Road RIPorter 9.3

8/14/2019 Road RIPorter 9.3

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Autumn Equinox 2004. Volume 9 # 3

Special 10th Anniversary Issue

Celebrating 10 Years ofReviving Wild Places

Promoting road removal with sound

science & economics

Fighting ORV abuse, resource

damage and habitat fragmentation

on public lands

Restored roadbed in the Clearwater National Forest. Photo by Edgar vanderGrift.

Photo courtesy of Bureau of Land Management.

Photo by Mark Alan Wilson.


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The Road-RIPorter, Autumn Equinox 20042

By Karen DiBari, Wildlands CPR Board President

2004 Wildlands CPR

Wildlands CPR works to protect and restorewildland ecosystems by preventing andremoving roads and limiting motorized

recreation. We are a national clearinghouseand network, providing citizens with toolsand strategies to fight road construction,

deter motorized recreation, and promote roadremoval and revegetation.

P.O. Box 7516Missoula, MT 59807

(406) 543-9551

[email protected]

DirectorBethanie Walder

Development DirectorTom Petersen

Restoration ProgramCoordinator

Marnie Criley

Science CoordinatorAdam Switalski

Transportation PolicyOrganizer

Jason Kiely

Program Assistant

Kiffin Hope

NewsletterDan Funsch

Interns & VolunteersBecky Cass, Hank Green, Jeff Reoch, CorinneMullowney, Kaytee Smith, Chelsea Wittmann

Board of DirectorsAmy Atwood, Karen DiBari, Greg Fishbein,

Bill Geer, Dave Havlick, Sonya Newenhouse,Mary OBrien, Matt Skroch

Advisory CommitteeJasper Carlton, Dave Foreman,

Keith Hammer, Timothy Hermach,Marion Hourdequin, Kraig Klungness, Lorin Lind-ner, Andy Mahler, Robert McConnell, Stephanie

Mills, Reed Noss, Michael Soul, Steve Trombulak,Louisa Willcox, Bill Willers, Howie Wolke

Ten years ago, a handful of people began a conversation. Who knew it would lead tothe founding of an organization and the rise of a national discussion regarding thedamage to public lands caused by roads and all terrain vehicles?

In this special edition of The Road RIPorter, we honor the 10th anniversary of Wild-lands CPR by reflecting on our origins, celebrating our accomplishments, and assessinghow our efforts have elevated concern regarding the proliferation of roads and motorizedrecreation.

Throughout this anniversary issue, you will find a timeline describing the work ofWildlands CPR and fellow activists. Its exciting to recount the many successes over theyears to remove roads, limit the use of ATVs, craft local and state policies, and force fed-eral agencies to pay attention to the damage caused by motorized vehicles and roads.

Katie Alvords essay, Tapestry describes the origin of ROAD-RIP (our first name)from its conception in a beat-up Subaru station wagon, to an organization run out of a

box of files in her house, to the strong staff, board, and network of supporters that existtoday. In The Evolution of Road Science, we learn of the dramatic increase in researchconcerning the impacts of roads and the effectiveness of road mitigation measures, andthe need for further study regarding the ecological impacts of road removal.

The article Wildlands CPR and the Natural Trails and Waters Coalition tracks thecollaborative efforts of Wildlands CPR with other organizations and activists across thecountry to expose the damage ATVs wreak on public lands. And in ReWilding, ReVision-ing, Bethanie Walder reflects on our vision for Wildlands CPRs future contributions.

Several themes emerge from these articles that speak to why I am honored to beinvolved with Wildlands CPR. First, Wildlands CPR is an organization that does notwaste time waiting for things to get better. We can be proud of our role as an agent ofchange. Second, Wildlands CPRs work is grounded in sound science. Third, WildlandsCPR believes in, respects, and is committed to the power of local and regional grassrootsactivism. Fourth, Wildlands CPR is working to build on shared values and broaden the

circle of people who speak out about the damage done by roads and ATVs. Finally, thepeople involved with Wildlands CPR today are just as energized and committed as theorganizations founders.

Although we have accomplished a lot, we still have much to do. We know that ifwe all keep working mile by mile and motor by motor to knit our lands and waters backtogether, our successes will continue to multiply.

What can Wildlands CPR make happen in the next ten, twenty, or thirty years? Welook forward to the day when we will have fulfilled our vision of restoring the tapestry ofinterconnected, roadless wildlands that sustain natural and human communities.

Its a vision to hold on to.

Wildlands CPR

Board and Staff

Back row (l-r): William Geer, SonyaNewenhouse, Kiffin Hope, MaryOBrien, Bethanie Walder, Jason

Kiely, Adam Switalski

Front row (l-r): Tommy Petersen,Karen DiBari, Greg Fishbein, DaveHavlick, Matt Skroch, Marnie Criley,Amy Atwood.

Photo courtesy Sonya Newenhouse.


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The Road-RIPorter, Autumn Equinox 2004 3

ReWilding, ReVisioningBy Bethanie Walder

April, 2001, Browns Canyon, Arizona. Our annual board and staffretreat began with a lively discussion centered on the question:How will we know when Wildlands CPRs work is done? Very

few conservation groups actually talk about finishing their work,although there are some notable exceptions (like The Wolf Fund, whichworked for wolf reintroduction in Yellowstone, and closed once thatgoal was achieved). Our discussion was valuable, and our responsesincluded things like:

when theres a general societal aversion to ORVs in wildlands (thatis, when society has taken over our work)

when we have just the transportation system that we need - orthat we can tolerate - on public lands

when motorized vehicles are used as a form of transportation, nota form of recreation

Though our mission is extremely focused, it doesnt always trans-late easily into tangible targets for success. In that conversation, wedidnt quantify our end goal as a number of acres restored or miles ofroads removed we focused on the processes and societal changesthat would make our work unnecessary. In the meantime, however,we clearly have an extraordinary amount of work to do. Our strategicplan, developed last year, is helping us work toward these changes changes that, when accomplished, would signal that weve com-pleted our mission.

Our mission to revive and protect wild places by promoting road

removal, preventing new road construction and limiting motorized rec-

Historical Timeline of off-road vehicleand road development

312 BCThe Roman Empire constructs the

Appian Way, the oldest and mostimportant of the Roman Republicshighways. When completed theroad was more than 560 km (350

miles) long.

continued on next page

1811Construction of the CumberlandRoad begins the first federal

highway in the United States, con-necting Cumberland, Maryland to

Vandalia, Illinois.

1916Federal Highway Act passes congress,providing $10 million in funding for

road development on National Forestsover the next ten years. (FS has 2,795

miles of roads at this point in time).

1919Post Office Appropria-

tions Act appropriates $9million for development

of forest roads.

Government vehicle, 1940. Photo courtesy of Bureau of LandManagement.


