Road RIPorter 3.5

8/14/2019 Road RIPorter 3.5

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I T heR oad-R P orterBimonthly Newsletter of the Wildlands Center for Preventing Roads. September/October 1998. Volume 3 # 5

Far beyond t he glowof Miamis sultrysky line, past the flagship of protected swamp country knownas Everglades NationalPark, lies an under-

protected reservoir of southern biodiversity, BigCypress NationalPreserve. Once Seminoleand Miccosukee Indianterritory, the areaharbors a diverseassemblage of plant and animal life. Though

bisected by roughly onehundred miles of highway asphalt, thewildness of Big Cypressdefines south Florida likethe gaping jaws of anendangered gator.

story continued on page 4

Bear Island Trail. Designated trails concentrateuse and, w ithout Best Management Practicesand proper m aintenance cause ext ensivedamage. Note deep rut s and pool dug bysw amp creatures. Brian Hunt photo.

Creaturesin the Dark LagoonORVs Running Rampant in Big Cypress Swamp

by Brian Scherf


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The Road-RIPorter September/October 19982

From the Wildlands CPR Office...

Wildlands Center for Preventing Roads works to protect and restorewildland ecosystems by preventing and removing roads and limiting motorized r ecreation. We are a

national clearinghouse and net wor k, providing citizens w ith tools and

str ategies to fight road construction, deter motorized recreation, and promot e road

removal and revegetation.

P.O. Box 7 516Missoula, MT 59807

(406) [email protected]/WildCPR

DirectorBethanie Walder

Development DirectorTom Youn gblood -Peterse n

Informat ion SpecialistDana Jensen

(anti) Motorized Recreation Program

Jacob Smith

NewsletterJim Coefield & Dan Funsch

Inter ns & VolunteersThan Hitt, Scott Bagley,

Vivian Roland,Mary Anne Peine,

Evan Youn gblood-Pete rsen

Board of DirectorsKatie Alvord

Mary Byrd DavisKraig KlungnessSidn ey Maddock

Rod Mon dtCara Nelson

Mary O' Brien

Tom Skee leScott Stouder

Advisory CommitteeJasper Carlton, Libby Ellis,

Dave Foreman, KeithHamm er, Timothy Herma ch,

Marion Hourdeq uin, LorinLindner, Andy Mahler, RobertMcConne ll, Steph an ie Mills,

Ree d Noss, Michael Soul, DanStotter, Steve Trom bulak,

Louisa Willcox, Bill Willers,Howie Wolke

Wildlands Wildlands Wildlands Wildlands Wildlands CCCCCenter for PPPPPreventing R R R R Roads

From the Wildlands CPR OfficeAs advocates for road rem oval, people continu ally lamb ast us for being op-

posed to access. We know you probably hea r this as well, since man y of you have

called asking ho w to deal with this appa rent con flict related to road rem oval.DePaving the Way discusses this qu estion of access, and sh ould p rovide you withsom e fodder for coun tering these attacks in your own re gion . Please feel free to takeconcep ts and ideas from DePaving the Way or o ther articles in The Road-RIPorter touse for letters to the editor, Op-Eds in your local paper, comm entaries on th e radio,or articles in your n ewsletter. If you are interested in rep rinting someth ing in itsentirety, just let us kn ow, and cite it to the RIPorter .

In other news, motorized recreation issues continue to heat up locally andnation ally. We are thr illed to be working with Friends of th e Earth o n th e mo torizedrecreation issue an d together will be ho sting a national strategy meeting in earlyNovember to add ress increased mo torization of pu blic lands. If you are interested ingetting m ore involved in recreation issues, please let us kn ow.

Just a n ote on the cover story: its a com bination cover story, bibliograph y no tes,and legal notes filled w ith info ab out, an d som e creative ways to limit, ORVs. Than ks

so m uch to Brian Scherf for pu lling it together for us.

ThanksMany th anks to th e Peradam, Town Creek an d Hershey Foun dations for the ir

recen t and generou s suppo rt of our program s. Also, we would like to than k all of our recent don ors and new m embers. Your sup port, both financially and throu ghyour on-the-ground efforts fighting roads and motorized recreation, is what keeps usgoing stron g. Keep on Rippin!

Comin g Event sAs we men tioned, m otorized recreation work is really starting to take off. Jacob

will be con ducting h is first ORV worksh op in October or Novem ber a t a location stillto be determ ined. The field-based worksh op will provide han ds-on tools for mon itor-ing ORV dam age, legal tools for fightingORVs, and strategies for increasing publicpressure against motorized abuse of ourpub lic land s. If you are interested inattending this workshop, please contactour office for more details. Once thefinal dates and location are set, we willsend out more information.

In this IssueCreatures, p. 1, 4-5

Brian Scher f

Depaving t he Way, p. 3Bethanie Walder

Odes to Roads, p. 6 Derrick Jensen

Bibliograp hy Notes, p . 7-9

Dana Jensen

Regional Reports, Alerts p. 10

Field Notes, p. 12-13

Ask Dr. Roads, p. 14Dr. Roads, he kn ows mo re than yo u!

Wildlands CPR Resour ces, p. 15

Bethanie Walder, Tom Youngblood-Petersen, and Dana Jensen pose for t he inevit able office promo piece.


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The Road-RIPorter September/October 1998 3

Excessive and con tinued road co nstru ction into wildland e cosystems effectivelyis turning the backcountry into the fron tcountry. No matter h ow long, how potholedand h ow washbo arded a road is, someon e will always drive their vehicle to the en d.Some will drive to the end of the road to reach a trailhead, and finally get away fromroads an d civilization and int o the backcoun try. Others might stop to pick hu ckle-berries, especially if the ro ad en ds in a clearcut. Still others m ight be out for a scen icdrive, and wh en th ey reach the end th eyll turn arou nd an d drive back the way theycame, on m iles of dusty or m uddy dirt roads.

As a m atter of fact, the Forest Service com mo nly refers to scenic or p leasuredriving as the highest recreation al use of the Nationa l Forests. Most of this useoccurs on no t offroads. It also turns ou t that 80% of the use of National Forestroads occurs on on ly 20% of those roads. Are roads necessary for peop le to haveaccess to the Nation al Forests, and doe s rem oving roads take away access? Theansw ers are tied to the d efinition of access.

Websters defines access as: 1. A mea ns o f app roaching: passage; and 2. Theright to enter or use. Nothin g in these definitions, or any other comm on pr inteddefinition, states that the m eans of app roaching or the right to en ter mu st occur witha m otorized vehicle.

100 years ago, nobody cou ld access these lands except byfoot, horse or boat. There were few roads. In many places,roads d idnt provide motor ized access un til 20-30 years ago.Access required m uscle, a bit of stamina, or p erh aps a h orse,mu le or raft. Lewis and Clark created their great trail out we stalong the Missouri River by canoe and then through themou ntains on foot. They had access not only to the land, butto all the spe cies that wild land sup por ted: grizzly bears, elk,salmon , bull trout, deer, wolves and mo re.

In the past, if you could no longer walk somewh ere,you n o longer h ad access to that p lace, even if it was thespot you had p icked h uckleberries for decad es... even if itwas your favorite place to hu nt. It wasnt that you didn thave a right to go there, it was just that you no longer ha da mean s of passage.

With every road we bu ild into our w ild lands (most of which are b uilt for logging, not r ecreation) we create

mo torized access for hum ans wh ile destroying access forwild species that depen d on intact ecosystems. Removing

roads r econn ects the h abitat thats been split, allowing grizzlybears, elk and other species to access their ran ges more freely, and it also stopssedimen t from en tering streams an d choking fish. Removing roads recreates wildplaces.

