElkGunner:
Maybe ol' Ten Beers will have more roads to ride his ATV, if the remaining roads fall into dissrepair, of course the damage done to Watersheds will be ignored..... Maybe it will even be good for Grizzlies, as they like the roads. And we know the Elk become Acclimated...

</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr /> Forest Service roads nationwide are suffering from a $10 million maintenance backlog, according to a national taxpayer’s watchdog group.


In its report released earlier this week, Taxpayers for Common Sense states that the U.S. Forest Service is “ignoring a growing crisis” of road disrepair, while the Bush administration is considering easing rules that restrict building more roads within National Forest boundaries.


“The federal government is paving the way to even more dangerous forest road disrepair,” said Jill Lancelot, president of Taxpayers for Common Sense. “It is crystal clear that Forest Service bureaucrats have been unwilling and unable to keep this road disrepair crisis in check. Rather than focus on fixing the current road system, they would rather build roads to cheap timber as a favor to their timber industry buddies.”


According to the report, which analyzed data from fiscal year 2002 – the most recent year for which complete date was available – Montana ranks third in the nation for the amount of backlogged maintenance.


Montana’s 32,000 miles of Forest Service roads have a backlog of $669 million, including $98 million in critical deferred maintenance; $390 million in non-critical deferred maintenance; $13 million in critical capital improvements; and $166 million in non-critical capital improvements, the report states.


California tops the TCS’s list with a backlog of $1.1 billion in deferred maintenance and capital improvements, followed by Alaska with a $900 million backlog. Rounding out the top five are Oregon, with a $664 million backlog, and Idaho, with a $660 million backlog.


Those states, plus New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Washington and Utah, make up more than $7 billion of the $10 billion backlog.


The National Forest road system includes more than 436,000 official and unofficial roads, which provide access to 192 million acres of National Forests and Grasslands.


However, many of the unofficial roads were created illegally, according to John Gatchell, conservation director with the Montana Wilderness Association, and others from the 1980s don’t lead anywhere and simply dead-end.


“These excessive roads continue to damage the watershed and wildlife habitat,” said Gatchell, who has long advocated obliterating some of the thousands of miles of illegal or poorly built roads. “They have a roads system they can’t possibly maintain. We can now work with local mills and loggers, who can operate on the forest with a much reduced road system.


“These roads are a problem and need to be dealt with, and that has to be done on a site-specific basis.”


Forest Service officials readily admit that they need to deal with the deferred maintenance and improvements. The federal agency even released a nationwide draft Environmental Assessment in 2000 that promoted building fewer roads in national forests, closing unnecessary roads and maintaining existing roads better.


The plan was to shift road management emphasis from transportation development to managing environmentally sound access.


That’s long been the goal of the Helena National Forest, which is working on two travel plans and plans to undertake two more when funding becomes available. But with limited time and money, these plans often are pushed to the backburners when forest fires or lawsuits take precedence.


That’s also too often the case for the entire Northern Region of the Forest Service, which is trying to establish these travel plans in order to set priorities.


“Certainly we’re focusing on roads – it’s important because if they’re not maintained they can create problems with the ecosystem,” said Paula Nelson, public affairs specialist for the U.S. Forest Service’s Northern Region. “We are doing travel management plans as our budgets and workloads allow us.


“But it’s no different than with any organization, or even with your home budget. You have limited money and limited hours in a day.”

</font>[/QUOTE]SAVE THE EARTH, KILL ALL HUMANS! IT WILL SOLVE EVERYTHING! People caused all these problems especially ones who ride ATVs! So if we are all dead everything will be better, simple as that, get yer ass to work!

 

[JoseCuervo]

Hey Ten Beers,

I went and changed the letter "m" to the letter "b"... Now you don't have to struggle with that part.

Unfortunately, it won't help you with the addition problems you are having. Have you ever thought about asking the nice ladies in the cafeteria who serve you the Navajo Tacos and Apple Sauce if they could help you with your math? I think if you do real well, they will even allow you to help them serve lunch to the other Third Graders....

 

[Ten Bears]

The emotionally immature person, however, has low levels of self-esteem and self-confidence and consequently feels insecure; to counter these feelings of insecurity they will spend a large proportion of their lives creating situations in which they become the centre of attention. It may be that the need for attention is inversely proportional to emotional maturity, therefore anyone indulging in attention-seeking behaviours is telling you how emotionally immature they are.

Attention-seeking behaviour is surprisingly common. Being the centre of attention alleviates feelings of insecurity and inadequacy but the relief is temporary as the underlying problem remains unaddressed: low self-confidence and low self-esteem, and consequent low levels of self-worth and self-love.

Insecure and emotionally immature people often exhibit bullying behaviours, especially manipulation and deception. These are necessary in order to obtain attention which would not otherwise be forthcoming. Bullies and harassers have the emotional age of a young child and will exhibit temper tantrums, deceit, lying and manipulation to avoid exposure of their true nature and to evade accountability and sanction.

http://www.bullyonline.org/workbully/attent.htm

 

[Bullhound]

Nice to see IT and EG still aint got a life

You guys would print anything and try to pass it off as fact if it supported your position. Crack me up