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reation has become more and more relevant. Over the last ten years,weve been excited to see how many large and small groups have in-corporated our issues into their work. I remember when Defenders ofWildlife called us for advice on developing a roads program. The result,their Habitat and Highways program, has focused significant attentionon developing more wildlife-friendly transportation systems.

Similarly, we worked with Friends of the Earth (FOE) to challengeForest Service road funding in the mid-90s. Their efforts becameinstrumental in the eventual development of the roadless rule andthe long-term transportation policy. The Heritage Forests Campaigntook the lead on roadless area protection, and we were involved at thebeginning of that campaign. After the road funding battles, we teamedup with FOE again, to challenge recreational trail funding; together weco-sponsored a national meeting to address the explosion in off-roadvehicle recreation. As a direct outcome, we partnered with The Wilder-ness Society (TWS) to develop a comprehensive rule-making petitionto overhaul Forest Service regulation of off-road vehicles. And that ledus, along with TWS, Friends of the Earth, and four other groups, to cre-ate the Natural Trails and Waters Coalition, which Wildlands CPR andTWS continue to co-chair, and which focuses exclusively on advancingour off-road vehicle goals nationally.

Our work is not, however, focused solely on making connectionswith national conservation organizations weve helped individualgroups and regional coalitions address road and motorized recre-

ation issues as well. For example, we were part of the core group thatstarted the Southern Rockies Forest Network (now Southern RockiesConservation Alliance). SRCA has three main programs, one of whichfocuses on off-road vehicle issues and promoting Responsible Motor-ized Recreation. In 1996, we worked with the Mountain Heritage Alli-ance in Virginia to stop the expansion of a highway through Mt. RogersNational Recreation Area. In 2002 we co-hosted a workshop with theSouthern Appalachian Biodiversity Project and they have been able touse that information to prevent reconstruction of the Hickey Fork road.And just this summer weve been helping activists in Utah develop astatewide coalition to increase off-road vehicle monitoring and datacollection to challenge the rampant off-road vehicle problems there.

The exciting thing about our resources is that so many groups usethem, whether they inform us or not. Weve worked with more than

two hundred and fifty grassroots organizations throughout the countryto assist them in their road and off-road vehicle fights, and our workhas made a real difference on the ground, as shown by many of the sto-ries in this newsletter. One of our favorite things is finding out aboutsuccesses based on our models and handbooks, like when a grassrootsactivist in rural Oregon wrote to tell us that he had gotten 84 miles ofnational forest roads closed using our materials he went on to callthe Road-Rippers Handbook his bible. And we still get calls frompeople who are using our handbooks, guides and inventory tools to getroads closed and removed all over the United States.

In the midst of our tenth anniversary, wevefound it valuable to look back like this at whatweve accomplished and how weve helped changethe playing field. Its been equally valuable to look

forward and thoughtfully consider our goals forthe future though we have accomplished manythings, were still quite far from finishing our work.

How to get the public actively engaged in theseissues remains a daunting challenge. For example,while polling shows that a majority disapproves ofoff-road vehicles in wildlands, that majority remainslargely unengaged in public lands management.Similarly, off-road vehicle recreation continues togrow, whereas we believe that such vehicles shouldbe used as a mode of transportation, not recreation.In other words, if you want to drive any vehicle onpublic land, you should be on a road, and if youwant to get off the road, you should get off (or out

of) your vehicle.Four years ago, when we petitioned the Forest

Service to overhaul their off-road vehicle regulationsnationally, one of our key points was that off-roadvehicles should be kept on designated routes only,with no cross-country travel allowed. We won thatbattle and changed the debate off-road vehicleusers themselves now publicly state that use shouldbe restricted to designated routes. The devil is inthe details, however, and theyre winning on the

Wildlands CPR has exceeded all my expectations and hasbecome the central authority on roads and road removal. Itsnewsletter is one of the few I read cover to cover and then

keep on hand as a key part of my reference library. When you

want to know the state of the art, Wildlands CPR is the placeto start.

Keith Hammer, Swan View Coalition(co-founder Wildlands CPR)

1921Congress appropriates $15

million for forest developmentroads and forest highways on

the national forests.

1923Arthur Carhart and Aldo

Leopold define the concept ofwilderness as areas in naturefree from the impacts of roads

and motors.

1927

Congress appropriates $51million for road development inthe national parks over the next

ten years.

1933-1942Civilian Conservation Corpsconstructs 126,000 miles of

roads and truck trails on publiclands.


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details at the moment, so weveredefined our goals on this policypoint. As one step, weve justdefined ten types of places whereoff-road vehicles should never beallowed.

Off-road vehicles arent theonly issue with a disconnect be-tween public opinion and manage-ment action. The vast majority ofthe public, even in western stateswith huge tracts of public land,supports protecting roadless areasfrom road construction, logging andoff-road vehicle recreation. None-theless, as the political winds shift,so does protection for such areas.The Clinton Administration triedto protect roadless areas, whilethe Bush Administration is exploiting them. When Wildlands CPR wasformed ten years ago, practically no one was talking nationally aboutthe ecological effects of roads. Now, its nearly a given: roads causeecological problems, they are costly, and we have too many of them.How many wildland roads well end up with in the long run remains the

key question, and one that wont be resolved until the public becomesengaged and demands that land management agencies begin removing,rather than building, roads.

Our recent work has focused on this key question of removingroads as a critical component of wildland restoration. We began withthe idea that combining conservation biology, activism and law wouldenable us, and the groups we work with, to achieve our goals wevelearned that we must add social science to that equation. In the pasttwo years weve added numerous economic and socio-political tools toour toolbox, tools that are critical to achieving the processes and soci-etal changes that might eventually enable us to finish our work. Our2004 model road removal program provides information for public landmanagers to create successful road removal programs (from a socialperspective). It is a critical companion to our 1999 ecologically-based

road removal guide.Wildlands CPR will continue as a leader on road and motorized

recreation issues. Our work to protect and restore wild places in-cludes scientific research and publications, workshops and communityoutreach, on-the-ground projects, and other innovative strategies. Aswe connect science and policy to their social, ecological, and econom-ic contexts, we will expand our reach and develop new constituencies.

As an organization, when we look to the future we envisionwildlands that sustain natural and human communities, where nativeplants and animals thrive, clean air and water abound, and natures

quiet prevails. Roads will be limited and, where theyexist, thoughtfully designed and maintained. Motor-ized vehicles will travel only on these roads. We willwork cooperatively with diverse communities toprotect and restore our remaining wild places, fos-

tering a growing citizenry that supports this vision.Our focus in the future will also continue to pro-

mote success. Where are citizens most successful?How have they developed their programs? Whatlessons do their successes provide for others? Andfinally, although we will maintain our nationally andinternationally acclaimed clearinghouse, we are alsoexpanding our efforts to reach broader segmentsof the public the very people we must reach tochange societal expectations so that motorizeduse is focused on transportation, not recreation.Consider attitudes towards cigarettes and second-hand smoke. As recently as 15 to 20 years ago, itwas acceptable to smoke nearly anywhere, but now

smoking indoors and in public places is considerednot only inappropriate, but unacceptable. This is amodel that were trying to emulate, though it maytake more than ten years to accomplish.