While it is impo rtant to provide access to some areas for those wh o cann ot hikeor bike, that access will begin wh erever the ro ad en ds. Regardless, trails will bedeveloped from p arking areas. The farthe r we pull roads out of wildlands, the m orewildland s we h ave.

Every mile of road we re move restores access for wild critters. Every m ile of road we rem ove restores hydrologic processes. Every mile of road we remove createsmo re backcoun try. And every mile of road we remove restores access for those of the hu man species who dep end on quiet places, open spaces and wild encoun ters.Closing and obliterating roads is not abou t cutting off hum an access to wild places.It is about recreating wild places so h uman s and non -human s alike can continue tohave access to themaccess that does not dep end o n m otors.

uch Adoabout Access by Bethanie W alder M

Closing and obliterating roads is not about

cut t ing off human access to w ild places. It is about recreat ing wild

places so humans and non-humans alike can

cont inue to have access to themaccess that does not depend on motors.

Human beings are

species, too, and we have a right toaccess...

Paraphrase from participant on aroad obliteration

field trip, Flathead National Forest , July 1998.

S c o

t t B a g

l e y p h o

t o .


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Turner River Unit, 3/4 m ile east of Air plane Prairie ORV access point.The tracks appear to have been made wit h a single pass. The rut is about 6 inches deep with an adjacent discharge ridge about 3 inches high. Notethe root that has been exposed and peeled by the ORV tire.

Brian Hunt phot o.

In the h eart of wild Big Cypress Swamp b eats an u nn atu-ral sound motors from off-road vehicles. The FloridaBiodiversity Project (FBP) has undertaken a two-pronged legalstrategy to protect this precious rem nan t of low-lying wild-ness. FBP is emp hasizing soun d science and en vironme ntallaw by compelling the National Park Service (NPS) to addressadverse ORV imp acts in Big Cypress. In 199 5, the FBPchallenged the agencys curren t man agemen t of ORV use an d

compliance with m ajor en vironmen tal laws such as th eNational Environ m en tal Policy Act (NEPA), the End an geredSpecies Act, the Clean Water Act, and other regulations.

The FBP argued th e NPS violated NEPA an d th e CleanWater Act: by conducting an inadequ ate an alysis of direct,secondary, and cumulative impacts and mitigation measures;and by ignorin g two feasible alternatives for ORV access alongInterstate 75. Three years later, the NPS is on th e verge of releasing their draft EIS, at which point activists will see h owwell the NPS has com plied with the legal settlem ent an d howmuch more work we h ave to do to protect the swamp .

Big Cyp res s: Swam ped wit h ORVsBig Cypress Swam p, located between Miami an d Naples in

sou thw est Florida , is a crown jewel of biological diversity. Itsrich mosaic of wetland an d upland plant comm unities includecypress, pinelands, hammocks, prairies, and marsheshu ndred s of species, from the critically endan gered Floridapanth er to the air plant. One hun dred and twenty four rare,end angered, or th reaten ed plants (Duever 1986a) and 34 listedspecies of wildlife are found here (NPS 1991).

The threat of large-scale residential developm ent an d aregional jetport p ropo sal in th e late 1960s sparked th eestablishment of the Preserve in 1974 to protect the westernwate rsh ed of Everglades Nationa l Park. Big Cypress NationalPreserve recently was expand ed to over 729,000 acres,enco mp assing the majority of the remainin g Big Cypre ssSwamp . It is on e of the largest contiguous conser vation areasin the eastern U.S. when comb ined with the ad jacent Ever-

glades system.The Preserves enabling legislation allows regulated ORVuse. In 1991 th e NPS issued th e final Big Cypress GeneralManagement Plan/EIS (NPS 1991), but later recognized that thePlan was inadequate to m anage ORV use and man dated aseparate ORV Mana gemen t Plan. Four years later, they h ad noPlan, and NPS documen ts revealed accelerated levels of resource degradation (NPS 1994).

Messing wit h the SwampCompared to desert environm ents, less is known about

the impacts o f ORVs in wetland ecosystems (see the Road- RIPorter , 1(6) ). Fou r typ es of ORVs are used in th e Prese rve:all terrain cycles; airboats; swamp buggies; and street legal4x4s. Over the years they h ave impacted th e Swamp ad -versely by creating an expa nsive 4,000 m ile ORV trail netwo rk.

While NPS mon itoring reveals compe lling evidence o f acceler-ated resource degradation, attempts to minimize impacts aredisappointing (NPS 1994).

ORVs can adve rsely im pac t soils, hyd rology, vegetationand wildlife in th e Preserve. ORVs cut dee p ru ts, creatingtrough s and ridges of displaced soils (Lodge 1994 ), perm anen tsoil displaceme nt (Duever et al. 1986 ) and increased oxidationof exp osed so ils (Yam ataki 199 4). ORVs affect hydrology byaltering the d irection, sp eed, an d qu ality of water (Beardsley199 5, Duever et al. 1981, NPS 199 6). Vegetation imp actsinclude loss of vegetative cover (Pern as 1 992), flattening(Snyder 19 94), tree mortality and root d amage (Aust 19 97),un natu ral vegetative succession an d sprea d of exotic seeds(NPS 199 4). Wildlife are sub ject to direct m orta lity, inc rease dhu nting p ressure (Duever et al. 1986a), disturba nce (NPS1990 ), altered feedin g hab its (NPS 1994), and h abitat mod ifica-tion (Aust 1 997 ).

The LawsuitIn 1993 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and

the Army Corps of Engineers issued th e Tulloch Rule,requ iring a Section 40 4 perm it for redep ositing dredgedmaterial that has m ore than an inconsequential effect. Thesoil impacts of swamp buggies are hardly inconsequ ential.

The FBP argued in two enforcem ent p etitions sent to the EPAand Corps th at since the Park Service had to obtain a Section404 p erm it to fill in small wetland areas for trail main tenan ce,they sho uld be required to obtain a p ermit for the redeposit of dredged m aterial caused by ORVs over thou sand s of miles of trails. The EPA rep lied th at it did not h ave enough informationto m ake a decision.

In 1995, th e FBP filed a br oad lawsuit against the govern-ment claiming violations of the Clean Water Act, the TullochRule, NEPA, th e Enda nger ed Species Act, th e Organ ic Act, th ePreserve Enabling Legislation, an d Executive Order s 11644 an d11990. Four sp ecific claims were presented:

continued from page 1

T - 1 2


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1. The NPS violated th e Clean Water Act by failing toobtain a Section 404 Perm it for its decision to allow 250 0ORVs an nu ally to degrade Preserve wetlands.2. The NPSs refusa l to un dergo a Section 404 reviewfor its ORV per mitting pr ogram was arb itrary, capricious,and contrary to its responsibilities under the PreserveEstablishm en t Act, the NPS Organic Act, an d ExecutiveOrders 11644 and 11990.3. The NPS violated NEPA by failing to prep are a sup ple-men tal environm ental analysis before increa sing its ORVpermit ceiling by 25% .4. The NPS an d FWS violated th e ESA an d its regu la-tions by ap proving a m anagement p lan that could jeop-ardize the Florida pan ther.

The Set t leme ntAfter the FBP subm itted a com pelling Motion for Sum-

mar y Judgem ent, utilizing 43 exhibits including experttestimon y, a settleme nt was reached. The agreem ent wastimely because the Courts later overturn ed th e Tulloch Rule.The agreement was enforceable indepen dently by the Courtand would not p reclude th e plaintiffs from p ursuing otherclaims later. The NPS in consu ltation with other ap propr iate

federal agencies would b e req uired to develop a n ORV Manage-ment Plan and associated Supplemental Environmental ImpactStateme nt (SEIS). The Plans pur po se is to establish a com pre-hensive system to regulate ORV use in Big Cypress to maintainthe n atural and ecological integrity of Preserve resources. TheSEIS must analyze:

1. Method s to minim ize impacts to Preserve resources,including soil, hydrology, vegetation, wildlife, and rec-reation from ORV use;2. Use of Best Managem ent Practices designed to avoidand /or m inimize ORV impacts;3. Criteria for developing a compreh ensive designatedtrail system and /or use areas;4. Managem ent practices for particular vehicle types;

5. Metho ds for mon itoring imp acts and taking reme-dial action based on the monitoring results;6. Procedu res for closing, opening, reopen ing, and re-locating ORV trails.

The settlemen t agreement m andates strict compliancewith NEPA when analyzing resource imp acts of the p ropo sed I-75 recreation al access areas. Before approving any Section404 permits for these areas, the Corps must analyze thecumulative direct, indirect, and secondary environmentalimpacts associated with construction and maximum use of allprop osed access, an d all feasible alternatives.

Advice fr om t he SwampEnforcem ent p etitions, lawsuits, and settlemen t agree-

men ts are effective tools to compe l agencies to com ply withenvironm ental law and incorp orate the best available scientificdata into resou rce managem ent decisions. Activists mu stchoo se app rop riate legal strategies with care.

Be prep ared to do extensive research to provide a solidscientific and legal found ation for pote ntial litigation. Forexample, some of the best sources on wetland impacts may besite specific and requ ire the use of Freedom of Inform ation Actrequests. Be an expert on your region both from the p erspec-tive of the scientific literature and on the groun d knowledge.Have a good und erstandin g of app licable environm ental lawsand ad ministrative regulations.

Resolving legal actions m ay take years. Be prepar ed tomake a long-term comm itmen t. The second h alf of thepro cessimplem entation is equally impo rtant. Conse rva-tionists need to ensure full agency compliance with anyresulting cour t ru ling, settlemen t agreem ent, NEPA require-men t, or required man agement action.

ORV pro pon ents are well finan ced an d organized. Activistsmu st be pr oactive and build strong coalitions, rem ain vigilantto new developments, and solicit extensive public comment.

Brian Scherf is a board m ember of the Florida BiodiversityProject and a self-proclaimed Swam p Rat wh o lives out of hiselement in Hollyw ood, FL. For m ore info about FBP, contact th emat [email protected]

Note: The draft ORV Mgt. Plan/SEIS is schedu led for releasein November wit h a 90-day comm ent period. Look for an actionalert in the nex t issue of the Road-RIPorter.

ReferencesAust, M. W. 199 7. Memorandum : General Impressions Regarding

Off-Road Vehicle Use in Big Cypress National Preserve. BigCypress National Preserve. Ochopee, FL., 2pp.

Bear dsley, G. L. 199 5. Affidavit: Florida Biodiversity Project vs.

Roger Kennedy et al. United States District Court for theMiddle District of Florida Fort Myers Division, 23pp.Dueve r, M. J., J. E. Carlson a nd L. A. Riopelle. 1981. Off Road

Vehicles an d the ir Impacts in the Big Cypress Nationa lPreserve. Nationa l Park Service, Big Cypress Nationa lPreserve. T-614. National Audub on Society, Ecosyste mResearch Unit. Naples, FL., 214 pp.

Dueve r, M. J., L. A. Riopelle and J. M. McCollom . 1986 . LongTerm Recovery o f Experim ental Off-Road Vehicle Impact san d Aban don ed Tra ils in the Big Cypress Nationa l Prese rve.National Park Service, Big Cypress National Preserve.SFRC-86/09. Nationa l Audub on Society, Ecosyste mResearch Unit. Naples, FL.

Dueve r, M. J., J. E. Carlson, J. F. Meed er, L. C. Duever, e t a l.198 6a . The Big Cypress National Preserve. National Park Service. Rese arch Repor t No. 8. National Audub on Society.Naples, FL., 455pp.

Lodge, T. E. 1994. The Everglades Handbook: Understanding theEcosystem . St. Lucie Press. St. Lucie, FL., 228p p.

National Park Service. 199 0. Draft I-75 Recre ational AccessPlan/Environme ntal Assessm ent Biological Assessm ent.Big Cypress National Preserve. Ochopee, FL., 7pp.

National Park Service. 1991. Gene ral Mana geme nt Plan andFinal Environm ental Impact Stateme nt for Big CypressNational Prese rve. National Park Service, Big CypressNational Preserve. Vol. 1. Ochopee, FL., 427pp .

National Park Service. 1994. Project Statem ent Sheet BICY ORVMana geme nt Plan. Big Cypress National Prese rve,Ochopee, FL., 8pp.

National Park Service. 199 6. Big Cypress National Pre serveWater Resources Managem ent Plan. National Park Service,Big Cypress Nation al Prese rve. Ochopee, FL., 145pp.

Pern as, T. 199 2. Big Cypress Nation al Prese rve ORV Designate dTrail an d Area Monitor ing Program Proposal. Nationa lPark Service. Big Cypress Nationa l Prese rve. Ochopee,FL., 8pp.

Snyder, J. 1994 . Mem orand um : Ochopee Prairie Tour. NationalPark Service. Big Cypress National Preserve. Ochopee, FL.,1p .

Yam ataki, H. 1994. Agency Position Statem ent: Condition of Soils in ORV Use Areas at BICY. USDA Soil Con se rvationService. Ft. Myers, FL., 2p.


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T by the Headlightsof theHurtling Machineransfixed When Im o n th e road, I always carry a baseb all bat in the b ack

of my truck to use each time I see a snake. If the sna ke is sun ningher self, I stop the truck and u se the bat to shoo her to safety. Some-times, if the sn ake is especially sluggish, I loop h er over th e bat an dcarry h er out o f traffic. If shes already dead I don t use th e bat at all, butcarry her to my truck, then take her to some quiet spot where she candecom pose with d ignity.

But m ost often wh en I stop I have to use th e bat no t to save the sn ake but kill

her. Too m any times Ive seen th em live and writhing with bro ken b acks, flattenedvertebrae, even crushed heads.

I hate cars, and wh at they do. I do no t so mu ch m ind killing, if there is apur pose; if, for exa mp le, Im going to eat wh at I kill. But I desp ise this incidentalkilling that com es each time a soft and living body h app ens to be in our way. Such akilling is without pu rpose, and often even withou t awaren ess. I ha ve driven throu ghswarm s of mating mayflies, and h ave seen a windsh ield turn red blotch by blotch asit strikes engorged m osquitos.

I once saw a m igration of salaman ders destroyed by h eavy traffic in a lateevening rain. I leapt from my car and r an to carry as many as I could from on e sideof the road to the oth er, but for every on e I grabbed the re were fifty who m ade it notmuch further than the first white line.

A couple of years ago someon e dropped off a huge white rabbit near m y hom e.Knowing the cruelty of abandoning pets into the wild and the stupidity of introduc-

ing exotics did not lessen my en joyment of watching him ca vort with the localcottontails a third his size. But I often worried. If at one h un dred yards I could easilypick him out from amon g the jumb led rocks that were his home, how much moreeasily would h e be seen by coyotes or h awks? Each time I saw him I was surprisedanew at his capacity to live in th e wild.