Wouldnt it be fantastic if, ten years from now,we could say the same thing about recreational off-road vehicles abuse of our public lands. Wouldnt itbe fantastic if ten years from now (okay, perhaps alittle longer than that), Wildlands CPR was no longerneeded to promote road removal because it was justso darn common.

1939Forest Service road

mileage reaches140,000 miles.

1939Jeeps inventedfor use in World

War II.

1946First civilian jeeps

sold in U.S.

1957FS building nearly 2,800miles of new roads peryear to access timber.

1959Honda opens first mo-torcycle shop in U.S.


1960Yamaha begins selling

motorcycles in U.S.


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The Evolution of Road ScienceBy Adam Switalski and Reed Noss

IntroductionWhen Wildlands CPR was formed in 1994, the scientific

basis linking roads and biodiversity was still rudimentary,although field biologists and conservationists had long beenaware of road-related problems such as roadkill, landslides,and pollution. As early as the 1920s, scientists kept track ofroadkill rates across the United States, Canada, and Scandi-navia, where collisions with large mammals often resulted inhuman injury or fatalities. Beyond simply counting roadkill,however, little research attention was directed at roads un-til recently. This article reviews how research on roads has

moved to the forefront of conservation study.

Road ResearchDuring the late 1980s and early 1990s, published research

articles began to address roads. Noss (1990) was the first toreview the literature on the ecological impacts of roads, how-ever, his article was unreferenced, and published in a journalread by few scientists. He found that aside from the directproblem of animals being struck by vehicles, roads provideaccess to poachers, contribute sediments and chemicals towater bodies, serve as barriers to animal movements, facili-tate invasions of exotic species and pests, create noise, air,water, and soil pollution, and degrade scenic and wildernessqualities of landscapes.

Over the last 10 years, scientists have increasingly rec-ognized the threats roads pose to wildlife and the integrityof ecosystems. In their 1994 book, Saving Natures Legacy,Reed Noss and Allen Cooperrider briefly reviewed some ofthe existing research on roads, this time in a more accessiblepublication, while supplying references to the peer-reviewedliterature. Then, in 1995 Wildlands CPR asked Reed Noss toassemble a bibliography of literature on the ecological effectsof roads. Noss began with existing bibliographies: one hecompiled in 1987-88 and updated sporadically through 1990;an annotated database on highway modifications for wildlifecompiled by Steve Humphrey at the University of Florida; and

several journal-specific annotated bibliographies compiledby Paul Paquet of the University of Calgary. Together, thesedatabases formed the first comprehensive collection of roadliterature.

As the number of peer-reviewed journal articles relatedto road impacts increased in the 1990s, symposia and entire

conferences were dedicated to road research. Two consecu-tive conferences in Florida were the first to address theimpact of roads on wildlife exclusively. In 1996 Trends inAddressing Transportation Related Wildlife Mortality tookplace in Tallahassee; two years later the first InternationalConference on Ecology and Transportation (ICOET) was heldin Ft. Myers. ICOET continues every two years and is de-signed to address the broad range of ecological issues relatedto surface transportation development, providing the mostcurrent research information and best practices in the areasof wildlife, fisheries, wetlands, water quality, overall ecosys-tems management, and related policy issues.

Photo by Mark Alan Wilson.

1963Suzuki begins

selling motorcyclesin U.S.

1964The Wilderness Act

becomes law.

1968Yamaha introduces firstofficial dual-sport mo-torcycle designed for use

both on and off road.

1972Forest Service conducts first RoadlessArea Review and Evaluation (RARE)analysis to determine potential wilder-ness lands. The ensuing controversyeventually results in a new analysis.1961

Public land managersraise alarm about motor-ized scooters being used

in the backcountry.


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The Nez Perce Tribes growing watershed restoration programshave greatly benefited from the continued support and interestof Wildlands CPR. We consider ourselves lucky to have such a

capable organizat ion as a resource and a neighbor. Thank you! Rebecca Lloyd

Hydrologist, Nez Perce Tribe DFRM-Watershed

Additional reviews in the late 1990s revealed the scope ofroad effects across the United States. Forman and Alexander(1998) reviewed the impacts of roads and found that basedon road-effect zones, an estimated 15-20% of the United Statesis ecologically impacted by roads. Riiters and Wichham(2003) similarly reported that over 20% of the U.S. was within127 meters of a road and that over 80% of the U.S. was withina kilometer of a road.

By the turn of the century, researchers for the U.S. For-est Service (who manages almost a half-million mile roadsystem) were acknowledging the impacts of roads. Gucinskiet al. (2001) was the first formal Forest Service review of theimpacts of forest roads. The Forest Service has started clos-ing and removing roads. Additionally, the U.S. Department ofTransportation has reviewed the impacts of their roads andhas begun to mitigate their sprawling highway system forwildlife and human safety (e.g. USDOT 2000, USDOT 2004).

Mitigation ScienceAs it has become more apparent that roads are having

a biologically significant effect on wildlife in many areas,research on wildlife crossings and other road mitigation hasmushroomed. Europeans have built crossing structures

for decades to mitigate the barrier effects of roads on smallmammals and amphibians. They have successfully used un-derpasses to channel small mammals and amphibians underroads (e.g., Langton 1989, Friedman 1997). Europeans havealso built dozens of wildlife overpasses and have studied theeffectiveness of different mitigation techniques for more thana decade (e.g. Van Wieren and Worm 2001).

In the 1970s North America saw its first wildlife cross-ing structures built. In Colorado and other western states,migrating mule deer suffer considerable mortality trying tocross highways; collisions between deer and vehicles alsoinjure motorists. In 1970, the Colorado Division of Highwaysconstructed a 10-by-10-foot concrete tunnel under Interstate70 west of Vail for use by mule deer, and used fences to fun-nel deer to the underpass. A study by the Colorado Divisionof Wildlife confirmed that hundreds of migrating mule deerused the tunnel but also suggested that larger and more openunderpasses would be more appealing and result in greaterrates of deer movement (Reed et al. 1975).