I need nt have worried abou t predators. One day I walked to get my ma il, andsaw him dead an d stiff in the cen ter of the road. I was sadden ed, and as I carriedhim away to where h e could at last be eaten b y coyotes, I considered my sh ock of recognition at his death. I had bee n, as I believe hap pen s constantly in our cu lturein ou r time of th e final grindin g away at what sh reds of ecological integrity stillrem ain intactfearing precisely the wron g thing. I had be en fearing a natural death.

But in one way or another, most of us living todayhum an an d no nhu manalikewill not d ie the natu ral death tha t has bee n th e birthright of every being sincelife began. Instead we will find ou rselves struck downlike the r abbit, like the

snakes, like the cat wh ose skull I had to cru sh after h is spine was severed by theshiny fende r of a speeding carinciden tal victims of the m odern , ind ustrial,mechanical economy.

This is no less true for th e starving billion s of hum ans th an it is for th e salmonincidentally ground up in th e turbines of dams, and n o less true for those wh o die of chem ically-induced cancers th an it is for th e ma yflies I killed by the th ousan ds,blithely driving from one p lace to anoth er.

All of us today stand as if transfixed by the he adlights of the h urtling mach inethat inevitably will destroy us an d all others in its path. Oh, we m ove slightly to theleft or slightly to th e right, but I think, as I carefully place the rabbit in a tu ftedhollow at the ba se of a tree, that even to th e last, mo st of us have no idea wh at it istha ts killing us.

by Derrick Jensen

Odes to Roads

Most of us living todayhuman and

nonhuman alikewill not die the natural death

that has been t he birt hright of every being

since life began.We will find ourselves

st ruck down incidental victims of the modern,indust rial, mechanical

economy.

Derrick Jensen is the author of Railroadsand Clearcuts , and Listening to theLand: Conversations About Nature,Culture, and Eros . He lives in Crescent City, California.


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Bibliography Notes

Bibliography Notes sum marizes and highlights som e of thescient ific literature in ou r 6,000 citation bibliography on t he

ecological effects o f roads. We offer bibliographic searches tohelp activists access important biological research relevant toroads. We keep copies of mos t art icles cited in Bibliography

Notes in our office library.

Amph ibians are integral compon ents of m any ecosystems,in some co nstituting the highest fraction of vertebrate biom ass

(Burton and Likens 19 75 as cited in Blaustein e t al. 1994).Their p opulations p lay an imp ortant role in structuringcommunities of forest floor decomposers and affectingnu trient cycling rates and en ergy flow. Amp hibians also areimportant food sources for avian and m amm alian p redators;because o f their small body size and ph ysiological characteris-tics they are able to exploit prey that larger animals cann ot(Pough et al 1987), thus serving as an imp ortant link in thefood chain. Amp hibian pop ulations are, however, declining,some to the point of extinction, and adversely impacting otherorganisms and forest ecosystems.

Habitat destruction and fragmentation are major causes of amphibian decline, but others include chemical pollution, acidprecipitation, increased ultraviolet radiation, exo tic species,

pathogens, harvesting by h uman s, and n atural populationfluctuations (Blaustein an d Wake 1990; Phillips 1 990; Wyman1990 ; Pechm ann et al. 1991 as cited in Blaustein e t al. 1994).Amp hibian m ortality also is attributed to hab itat fragmen tationby roads and h ighwa ys.

Barr iers t o Migrat ion and Disper sal Many am ph ibians have annu al life cycles requ iring

migration between hab itats with different ecological proper-ties, makin g the effects of barriers (like roads) pro found (Reh1990 ). Wheth er they have explosive breeding migration s orless conspicuous m ovemen ts, populations d epend on dispersalconnections and landscape linkages, often in a human-altered landscape (Gibbs 1998). Simp le linear landscap e

structures includ ing roads, levees, and ditches may act asphysical and psychological barriers for amphibian movement(Mader 1984 as cited in Gibbs 1 998) and substan tial mortalityagents (van Gelder 19 73, Cooke 1988 as cited in Gibbs 19 98).Other landscape features like streambeds may act as conduitsfor amph ibian movement. Gibbs study (1998 ) foun d thatamp hibians will attemp t to traverse open land lacking roads,particularly whe re stream beds occur. Accomm odatingamph ibians in hum an-dominated environmen ts may requirethe identification of key landscape components acting asfilters and cond uits for dispersal (Harris and Scheck 1991 ascited in Gibbs 1998).

Amph ibian populations unable to disperse because of barriers m ay experience gen etic isolation resulting in reducedheter ozygosity. In one study, pop ulations isolated by highwayshad only 0-4% variation in gene loci, suggesting highly inb redpop ulations (Reh 1990). In addition, natur al pop ulationfluctuations influenced by dro ught, rainfall, predation, andbreeding impacts combined with anthropogenic effects couldresult in local extinction m ore easily than either factor alone.

continued on next page

So Why Didnt the ToadCross the Road?

by Dana Jensen

Amphibian populations are declining, some to t he point of ext inction, and adversely impacting other

organisms and forest ecosys tems. Habitat destruction and fragmentation are major causes of amphibian decline, but ot hers include chemical pollution,

acid precipitat ion, increased ultraviolet radiation, exotic s pecies, pathogens,

harvest ing by humans, and natural populat ion fluctuat ions.


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Fragmen ting h abitat throu gh hu man intrusions like roadsmakes populations less resilient to natural population declines(Pechma n et al. 1991).

Al terat ion of Microhabi ta t s and Microclimate s

Chan ges in forest structu re an d vegetation (includinglogging and road-building) alter microh abitats and microcli-mates. Amp hibian pop ulations correlate with the followingmicroh abitat characteristics: quan tity and quality of coarsewoody de bris, litter depth and m oisture, un derstory vegetationden sity, and overstory canop y closure (Demayn adier andHunter 199 8). These structural and vegetative character isticsinfluence tem perature and moisture regimes on the forestfloor (Pough 1 987). Roads alter these ch aracteristics andresult in edge effects likely to imp act local amph ibian pop ula-tions. There is docum ented beh avioral avoidance of roadedges due to elevated mor tality associated with road crossings(van Gelder 197 3, Cooke 198 8 as cited in Gibbs 19 98). Forestedges associated with open land are m ore perm eable toamp hibian movemen t than road edges (Gibbs 1998). Main-taining som e portion o f the structur al and vegetative micro-hab itat and microclima te ele-

men ts will help minimize edgeeffects and h asten the rate atwhich logged stands are colon izedby forest interior species(Demaynadier and Hunter 1998).Road con struction in a forestenvironm ent, h owever, perm a-nen tly alters these comp onents.

Physiological Constraints

Amp hibians are less adapt-able to environmental changesbecause o f physiological con-straints. Wh ile hu man alterationcreates landtypes that are d ryand open, many amp hibianspecies depend on moist refugiato maintain close con tact withforest floor substrates. Themaintenan ce of highly permeable skin th at is cool and m oistallows for efficient respiration. In addition, sm all size and slowmovem ent result in relatively poor disper sal capabilities andsmall hom e ranges. These physiological factors causeamp hibians to be especially sensitive to the abr upt tran sitionscreated by roads impacting their microclimate and microhabi-tat (Demayn adier and Hun ter 1998 ).

Documenting Road ImpactsSeveral studies examin e the imp acts of road induced

mo rtality on amp hibians. A study in 1987 by Kuh n docu-men ted that 20-40 cars on a road per h our killed 50% of migrating comm on toad ( Bufo bufo ) ind ividuals (Reh 199 0).Another study on Bufo bufo cond ucted in Britain discussedthe imp acts of traffic on th e toads breedin g migration of up to1.5 kilom eters. This study attributed on ly 4% of mortality toroads. Although roa d casualties were not thou ght to affectsignificantly overall breeding po tential, measure s were takento protect the toads from ro ad mo rtality. Warning signs were

posted encouraging motorists to slow down, and toads werecollected in containers an d released du ring time s of heavytraffic (Gittins 19 83). A study con ducted o n h ighway relatedtoad m ortality in a state nature reser ve in th e Nether landsreported 29% mortality for females crossing an asphalt roaddurin g breedin g migration (van Gelder 19 73).