In southwestern Utah, a narrow bridge (8 meters wide)enhanced deer movement along a ridge. In northern New Jer-sey, two wider overpasses (30 meters wide) were constructedfor horseback riders and deer after a multilane highway cut apark in two (Kuennen 1989). In Banff National Park, Alberta,several overpasses have recently been built, some of whichare more than 50 meters wide. Researchers have found thatlarge and rare carnivores, as well as a number of ungulates,

are using the overpasses (e.g. Clevenger and Waltho 2000,2004; Gloyne and Clevenger 2001). In Florida a wildlife over-pass built in 2000 allows deer, foxes, coyotes, opossums, and

other animals to cross over I-75. Unfortunately, this overpassis too narrow to accommodate larger, more sensitive speciessuch as black bear or panther (R. Noss, pers. obs.).

As our highways become wider and carry more traf-fic, and as our wildlands decrease in size and become moreisolated, wildlife overpasses will increase in importance. Forexample, a proposed wildlife overpass will allow grizzly bearsto safely cross Highway 93 (MT) into important habitat. Theexpansion of grizzly bear range in the U.S. Northern Rock-ies into the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness is essential for thecontinued viability of this population over time (Boyce et al.2002).

Road Removal Science

In 2002, Wildlands CPR funded a special section on roadsin the journal Conservation Biology. In addition to publishingsome of the most recent research on roads, this section in-cluded one of the first refereed review articles to recommendroad prevention and removal. Trombulak and Frissell (2000)concluded that their review underscores the importance toconservation of avoiding construction of new roads in road-less or sparsely roaded areas and of removal or restorationof existing roads to benefit both terrestrial and aquatic biota.


1972President Nixon signs

Executive Order 11644,regulating the use of off-road vehicles on public

lands.



1978Congress signs legislation adding

significant lands to Redwood NationalPark and mandating their restoration.Appropriates $33 million for restora-tion, much of which eventually goes to

road removal work.

1979President Carter signs

Executive Order 11989,strengthening Nixons off-road vehicle regulations.

1979Forest Service conductssecond Roadless AreaReview and Evaluation

(RARE II) analysis.


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Wildlands CPR first came to my attention when as Forest Supervi-sor of the Lewis and Clark National Forest, I realized that thesefolks had much better monitoring data on road closures than wedid. Since then, theyve assumed a leadership role in helping

citizens and forest managers understand and implement effectiveroad decommissioning and monitoring of off-road vehicle impacts.Their latest publication, Investing in Communities, Investing in theLand, is an exciting testament to the achievability of sustainable

economies and ecosystems in the rural west. Thank you WildlandsCPR, just in time to resuscitate our beloved lands!

Gloria FloraExecutive Director, Sustainable Obtainable Solutions

Millions of dollars are being spent to removeroads across North America or to mitigate theirnegative impacts, yet the science of road removal,wildlife crossings, and other mitigation has not keptpace. The limited research on the benefits of roadremoval to date demonstrates the effectiveness ofremoval for restoring hydrologic and geomorphicconditions. Switalski et al. (2004) reviewed theliterature and found decreases in chronic sedimentloss and reduced risk of road-triggered landslidesafter road obliteration. Similarly, monitoring of wild-life crossing structures has shown benefits in termsof successful wildlife passage (e.g., Clevenger andWaltho 2004), yet few studies have been continuedfor sufficient time to demonstrate long-term impactson wildlife along stretches of road with and withoutcrossing structures.

No published study has yet examined how roadremoval impacts fish and wildlife; a University ofMontana study will be the first. A new researchproject on the Flathead National Forest (MT) is as-

sessing the benefits and impacts of different types ofroad removal on the threatened bull trout. Also, thefirst study to examine whether terrestrial wildlifeare responding to road removal is taking place onthe Clearwater National Forest in ID. Wildlands CPRis a key funder for both of these projects.

Roads in the Context of Conservation PlanningIncreasingly, road impacts are considered within the broader con-

text of regional conservation planning. For instance, roadless areas andlandscapes with low road densities are recognized in habitat suitabilitymodels and population viability analyses as key refugia or source areasfor species, such as large carnivores, sensitive to human access and as-

sociated legal or illegal killing. In addition, regional conservation plan-ning allows the identification of key areas to implement road closuresand wildlife crossing structures, for example in proposed linkagesbetween core areas (e.g., Noss et al. 2002).

ConclusionRoad science has come a long way over the last couple of decades.

While once only addressed by a few conservationists and wildlife bi-ologists, road research now is the topic of hundreds of papers, severalreviews, large conferences, and an entire text book (Road Ecology, For-man et al. 2003). The problems caused by roads have been well docu-mented, yet more research is needed on how to reverse the impacts ofroads through mitigation and road removal. Additionally, roads needto be addressed in a broader context to restore habitat quality and

connectivity across North America and beyond.

Adam Switalski is the Science Coordinator for Wildlands CPR.Reed Noss is the Davis-Shine Professor of Conservation Biology atthe University of Central Florida and a contributor to Wildlands CPRsdatabase. Wildlands CPR continues to promote road science and is

guiding road removal research on several national forests. Wildlands CPRalso maintains a bibliographic database with more than 10,000 citationsdocumenting the physical and ecological effects of roads and off-roadvehicles.

A University of Montana study currently under progress will be the firstto assess the benefits of different types of road removal on bull trout.Wildlands CPR file photo.

1984Yamaha produces itsfirst four-wheeled ATV

for sale in U.S.



1988U.S. Consumer Product

Safety Commission bars theproduction and sale of three-wheeled ATVs in the U.S.

1990Forest Service rescinds the 40-inch rule, effectively allowing

off-road vehicles on traditionalfoot and horse trails.1983

Suzuki produces its firstfour-wheeled ATV for

sale in U.S.


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1992Congress passes the Symms Act as partof the national highway bill, providing

potential appropriations from the FederalHighways Administration for motorizedand non-motorized trail development onpublic lands. The funding is split 30% tomotorized trails, 30% to non-motorized

trails and 40% to multiple use trails.

1994Wildlands CPR (then ROAD-RIP) foundedduring the Road-Fighting Strategy Session,

Healdsburg, California.



Literature Cited

Boyce, M.S., E.M. Kirsch, and C. Servheen. 2002. Bet-hedging applications for conservation. Bioscience 27(supplemental 2): 385-392.

Clevenger, A.P., N. Waltho. 2000. Factors influencing theeffectiveness of wildlife underpasses in Banff NationalPark, Alberta, Canada. Conservation Biology14(1): 47-56.

Clevenger, A.P., and N. Waltho. 2004. Performance indicesto identify attributes of highway crossing structuresfacilitating movement of large mammals.BiologicalConservation (in press).

Forman, R. T. T., and L. Alexander. 1998. Roads and theirmajor ecological effects. Annual Review of Ecology and

Systematics 29:207-231.Forman, R.T.T., D. Sperling, J.A. Bissonette, A.P. Clevenger,

C.D. Cutshall, V.H. Dale, L. Fahrig, R. France, C.R.