A long-term stud y of the imp acts of highway mor tality onthe largest known breeding migration of the flatwoodssalamander (Ambystom a cingulatum) took p lace over a 22-yearperiod. The study docum ented nightly migrations of 200-300adults crossing a 4.3 km stretch of paved highway in 1970-1972, but these n umb ers dwindled to less than on e individualper night in 1990-1992 . Although th is decline could be causedby both anthropogenic and natural factors, researchers wereskeptical that h ighway morta lity played a significant role.They based this assumption on documen tation of few roadkills and calculation of fewer th an 5 cars/hour (Mean s 1996 ).

The continued survival of the larch m ountain salamand er(Plethodon larselli) , a species end emic to the Columb ia Rivergorge in Washington and Oregon, is dependen t on unalteredtalus slopes. Their pop ulations are imp acted by remo vinggravel from slopes for road building and m ainten ance, as well

as clearcutting. Primary andlogging roads follow thenatural contour of the land,frequently bisecting majortalus fields. Rock s fromthese fields are crushed to asize su itable for r oadsurfaces, causing severeerosion and drastic changesin the soil proper ties of theslope. The resulting alteredslopes are inhosp itable to P.larselli. Examp les of slopemodifications by road-building are visible frommajor highways on bothsides of the Columbia River(Herrington 1985 ).

In a study in South ernAppa lachia where sala-man ders in the familyPlethodontidae make up a

large prop ortion of forest amp hibian fauna (Demayn adier andHunter 1998), the Red-backed Salamander (Plethodon cinerus)app eared mo re sensitive to clearcutting and forest edge effectsthan mo st anur an (frog or toad) species. This family of salaman ders is affected by forest canopy loss due to its almo stcomplete reliance on cutaneous respiration, a form of respira-tion limited by diffusion an d m ost efficient whe n skin is mo istand am bient tem peratu res are cool (Feder 19 83 as cited in

Demayna dier and Hun ter 1998). This ma kes them p articularlyvulnerable to population declines due to clearcutting andcanop y rem oval (Demaynad ier and Hunter 1 998, Pough et al.1987 ). The biology of this species and its sensitivity to dryconditions m akes the red backed salaman der susceptible topop ulation fluctuations (Pough e t al 1987).

Protect ion f rom Road Imp actsThese studies just begin to examine tra ffic and ro ad

induced mo rtality on amp hibians. Ideas for pro tectingamph ibians against these road th reats on a landscape level


9/16


Works Cited Blauste in, A. R. and D. B. Wake. 199 0. Declining am phibian population s: A

global phenome non? Trends in Ecology and Evolution 5:203-204.Blauste in, A. R., D. G. Hokit, R. K. OHara , and R. A. Holt. 199 4. Pathogenic

fungus contributes to amphibian losses in the Pacific Northwest. BiologicalConservation 1994.

Blauste in, A. R., D. B. Wake, an d W. P. Sousa. 199 4. Am phibian declines :Judging stability, p ersistence, and susceptibility of populations to local andglobal extinctions. Conserv ation Biology 8(1): 60-71.

Burton T. M., and G. E. Likens. 19 75. Salam and er pop ulations and biomas s inthe Hubbard Brook experimental forest, New Hampshire. Copeia 1975:541-546.

Cooke, A. S. 198 8. Morta lity of toads ( Bufo bufo ) on roads near a Cambridgeshirebree ding site. Bulletin of the British Herpertological Society 26:29-30.

Demaynadier, P. G. an d M. L. Hunte r Jr. 199 8. Effects of silvicultural edges on thedistribution and abundance of amphibians in Maine. Conservation Biology12(2):340-352.

Feder, M. E. 1983. Integrating the ecology and physiology of plethodontidsalamanders. Herpetologica 39:291-310.

Gibbs, J. P. 1998 . Am phibian moveme nts in response to forest edges, roads, andstreambeds in southern New England. Journal of Wildlife Management

62(2):1998.Gittins, P. 198 3. Road casualties solve toad m yster ies. New Scientist February

1983:530-531.Harris, L. D., and J. Scheck, 1991. From implications to applications: the

dispersa l corridor principle ap plied to the conservation of biologicaldiversity. Pages 189-220 in D. A. Saunders and R. J. Hobbs, editors. NatureConser vation 2: The Role of Corridors. Surrey Bea tty and Sons, ChippingNorton, New South Wales, Australia.

Herrington, R. E., and J. H. Larson . 1985 . Current status, habitat requiremen ts,and m anagemen t of the larch Mountain Salama nder Plethodon larselli.

Biological Conservat ion 34(1985):169-179.Larson , A., D. B. Wake, and K. P. Yanev. 198 4. Measuring gene flow amon g

populations ha ving high levels for gene tic fragme ntat ion. Genetics 106:293-308.

Made r, H. J. 1984 . Anim al habitat isolation by roads an d agricultural fields. Biological Conservat ion 29:81-96.

Mean s, D. B., J. G. Palis, and M. Baggett. 199 6. Effects of slash p ine silvicultureon a Florida population of Flatwoods Salam and er. Conserv ation Biology 199610(2).

Pechmann, J. H. K., D. E. Scott, R. D. Semlitsch, J. P. Caldwell, L. J. Vitt, and W.Gibbons. 1991. Declining am phibian populations: The problem of separating human impacts from n atural populations. Science 253:892-895.

Phillips, K. 1990 . Where have all the frogs and toads gone? Bioscience 40:422-424.

Pough, F. H., E. M. Smith, D. H. Rhodes, and A. Collazo. 198 7. The abun dan ceof salamanders in forest stands with different histories of disturbance.Forest Ecology and Management 20:1-9.

Reh, W., and A. Seitz. 1990 . The influence of land use on th e genetic structure

of populations of the common frog Rana tem poraria. Biological Conservation54:239-249.Sinsch, U. 1990 . Migration and orientation in anuran am phibians. Ethology,

Ecology and Evolution 2:65-79.Stebb ins, R. C. and N. W. Cohen. 199 5. A Natural Histor y of Amphibian s.

Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.vanGelder, J. J. 1973 . A quan titative approach to the m ortality resulting from

traffic in a population of Bufo bufo . L. Oecologia 13:93-95.Wyma n. R. L. 1990 . Whats happen ing to the amp hibians? Conservat ion Biology

4:350-352.

emp hasize habitat conn ectivity. Re-searchers suggest the conservation of meadow land as a conduit for genetictransfer and for its favorable m icrocli-mate; linking natu re reserves with mo ist,water-filled corridors such as ditches;preventing new barriers such as roads,highways, and r ailways; and providingspawning sites with summer, and winterhab itat in close p roximity (Reh 199 0).

Some man agers have implementedmitigation measures protecting am phib-ians from existing roads and barriers. InSwitzerland, road blocks were erected tostymie motorists during toad migration.In oth er locales, traffic signs warn ing of crossing amph ibians alert drivers. Someamph ibians were helped across roads asthey encoun tered barriers, and divertedinto a tunn el or a pitfall in wh ich toadswere collected and transported to theother side of the road (Van Gelder 19 73).

ConclusionWhile it is apparent that amphibian

population decline is attributable in partto an thropogenic causes, furtherresearch on th e impacts of roads, andways to mitigate the damages is needed .The preceding protective measures onlybegin to com bat road-induced am phib-ian mor tality. Preventing additionalhabitat degradation and restoring road-fragmen ted habitat can help am phibianpop ulations stabilize an d recover.


10/16


Regional Reports & Alerts

Deerlodge Backcountry ATV Free Thanks to the Montana Wilderness Association

After 11 years of foot-dragging, the Beaverhead-DeerlodgeNational Forest (western Mon tana) plans to pr oh ibit wheeledvehicles in 74,000 acres of non mo torized roadless recreationareas as designated by the 19 87 Deerlodge NF Plan. In itsdecision, the Forest Service cited resou rce dam age caused b ymo torized vehicles. The ATV, jeep , and m oto rcycle closure inso-called A4 areas is scheduled to take effect Sept. 4, 1998.

Portions of a doze n roadless areas were d esignated formo torized (A5) or n onm otorized (A4) recreation in th e ForestPlan. In A4 areas, the plan stated no m otor vehicle usewould be permitted, except for snowmobiles in someinstances. But on ly half the A4 areas w ere actually closed tomo tor vehicles. The new order will implem ent the p lansproh ibition on whe eled vehicles, however, no action h as yetbeen taken to limit snowm obiles.

The order includes ro adless countr y in the Sapphire, Lon gJohn , Flint, Highland, an d Tobacco Root m oun tains.

FWS Issues EmergencyBull Trout Ruling

By Dan Funsch

The US Fish an d Wildlife Service (FWS) in m id-Augu stresponded to an unauth orized reconstruction of a forest roadwith an em ergency ruling to list the Jarbidge River popu lationof bull trout as endan gered. The ruling, pub lished in theFederal Register o n August 11, grants th e isolated sub pop ula-tion em ergency protection un der the Endan gered Species Act(ESA) until Apr il 8th, 19 99, o r un til the FWS ru les on its earlierprop osal (Jun e 10th) to list the species as threaten ed.

Located in no rthe astern Nevada ne ar the Idaho b order, theJarbidge River an d Jarbidge Canyon Road h ave been the scen eof a showdown between Elko Coun ty officials and th e federalgovernm ent over land use managem ent and jurisdiction. Afterflooding caused a r oad failure in 1 995, th e Forest Servicebegan work on an en vironmen tal assessment to considerrecon struction or road removal. According to conser vationists,the agency was leaning towards removing the road andconstru cting a trail to access the Humbo ldt National Forest.But Elko Coun ty officials insisted on rebuilding the road.

In mid July, Elko County p assed a resolution an d beganrecon struction. They filled in som e 300 yards of the river withdebris left from the 19 95 floods, and r e-directed the entireriver flow into a straight ch ann el lacking po ols or vegetativecover. This removed all riparian vegetation, dum ped ton s of sedimen t into the river, and according to th e FWS, comp letelydestroyed all aquatic habitat in the area. The effects on th e50 or so rem aining bull trout that inha bit the Jarbidge, as wellas the effects on down stream water qu ality and aq uatic life,

are uncertain and the subject of an ongoing evaluation.Elko Coun ty stopped road wo rk in late July after receiving

cease an d desist orders from th e State of Nevada an d the ArmyCorp s of Engineers, but m any are con cerne d they will beginroad work again in the ne ar future. The emergency ruling willhelp the federal government and conservationists strengthentheir case against the road, should court action be necessary.

Its imp ortan t to n ote th e FWS first d eclined listing theJarbidge pop ulation in Jun e 1997, wh en it proposed a listingfor the Columbia an d Klama th River basin. Two Montana-based conser vation groups, Alliance for th e Wild Rockies andFriends of the Wild Swan, sued to force th e agency to recon-sider th eir decision for the Jarbidge, the Coastal/Puget Soundand the St. Mary River distinct popu lations. That lawsuit was

successful, and a fede ral court ordered the FWS to reconsider,resulting in the Jun e 1998 prop osal to list all three pop ulations.

What You Can DoWrite the US Fish an d Wildlife Service today an d su ppo rt

their em ergency ruling. Also suppo rt the agencys Jun e 10,1998 p roposal to list and p rotect the three bull trout popu la-tions men tioned above. Write to:

US Fish a nd Wildlife ServiceNevada Fish an d Wildlife Office1340 Finan cial Boulevard, Suite 23 4Reno, NV 89502

- East Fork of the Jarbidge River, looking downstream to its confluence withthe Wes t Fork. This picture is taken f rom just outs ide the JarbidgeW ilderness, looking nort h. The West Fork lies over the ridge on the left,and extends int o the headwaters of the w ilderness in a canyon sim ilar tothis one. Jim Coefield photo.

Little Sheep Creek, Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest.George Wuerthner photo.


11/16


Help StopFee-Demo Program

By Scott Silver

The Amer ican Motorcyclists Association, the Internation al Snowmob ile Indu stryAssociation an d th e Nationa l Marine Manu facturers Association represen t the fullrange of mo torized recreation al pursuits. Would it surprise you th at these com pan iesare resp onsible for the Demon stration Recreation Fee Program, which starting in1996 , author ized the collection of user-fees for all forms of pu blic lands recrea tion?

Fee-Demo , as this p rogram is called, is the creation of the Amer ican RecreationCoalition (ARC), a power ful Washington lobby dom inated by th ese an d oth ermo torized recreation interests. Their reason for prom oting user-fees is simp le: if youpay, you get to play. Motorized recreationists will gladly pay for access, especially if the alternative is being kicked off public lands by those damned environmentalextremists.

This pilot project was sche duled to end in Septem ber of 199 9. In February of 1998, ARC, working though Rep. Jim Hansen (R-UT), attempted, but failed, to grantthis pro gram p erm anen t auth orization. However, in July 1998 , ARC inser ted a riderinto the Interior Approp riations Bill and su ccessfully extended the Fee-Demoprogram for two m ore years.

In Augu st 1 998 , Rep. Mary Bon o (R-CA) and Rep. Lois Capp s (D-CA) introd uce dlegislation to immediately abolish Fee-Demo on all National Forests. This legislationwill strike a blow to mo torized recreationists who h ope to b uy access to pu blic land s.This bill will be stron gly op posed by ARC and th e en tire motor ized recreationindustry.

What You can doPlease suppor t the Bono -Capp s bill (H. 4447 ) and en courage your rep resenta-

tives to co-spon sor th is imp ortant p iece of legislation. In end ing the Fee-Dem oprogram , not only do we p reserve nature as an ame nity that we are free to enjoy, butwe protect the environm ent from th ose who view recreation u ser fees as a mecha-nism for tur ning the great outdoor s into a motorized hell. Please write:

You r Con gressm anU.S. House of RepresentativesWashington D.C. 20515

-You r SenatorU.S. SenateWash ington D.C.20510

Court Orders Plymouthto Restrict Use of ORVson Long Beach

The Town of Plymouth , Massachu -setts has been ordered by a federal court

judge to restrict ORVs on Plymouth LongBeach for th e protection of the th reat-

ened piping plover.United States District Judge Patti B.

Saris recen tly issued a p relimina ryinjunction a gainst the Town of Ply-mouth , and o rdered the Town either topro hibit ORVs on the m ajority of Plymouth Lon g Beach, or to implem entspecific mea sures d esigned to avoiddeath or injury to the p iping plover. Themea sures include e stablishing pr otectivezones around piping plover nests,mo nitoring, an d p rohibiting ORV travelin piping plover ha bitat when flightlesschicks are present.