Goldman, K. Heanue, J.A. Jones, F.J. Swanson, T.Turrentine, T.C. Winter. 2003. Road Ecology Scienceand Solutions. Washington D.C.: Island Press.

Friedman, D.S. 1997. Nature as infrastructure: The NationalEcological Network and Wildlife-Crossing Structuresin The Netherlands. Report 138. Wageningen,Netherlands: DLO Winand Staring Centre.

Gloyne, C.C., A.P. Clevenger. 2001. Cougar (Puma concolor)use of wildlife crossing structures on the Trans-Canadahighway in Banff National Park, Alberta. Wildlife Biology7(2): 117-124.

Gucinski, H., M.J. Furniss, R.R. Ziemer, and M.H. Brookes.2001. Forest roads: a synthesis of scientific information.General Technical Report PNW-GTR-509. Portland, OR:

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, PacificNorthwest Research Station. 103p. Available online at:http://www.fs.fed.us/eng/road_mgt/science.pdf

Kuennen, T. 1989. New Jerseys I-78 preserves mountainhabitat. Roads and Bridges (February 1989): 69-73.

Langton, T.E.S., ed. 1989. Amphibians and Roads. Shefford,Bedfordshire, England: ACO Polymer products.

Noss, R.F. 1990. The ecological effects of roads. Road-Rippers Handbook, ROAD-RIP, Missoula, MT.

Noss, R.F., and A. Cooperrider. 1994. Saving Natures Legacy-Protecting and Restoring Biodiversity. Washington D.C.:Island Press. 443 p.

Noss, R.F., C. Carroll, K. Vance-Borland, and G. Wuerthner.2002. A multicriteria assessment of the irreplaceability

and vulnerability of sites in the Greater YellowstoneEcosystem. Conservation Biology16:895-908.

Reed, D.F., T.N. Woodard, and T.M. Pojar. 1975. Behavioralresponse of mule deer to a highway underpass.Journalof Wildlife Management39:361-367.

Riiters, K.H., J.D. Wickham. 2003. How far to the nearestroad? Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.1(3):125-129.

Switalski, TA, JA Bissonette, TH DeLuca, CH Luce, and MAMadej. 2004. Benefits and impacts of road removal.Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 2(1): 21-28.

Trombulak, S.C., and C.A. Frissell. 2000. Review of ecologicaleffects of roads on terrestrial and aquatic communities.Conservation Biology14: 18-30.

U.S. Department of Transportation. 2000. Critter Crossings:Linking Habitats and Reducing Roadkill. FederalHighway Administration, Office of Natural Environment.32p. http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/wildlifecrossings/intro.htm

U.S. Department of Transportation. 2004. Keeping it Simple:Easy Ways to Help Wildlife Along Roads. FederalHighway Administration, Office of Natural Environment.58p.

Van Wieren, S.P., ans P.B. Worm. 2001. The use of motorwaywildlife overpass by large mammals. Netherlands Journalof Zoology51(1): 97-105.

Photo by Merv Coleman, Bureau of Land Management, BillingsDistrict, Montana.

Spring 1995Road-Rippers Handbook

released with guides to theNational Forests, NationalParks, BLM, and Off-Road

Vehicles.


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Keep Up the Good Work!Organizations that weve worked with

Adirondack Council, Alabama Rivers Alliance,Alaska Center for the Environment, AlaskaConservation Foundation, Alaska Quiet RightsCoalition, Alaska Wilderness League, AlaskaWildlife Alliance, Allegheny Defense Project,Alliance for a Paving Moratorium, Alliance forSustainable Jobs and the Environment, Alliancefor the Wild Rockies, American Forests, American

Hiking Society, American Lands Alliance,American PIE, American Wildlands, AncientForest Rescue, Appalachian Biodiversity Project,Appalachian Mountain Club, Appalachian Sciencein the Public Interest, Appalachian Voices, ArthurCarhart National Wilderness Training Center,Aspen Wilderness Workshop, Big Wild Advocates,Backcountry Skiers Alliance, Bark, BiodiversityConservation Alliance, Biodiversity Legal Foun-dation, Bitterroot Mission Group of the SierraClub, Blue Heron Earth First!, Blue MountainBiodiversity Project, BlueWater Network,Buckeye Forest Council, Cabinet Resource Group,California Wilderness Coalition, Canadian Parksand Wilderness Society, Car Busters, CascadeResources Advocacy Group, Cascadia Fire Ecol-ogy Education Project, Cascadia Forest Alliance,Castle Crown Wilderness Coalition, Centerfor Biological Diversity, Center for Earth andEnvironmental Science, Center for EnvironmentalEconomic Development, Center for NativeEcosystems, Center for Sierra Nevada Conserva-tion, Citizens for a Vehicle-Free Nipomo Dunes,Citizens for Conservation of the North End,Central Oregon Forest Issues Committee, ClinchCoalition, Coalition to Fight Phantom Roads,Coast Range Association, Colorado Environmen-tal Coalition, Colorado Mountain Club, ColoradoWild, Conservation Leaders Network, Corridor H

Alternatives, Deerlodge Conservation Coalition,Deerlodge Forest Defense Fund, Defenders ofWildlife, Earth First! Journal, East KootenayEnvironmental Society, Eastern Kenai PeninsulaEnvironmental Action Association, EnvironmentalMining Council of BC, Environmental ProtectionInformation Center, Eyak Preservation Council,Florida Biodiversity Project, Forest Coalition of

Pennsylvania, Forest Guardians, Forest ServiceEmployees for Environmental Ethics, Friends ofthe Abajos, Friends of the Bitterroot, Friendsof the Boundary Waters Wilderness, Friends ofthe Clearwater, Friends of the Earth, Friends ofMetolius, Friends of Nevada Wilderness, Friendsof the Northern Rockies, Friends of the River,Friends of the Wild Swan, Fund for Animals,Georgia Forest Watch, Gifford Pinchot TaskForce, Gila Watch, Grand Canyon Trust, GrandCanyon Wildlands Council, Great Burn StudyGroup, Great Old Broads for Wilderness, GreenFire Productions, Greater Yellowstone Coalition,Habitat for Bears Campaign, Headwaters, Heart-wood, Hells Canyon Preservation Council, Heri-tage Forests Campaign, High Country CitizensAlliance, Idaho Conservation League, IdahoSporting Congress, Issaquah Alps Trails Club,James Creek Watershed Initiative, John/Paul &Associates, Karuk Tribe, Kentucky Heartwood,Kettle Range Conservation Group, KlamathForest Alliance, Klamath Siskiyou WildlandsCenter, Lake Wales Ridge State Forest, LoganBackcountry Skiers Alliance, Mattole RestorationCouncil, Middle Snake Group Sierra Club, Minne-sota Ecosystems Recovery Project, Minnesotansfor Responsible Recreation, Montana WildernessAssociation, Montana Wildlife Federation,Montana Ecosystems Defense Council, Montana