The United States filed suit in March1998 on behalf of the U.S. Fish an dWildlife Service alleging that Plymouthspra ctice of allowing ORVs to travel onPlymouth Lon g Beach violates th eEnda ngered Species Act. Piping ploversare listed as threatened, and it isun lawful to kill or harm them . Pipingplover chicks are particularly vulnerableto b eing r un over by ORVs, and ORVscause significant degradation to thebirds habita t. As Jud ge Saris no ted, Upto 325 vehicles can be admitted at onetime. Pictur es suggest that on h otsummer days, the beach looks like ashop ping m all at Christm as, with carsparked side-by-side along the beach. In1996 a p iping plover chick was run o verby an ORV whe n Town officials delayedin authorizing a closure of the beach.

United States Attorney Donald Sternobserved that th e courts injunctionshould help en sure the piping plover ispro tected. Undo ubted ly some ORVenthusiasts will be disappointedby todays decision. We mu st keep inmind , however, that pro tecting thediverstiy of species is essential if we areto preserve the h ealthy environmen tthat we enjoy here in Massachusetts. Myoffice will continue its work to ensurethe survival of federa lly protectedspecies here in Massachu setts forfuture generations.


12/16


Introducing our New Guide: The Road-Rippers Guide toWildland Road Removal

The road inventory sheet on the facing page comes from our new gu ide, The Road-Rippe rs Guide to Wildland RoadRemoval , by Scott Bagley. It is one of 3 inventory sheets in theguide, with the ot her tw o focused on assessing agency road remov al proposals. Wh ile the inventory sheet is m ore usefu lonce youve read the guide and its explanations of t he different things you m ight encounter when inventorying a road, wethought it would give you a taste of what the guide is all about.

To order a copy of the guide, see the Order Form on page 15of this RIPorter . The following paragraphs are excerpts fromThe Road-Ripp ers Guide to Wildland Road Removal .

Using the Road Inventory FormOverall Road Information

By com pleting this section, you w ill gain a generalunderstanding of a road prior to performing a mo re in-depthfield inventory. Road type an d access will tell you wh at theroad is used for. Road h istory will reveal much abou t thepoten tial and real imp acts associated with a road. Knowingthe year of constr uction will help you de term ine, for example,whe ther o rganic mater ials were incorp orated into a roads fill(initiating failure as it decom poses). Knowing main tenan cehistory will help you determine th e peren nial problemsassociated with a road. For exam ple, there m ay be sections of a road th at have washed ou t on a regular basis, soaking uplarge amounts of maintenance mon ey. Some roads may havesurface drainage pro blems, requiring grading on a regular basisto stop rills from d evelopin g into gullies. Ask agency staff inorder to find general information abou t a road.

Determine a road s h illslope p osition e ither by lookin g at

the contour lines on atopographic map, or byestimating it in the fieldbased on your sense of thesurroundings. Refer back

to Prioritizing RoadRemoval within a Water-shed in th e guide on page19 to r eview the significanceof hillslope position indeterm ining a r oads relativehydrologic imp act.

Sites and Segments

As you p rogress along a road, assign a num ber to each siteand segment (and accompanying photo), and n ote this on theform in the appr opriate location. Label each site on a topo-graphic m ap for later referen ce. Since overall road inform ationwill be the sa me for all sites and segmen ts, it may he lp tomake your own forms with 3-4 sites or segments on each .

SitesDetermine the typ e of drainage structure, if one exists. If

necessar y, refer back to What is a Road? on pa ge 5 of theguide to review draina ge structur es. Note culvert sizes foradditional inform ation. Determine the condition of culverts,the ground around the culvert inlet, the ground below culverts,and fill mater ials by obser ving the m u p close.

SegmentsSurface shape refers to th e direction wa ter will flow from

a road s surface. Refer back to What is a Road? on page 5 of the guide to review road su rface shapes. Dont forget thatinsloped r oad segments concen trate water in an inboard ditch(allowing water to be mo re erosive than if it was dispersed).

The con dition of the ro ad sur face, road fill, inb oard d itch,and cutslope should be ob vious by observing each portion of the ro ad prism. Refer to Und erstand ing Watershe ds and SoilErosion on page 9 o f the guide to review rill and gully erosion.

Understanding Diversion Potent ia l Diversion po tential refers to the likeliho od th at backed up

water beh ind a plugged culvert will be diverted do wn th einboard ditch o r road surface, or on to the adjacent naturalslope, rather than back into the stream chan nel. You can

determine wh ether a stream crossing has diversion potentialby standing or kneeling near the stream on the uph ill side of the ro ad or on th e fillslope. Stand o r kneel so that the roadsurface is at your e ye level, then deter mine w her e backed upwater will flow if it reaches th e elevation of th e ro ad sur face. If the ro ad grade slopes to either side of the stream crossing,there is poten tial for diversion. If there is a broad dip in thesurface of th e crossing, the backed up wa ter will flow back intothe stream on th e downh ill side of the road. Hence, a streamcrossing with a dip in the road sur face has n o diversionpotential.Scott Bagley holds up a copy of the guide that he just completed, The

Road-Rippers Guide to Wildland Road Removal.

W i l d l a n d s C e n te r fo r

P r e ve n t i n g R oad s

T H E R O A D -R I P P E R

S G U I D E T O

W I L D L A N D R O A D R

E M O V A L

b y Sco t t Bag le y


13/16


Road Inventory FormOverall road informationRoad name/number

DateLocationAgencyRoad type(service, haul, spur, etc.)Access(car, 4wd, ORV, walk only)Will portions of the road n eed to bereconstructed (due to p revious failures)?Road history(year of construction, maintenan cehistory)Hillslope position(valley bottom, low/mid/high slope,ridgetop)Comments

SitesSite numberType of site(stream crossing, swale crossing, seep,ditch relief culvert)Drainage structure(culvert, log cro ssing, bridge, for d, fillonly)Culvert condition(good, plugged, inlet/outlet rusted,inlet/outlet crushed , inside rusted)Ground condition around culvert inlet(eroded, good/armored)Ground condition below culvert(gully, good/water r einfiltrates)Fill condition

(rilling, cra cking, slum ping, sagging,holes)Crossing history(now diverted, past diversion, nodiversion, washed out)Diversion potential? (Y/N)Comments

SegmentsSegment numberSurface shape(outsloped, insloped, crowned, flat)Surface condition(rilling, gullying, ponded water, holes)Fill condition(rilling, cra cking, slum ping, sagging,holes)Cutslope condition(rilling, slump ing)Inboard ditch condition(good, con verted to gully, blocked bydebris)Does inboard ditch discharge directly intoa stream ? (Y/N)Comments


14/16


Ask Dr. Roads

New Resources for Road-Rippers

Join Wildlands CPR Today!Mem bersh ip benefits both you an d Wildland s CPR. You lend

your support to our efforts, giving us more leverage in submit-ting comm ents, filing lawsuits, and crea ting pressure to preven tand close roads on p ublic lands. In addition, your finan cial sup-port h elps us continue p roviding information and resources toactivists thro ughou t North Ame rica.

As a Wildlands CPR member, you'll have better access tothese resources, beca use you ll receive:

f Our bimonthly newsletter, The Road-RIPorter .f 10 free bibliography se arch es per year.f National support for your camp aign through ou r n ewsletter

and alerts.f Access to activist tools an d pu blic education ma terials.f Con nection s with groups working on similar issues, and n et-

works with expe rienced road-fighting activists, lawyers an d

scientists.f Discoun ts on Wildlands CPR publications.