Trout, Mother Lode Chapter-Sierra Club, Moun-tain Heritage Alliance, National EnvironmentalDefense Council, National Network of ForestPractitioners, National Forest Protection Alliance,National Outdoor Leadership School, NationalParks Conservation Association, National WildlifeFederation-AK, Native Forest Network,Natural Resources Defense Council, New Mexico

Wilderness Alliance, Newton County WildlifeAssociation, Nez Perce Fisheries/WatershedProgram, Noise Pollution Clearinghouse, Nordicand Backcountry Skiers Alliance of Idaho, North-coast Environmental Center, Northern AlaskaEnvironmental Center, Northern Forest Alliance,Northern Forest Project, Northwest EcosystemAlliance, Northwoods Wilderness Recovery,Oregon Natural Resources Council, OSPIRG,Pacific Conservation, Pacific Crest BiodiversityProject, Pacific Rivers Council, Panther ActionCoalition, Park County Environmental Coalition,Partnerships for a Sus tainable Methow, PayetteForest Watch, Peninsular Ranges BiodiversityProject, Preserve Appalachian Wilderness, Preda-tor Conservation Alliance, Public Employees forEnvironmental Responsibility, Public InterestResearch Group, Public Media Center, Quiet UseCoalition, Red Rock Forests, Redwood Chapterof the Sierra Club, Redwood Community ActionAgency, Regional Association of ConcernedEnvironmentalists, RESTORE: The North Woods,Rocky Mountain Environmental Council, RockyMountain Recreation Initiative, Rural Voicesfor Conservation, San Miguel Greens, SheepMountain Alliance, Shenandoah EcosystemsDefense Group, Sierra Club, Sierra NevadaAlliance, Sinapu, Siskiyou Regional EducationProject, Sky Island Alliance, Soda Mountain

Wilderness Council, South Carolina Forest Watch,South Fork Mountain Defense, Southeast AlaskaConservation Council, Southern AppalachianBiodiversity Project, Southern AppalachianForest Coalition, Southern Rockies ConservationAlliance, Southern Rockies Ecosystem Project,Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, SouthwestEnvironmental Center, Southwest Forest Alliance,

Southwest Montana Wildlands Alliance, Spiritof the Sage Council, Stevens Village, StudentsAgainst Violating the Environment (SAVE), Surf-ers Environmental Alliance, Superior WildernessAction Network, Sustainable Northwest, SwanView Coalition, Taxpayers for Common Sense,The Ecology Center, The Humane Society ofthe US, The Lands Council, The Walden WoodsProject, The Wilderness Society, Trout Unlimited,Tundra Talk, Upper Gila Watershed Alliance,Ursus International, Utah EnvironmentalCongress, Utah Wilderness Coalition, VentanaWilderness Alliance, Virginia Forest Watch,VisualJourneys, Wallowa Resources, WashingtonTrails Association, Washington WildernessCoalition, Watershed Consulting, WeminucheGroup of the Sierra Club, Western NorthCarolina Alliance, Western Resource Advocates,Western Slope Environmental Resource Council,Western Watersheds Project, Whispered Media,Wild Alabama, Wild Earth, Wild Utah ForestCampaign, Wild Utah Project, Wild Virginia,Wild Washington Campaign, Wild Wilderness,Wilderness Watch, Wilderness Study Group, Wild-lands Project, Wildlaw, Wilson Canyon Alliance,Winter Wildlands Alliance, World Wildlife Fund,Wyoming Outdoor Council, Yaak Valley ForestCouncil, Yellowstone to Yukon ConservationInitiative,Yukon Conservation Society

W

ildlands CPR has worked with more than 250 groups around the country to assist themin their road and off-road vehicle battles and to help them promote road removal andrestoration. Below is a list of those groups (and were sure weve forgotten some,

so many apologies to anyone we left out). The following three pages include a partial list ofexamples of how weve helped folks make changes in land management on the ground. Thesechanges include everything from litigation assistance to helping groups set up ground-basedmonitoring programs. The results have protected state and federal lands throughout the entirecountry. Check out page 22 for more statistics about where and how our work is used.

1995/96Significant floods in the Clearwater regionof Idaho cause more than 1,000 landslides,more than 50% of which are road related.Congress appropriates emergency moneyto the Clearwater National Forest for road

removal.Spring 1995

Bibliographic database with more than6,000 citations regarding the ecologicalimpacts of roads and off-road vehicles

created for ROAD-RIP by Reed Noss andfour graduate students.

June 1995First Road-Rippersworkshop, held inMissoula Montana.

July 1995Salvage logging rider signedby President Clinton, allowingexpediting logging of dead,diseased or dying timber.


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Roads are the route of wilderness destruction. For tenyears, Wildlands CPR has led the conservation movementin cataloging the ecological impacts of roads and off-roadvehicles, closing and reclaiming unnecessary and destruc-tive roads, and opposing deadly new roads in wildlands.

Dave Foreman

Georgia Forest Watch

(GFW): ChattahoocheeNational Forest, Georgia

GFW received a mini-grant fromthe Natural Trails & Waters Coalitionthat supported an inventory of off-roadvehicle routes, and collaboration withthe Chattahoochee/Oconee NationalForest to address the growing threatsof ATVs on public lands. The grant alsohelped set up monitoring and provideda science-based document to supportmedia work.

As a result, the Forest Serviceclosed and rehabilitated the Ander-son Creek OHV recreational area, andclosed Rich Mountain road, an 8-mileeroding nightmare on the northern bor-der of Rich Mountain Wilderness.

GFWs work led to excellent cover-age of the ATV issue by the AtlantaJournal Constitution and NBC News, aswell as a more active volunteer baseand a broader discussion of the prob-lems of ATVs by the general public.

Making a Difference, On-the-Ground,from Coast to Coast

Vermont Forest Watch

Wildlands CPR has providedstrategic and technical assistance toVermont Forest Watch (VFW) on and offfor many years. In the 1980s, VFW andother groups sued the Forest Serviceover proposed road construction in theLamb Brook Roadless Area; they wonand prevented the road.

In 2003, Natural Trails and Watersprovided a mini-grant for an off-roadvehicle monitoring program. To date,VFW has monitored the southern halfof the Green Mountain National Forest

for winter and summer off-road vehicleuse. Their monitoring documented anincrease in cross-country travel andillegal route construction, and resultedin better enforcement by the Manches-ter Ranger District. The district nowspends 21% of their enforcement timedealing with illegal off-road vehicle use,nearly twice that of other forests in theregion.