Car Busters Magazine now available

Reader s of The Road RIPorter might want to kno w: Theres anew intern ational magazine called Car Busters being published inFrance. For a world without cars, reads the cover slogan, and

without cars, who n eeds roads? Published in partnership withEurope an Youth for Action, this spun ky quarter ly has as its goals:to maintain and bu ild the international car-free movement,pub licize cam paigns, facilitate intern ational coop eration, inspirene w activists.

Though it looks mo stly at urban tran sport issues, its so packedwith information that m ost road-rippers should find items of interest in its pages. The first issue included repor ts about roadsubsidies in Poland, proliferation of roads in Hungary, and h ighwayconstru ction in Japan . Other articles included : Closing RoadsRedu ces Traffic, Car-Free Zon es are Good for Busin ess, andGlobal Critical Mass Against Clim ate Chan ge. The m agazine is agood source of tools and con nections for activists, and is nicelyspiced with cartoons.

A years subscription costs 24 Ecos which translates to US$17.50. You can get a sample copy for a small don ation. CarBusters also welcomes sub mission of articles, artwork, letters, ordistribution suggestions. Contact:

CAR BUSTERS Magazine & Resou rce Cent re44 ru e Burde au, 690 01 Lyon, Francetel.: + (33) 4 72 00 23 57fax: + (33) 4 78 28 57 [email protected]

Dear Dr. Roads,Whats all this Bull about trou t anyway? When I

drive my 4 X 4 across a stream up here in th e

Northern Rockies, my front grille gets full of em, itdon t m atter if theyre listed, de-listed, en listed, orwha tever. I just pull outa that stream, park mymu ddied rig on th e othe r side, yank th ose Bulls frommy grille, and co ok em u p on my en gine right the nand the re. Dang theyre good.

So whats my p roblem? Well som e of my fav-o-rite roads to four w heel on ar e being dug up, takenout, and bein turned back into plants or whatever(you kn ow what I mean , they just aint thereanym ore)and Im gettin hu ngry!

Big Rick Reat ion, Drivet hru, Montana

Dear Rick ,Well now, that is a problem. The gall of those

guys to m ake you, an ho nest-to-God U.S. taxpayer,get out of those trouts hom e. That is Bull! Wh atwith only 440,000 m iles of roads on our NationalForests, wheres a guy got to go to get a decen tdinn er? Tell you wh at though. I kno w a way you candrive to your little hear ts conten t on ou r nation alroads, and get dinn er too! Did you know th at everyroad they rem ove (if they do it right, that is) imp rovesthe stream s so therell be mo re fish? If you reallywant 4 x4 fried fish, pull out yer fishin rod and walk a few steps. If its roa d kill yer after, how bou t this

Take any Interstateshoo t, just dr ive an y dar nedpaved road for that matterand peel those blood-shot eyes towards the side of the road, an d by gollyyoure gonna come up with fresh squirrel, rabbit,

maybe even a deerall deader than a doornail,smash ed by th e likes of your (and my) rig. You m ighteven have some surp rises and come across an URP(unide ntified road pizza). Mama Mia! Save you rself som e time (and save that grille on you r 4 X 4 toofrom th ose slimy fish), and p ull that belly up to someRoad Kill tonigh t!

Dr. O. Blit Roads

Send questions to: Ask Dr. Roads, c/o Wildlands CPRPO Box 7516, Missoula, MT 59807 or [email protected]


15/16


Wildlands CPR Publications: Road-Ripper's Handbook ($15.00, $25 non-members) A

comp rehen sive activist m anual that includes th e five Guideslisted below, plus The Ecological Effects of Roads , Gather-ing Informat ion wit h the Freed om of Informat ion Act , andmore!

Road-Ripper's Guide to t he National Fores ts ($4, $7 non-mem-

bers) By Keith Hamm er. How-to pro cedu res for gettin groads closed and revegetated, descriptions of environ men -tal laws, road de nsity stan dards & Forest Service road poli-cies.

Road-Ripper 's Guide to the National Parks ($4, $7 non-members) By David Bah r & Aron Yarm o. Provides back groun don th e National Park System an d its use of roads, and o ut-lines ho w activists can get involved in NPS plann ing.

Road-Ripper's Guide to the BLM ($4, $7 non-members) ByDan Stotter. Provides an overview of road-related lan d an dresource laws, and det ailed discussion s for participating inBLM decision-making processes.

Road-Ripper's Guide to Off-Road Vehicles ($4, $7 non-members) By Dan Wright. A com preh ensive guide to redu c-ing the use an d abuse o f ORVs on p ublic land s. Includes anextensive bibliography.

Road-Ripper s Guide to Wildland Road Removal ($4 , $7 non- members) By Scott Bagley. Provides tech nical inform a-tion on road construction and removal, where and whyroads fail, and how yo u can effectively assess road rem ovalprojects.

Trails of Destr uction ($10) By Friends of the Earth an d Wild-land s CPR, written by Erich Pica and Jacob Smith . Thisrepo rt explains th e ecological imp acts of ORVs, federal fun d-ing for motorized recreation on p ublic land s, and the ORVindustrys role in pu shing th e ORV agenda.

WILDLA N D S CPR MEM BERSH I P/ORD ER FORM

Please send this form and your check (payable to Wildlands CPR)to the address below. Thank you!

Wildlands CPR PO Box 7516 Missoula, Montana 59807

Prices include shipping: for Priority Mail add $3.00 per item;for Canadian orders, add $6.00 per item.

Ask about reduced rates for items ordered in bulk.

Please send me the following publications/resources:

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Bibliographic Services: Ecological Impacts of Roads: A Bibliographic Database (Up-

date d Feb. 1998 ) Edited by Reed Noss. Com piled b y DaveAugeri, Mike Eley, Steve Hum ph rey, Reed Noss, Paul Pacq uet& Susan Pierce. Contains ap prox. 6,000 citation s includ-ing scientific literature o n erosion, fragmentation, sedim en-tation, po llution, effects on wildlife, aquatic an d h ydrologi-

cal effects, and other information on the impacts of roads.Use the ecological literature to un derstand an d develop roaddensity standards, priorities for road removal, and otherroad issues.

Database Searches We will search th e Bibliograph y on thesubjects that interest you, and provide results in IBM orMacintosh form at (specify software), or on pap er. We alsohave prep ared a 1-disk Bibliographic Summ ary with resu ltsfor comm only requested searches. Finally, we offer the fullbibliography. However, you mu st ha ve Pro-Cite or a com -patible database pro gram in order to use it.

Bibliography prices Sliding scale (all prices include ship-ping):1) Non -profits with budgets u nde r $100,000 /yr.

2) Non -profits with bud gets $100,000-$500,00 0/yr.3) Non -profits with b udgets over $500 ,000//Universities4) Government Agencies5) For-pro fits and other sFull Bibliograp hy: $45 (1) / $100 (2) / $20 0 (3) / $30 0 (4) / $1000 (5)Summary (one disk): $7 (1) / $10 (2) / $15 (3) / $25 (4) / $35 (5)Search es (add material costs of 15 cents/page, $3 m inimum ,and/or $3 p er disk):$3 (1) / $5 (2) / $10 (3) / $15 (4) / $25 (5) (The first 10 sear ches/ year are free for mem bers. )


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Visions...

Non-profit OrganizationUS POSTAGE

PAIDMISSOULA, MT 59801

PERMIT NO. 569

The Road-RIPorter is printed on 100% post-consumer recycled, non-chlorine bleached paper.

Wildlands C enter for P reventing R oadsP.O. Box 7516Missoula, MT 59807

The only t hings in the m iddle of the road are dead ar madil los and yel low s tr ipes . Jim Hightower

O r e g o n

N a t u r a

l D e s e r t

A s s o c i a t

i o n p h o

t o .

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