In addition to addressing off-roadvehicles, VFW is once again working to

protect the Lamb Brook RoadlessArea. The area is proposed for wil-

derness designation, and this timeit is threatened by a wind-turbineproposal.

High Country CitizensAlliance (HCCA): Gunnison

National Forest

In 1995 HCCA began road inven-tories on 1.2 million acres, anddocumented road locations and im-pacts throughout the forest. Theyidentified road densities exceeding10 miles per square mile in places,and also identified 650,000 acresof roadless areas. 200 volunteersparticipated in the project. Theyare now using the data to influenceforest plan revisions.

Grand Canyon Trust (GCT),

Flagstaff, ArizonaGCT began the San Francisco Peaks

Road Inventory Project in 1998, andwith 90 volunteers (350 volunteer days)they inventoried every road in this 270square mile area. The information theycollected is the most comprehensive,detailed, and precise information avail-able for an area this size.

After completing the inventory,they met with the Forest Service aboutroute-associated resource damage andareas where road mileage exceeded

Forest Plan standards. As a result, theForest Service began a five-forest trans-portation planning process.

1996Wildlands CPR releases theTerrible Twelve, highlighting12 of the most environmen-tally egregious road propos-

als in the United States.

1996First issue ofThe Road-

RIPorterpublished.

June 1996First on-the-ground road removalworkshop held near Glacier Na-tional Park, Montana (with 30 par-ticipants from around the country).

June 1997Wildlands CPR sponsors a symposium entitled:The Ecological Effects of Roads: Implications forPlanning, at the Society for Conservation BiologyConference in Vancouver, British Columbia. More

than 100 people attend.


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With: Hells Canyon Preservation Council (HCPC)About: Hells Canyon National Recreation Area,

Idaho and Oregon

The Work: Wildlands CPR listed the proposed road Overlook Two as one ofthe worst proposed/existing roads in the country as part of our Ter-rible Twelve Campaign. We worked with HCPC for ten years on the Hells Canyon Com-prehensive Management Plan (CMP) Tracking Group to develop andpromote a Native Ecosystems Alternative for the area.The Result: We helped prevent construction of the Overlook Two Road, whichwould have severed key migratory routes for mule deer and elk.

The Forest Service finalized a new CMP in 2003. The plan includesclosing (and hopefully decommissioning) 200 miles of roads, and limit-ing off-road vehilce use to designated routes only.

With: Washington Trails Association (WTA),and Issaquah Alps Trails Club

About: Washington State ORV funding

The Work: Wildlands CPR, WTA and Sierra Club co-hosted a gas-tax activistssummit in 2001 to develop strategies for diverting state gas taxesaway from off-road vehicle route acquisition. In 2003, NTWC provided a minigrant to the Fair Trails Coalition tosupport this decades-long battle to change state gas-tax regulations.The Result: In 2004, the state changed their gas tax law, reducing motorizedrecreation funding from 80% to 30% of available gas tax funds. Therest of the funding is now split between non-motorized rec (30%),general recreation facilities (30%) and a pool of funds for competi-tive grants (10%).

With: Sky Island AllianceAbout: Coronado National Forest, Arizona

The Work: Wildlands CPR met with Sky Island Alliance in 1997 to set up a roadinventory program, and again in 1999 to host a road removal workshop.

The Result: In 6 years their program has involved 600 volunteers, who donated20,000 hours to inventory 2,000 miles of system roads and 1,000 milesof non-system roads: 60 miles of roads have already been removed, withmore scheduled. Sky Island Alliance is working with other groups to promote roadremoval and inventories on the Gila and other national forests in NewMexico and Arizona.

Making a Difference, On-t


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With: Florida Biodiversity Project (FBP)About: Big Cypress National Preserve (BCNP),

FloridaThe Work: Wildlands CPR listed Alligator Alley and its off-road vehicle accessinto BCNP as one of our Terrible Twelve Roads in 1995. FBP sued the Park Service to develop a recreation plan, AND Wildlands CPR provided $5,000 for litigation to defend the ParkServices plan to close off-road vehicle access to all but 400 miles ofdesignated routes.The Result: The magistrate upheld the parks good ORV plan, though the judgestill has not signed the final decision. Controversy continues... When the ORV plan is fully implemented, it will protect more than100,000 acres that were previously impacted and it will preventimpacts on another 600,000 acres of the preserve. 200,000 acres ofland have been closed to ORVs through this process.

With: Minnesotans for Responsible Recreation, andMinnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy

About: Off-road vehicles on state and federal lands inMinnesota

The Work: Wildlands CPR and NTWC provided financial and strategic resources tosupport media and state legislative efforts to control off-road vehicles.The Result: New forest plans came out this summer; the plans for the Chippewa andSuperior National Forests both ban cross country travel and restrict travel toroutes previously designated through NEPA analysis, or low quality roads. In addition, the state of Minnesota has passed ORV bills in 2003 and2004. Each contained good and bad provisions: the most recent legislationprohibits ORVs in wetlands if they cause damage, while the previous yearslaw banned cross country travel by ORVs on all state lands. Enforcement ofboth these laws remains a challenge.

Ground, from Coast to Coast


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TapestryBy Katie Alvord

Summer 1992, the Ottawa National Forest,Michigans Upper Peninsula. Jasper Carltonand Kraig Klungness bumped over a Forest

Service road in Kraigs beat-up Subaru stationwagon. Around them they could see road densitiesthat were far too high, leaving wildland habitats fartoo fragmented -- as they were in most public forests

across the country.

What we need, said Jasper, is a group thatwill go after roads.

He was talking to the right person. Kraig had al-ready helped start two small environmental groups,and though he didnt know it that day, he was aboutto co-found a third.

As they traveled through the Ottawas mixeddeciduous and conifer forests, Kraig and Jasperdeveloped a vision. Such a group should integratethe solid legal strategies of Biodiversity Legal

Foundation with principles of conservation biology,said Jasper, then BLFs executive director. It shouldbe as committed and specific in its approach as Al-liance for a Paving Moratorium, said Kraig, then anAPM board member. And, Kraig added, thinking ofThe Wildlands Project, it should base its work on avision of vast North American wilderness restored.

We envision . . . .

At the time, I served as APMs executive director. When Kraigphoned me shortly after his trip with Jasper, he suggested we organizea national meeting involving representatives of APM, Biodiversity LegalFoundation, The Wildlands Project, and others whod worked on theissue of roads. He wanted to color in the vision, to generate strengthfrom unity, to get roads closed and to restore public wildlands in abig way. His determination was infectious. As I started writing grantproposals and raising money, it became clear that funders, too, saw thevision as promising, and as one that could fill an important need.

Photo by Marcel Huijser.

1997Conservation organizationssue Yellowstone National

Park over the use of snow-mobiles in the park.

July 1997Wildlands CPR publishes itsfirst economics report: Un-

derstanding National ForestRoads and Economics.

November 1997Forest Service announces its intentionto develop a long-term transporta-tion policy; they also begin working

on roadless protections.

January 1998Wildlands CPR hires Jacob Smith

to start our off-road vehicleprogram and opens an office for

him in Boulder, Colorado.


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The only good road in wildlands is a dead road. Erasingthe snarled tangles of roadways through what is supposedto be wilderness is important and noble work. WildlandsCPR is fighting the good fight against frightening odds.

There ought to be an environmental protection medal andCPR ought to get it.

--- Annie Proulx

In February 1994, the three nonprofits and otherkey activists came together at one small national

meeting to brainstorm cutting edge approaches tofighting the proliferation of roads on public wild-lands. The new effort would use innovative legalstrategies, be based on solid conservation biology,and be sweeping in its geographic scope. We had avision of North American wilderness, restored.

. . . . envision a tapestry . . . .

What emerged from that meeting as the Road-Fighting Strategy Project quickly morphed into theRoad Removal Implementation Project, or Road-RIP.The lead groups dropped from three to two, withThe Wildlands Project providing a 501(c)(3) um-

brella and Biodiversity Legal Foundation providingtechnical support. Kraig and I agreed to codirectthe effort, and Jasper and Kraigs original vision wason its way to becoming an organization on its own.

Still, for about a year our seedling groupconsisted of little more than a file box in my livingroom. It was a time when even many environmental-ists were aware of neither the great damage done toecosystems by roads, nor their insidious prolifera-tion on public lands.

We needed a brochure, and we wrote one. Weneeded to let local groups know about the best

strategies to get roads closed, strategies that activ-ists like Keith Hammer had used successfully inMontanas Flathead National Forest and that couldbe used across the nation. So, with help from Keithand others, we wrote the Road-Rippers Handbook.We needed to teach activists how to use these tools,so we devised a training workshop. And we neededa base of information, of scientific data that wouldverify the damage done by roads, so we commis-sioned Reed Noss and a crew of grad students tobuild an electronic bibliography for us.

By about a year and a half later, we had a nice little package oftools. Only one problem: after years of activism, Kraig and I were bothtapped out. We needed to pass our package to fresh folks with lots ofenergy. But who? Everyone we knew was already overcommitted. Iphoned around for advice.

You cant just put the organization in a box, hand it off to newpeople, and expect it to work, said one respected nonprofit consul-tant.

Yet we saw little choice. So we advertised. And we got lucky.

In response to our call for an executive director, we had the great

good fortune to receive applications from two young women: BethanieWalder, fresh from University of Montanas Environmental StudiesMasters Program, and Marion Hourdequin, a new graduate of Princ-eton University. Both seemed highly dedicated and passionate aboutenvironmental issues. Though unproven, they each had stellar poten-tial and references -- so impressive, in fact, we decided to hire themboth.


January 1998Wildlands CPR staff present the con-

cept of road removal to more than

200 road engineers and wildlifebiologists at the second InternationalConference on Wildlife Ecology andTechnology, in Fort Myers, Florida.

April 1998Wildlands CPR publishesthe Road-Rippers Guide to

Wildland Road Removal, thefifth and final guide for ourRoad-Rippers Handbook.

1998Fund for Animals and Biodiversity

Legal Foundation settle their lawsuitwith the National Park Service oversnowmobile use in Yellowstone. Thesettlement calls for the developmentof a comprehensive EIS on winter

visitor use.

May 1998Wildlands CPR co-publishes,

with Friends of the Earth, Trailsof Destruction, highlighting

the growing problems with off-road vehicles and trail funding

on public lands.


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Once Bethanie and Marion had agreed to codirect our seedlinggroup, they came to Houghton, Michigan, where wed worked fromhome, and spent a few days with us. Then we did exactly what wewere told we couldnt do: handed them our

Perhaps more than any other single circumstance, Wildlands CPRowes its success to the set of decisions made at this critical juncture:Bethanies and Marions decisions to apply for a challenging, low-pay-ing position with questionable security and no health benefits; ours tooffer them a codirectorship; theirs to take that on, and exercise theirconsiderable intelligence, insight and energy to nurture the originalvision.

. . . . a tapestry, interconnected . . . .

Under Bethanie and Marions tutelage, the main office moved toMissoula. New and very talented people came on board. More moneycame in. Workshops were held, activists trained, and slowly, fromaround the country, word trickled back to Missoula of battles fought,some battles won, awareness raised. After a first successful year,Marion returned to graduate school, and Bethanie stayed on to guidethe group into its own 501(c)(3) status and a new name: WildlandsCenter for Preventing Roads, or Wildlands CPR.

So it was that the file box in my living room swelled into a collec-

tion of activist tools, and then burgeoned into a much larger and flour-ishing thing. Seeds we had planted back at that meeting in February1994 took root and grew. We set a goal: raise awareness that wildlandroads cause enormous ecological problems. A few years later we seta similar goal: raise awareness about off-road vehicles. Activists fromaround the country began to use our tools. Funders took note.

Most important, more activist energy went into fighting roadsand off-road vehicles, more US Forest Service units began to addressclosing roads, and pretty soon the Forest Service, under Mike Dom-beck, actually acknowledged that excess roads on public lands werea problem. Then, in 2003, current Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworthacknowledged that unmanaged recreation, especially off-road vehicleuse, was one of the four greatest threats facing the National Forests.

Beginning with Kraig and Jaspers vision that day in the Ottawa, ourown group had played a critical role in raising awareness of road andoff-road vehicle issues on the national stage.

. . . . of interconnected roadless wildlands . . . .

As we reached our goals of raising awareness,Wildlands CPR set off in some new directions,leading campaigns and expanding our scope wellbeyond the groups beginnings as an information

clearinghouse. We took part in precedent-settinglitigation; we helped create a national coalition toaddress motorized recreation problems; we initiatedresearch on the economic benefits of road removaland restoration; we grew.


Fall 1998Wildlands CPR co-sponsors, with

Friends of the Earth, national off-road vehicle organizing meetingwith more than 50 attendees,

from over 40 organizations. Setsthe stage for developing ourfuture off-road vehicle work.

1998Wildlands CPR files a Freedom of

Information Act request with all151 national forests regarding theirmanagement of off-road vehicles.

In 1999 the results were cataloguedinto a web-based searchable data-base, and synthesized into a report:

Roaring from the Past.

January 1999Wildlands CPR and the Coalitionfor Canyon Preservation win a

federal lawsuit to stop a parkinglot expansion in Glacier National

Park.

1998Congress reauthorizes the Symms

Act as the Recreational TrailsProgram and gradually scales ap-propriations for trail development

up to $50 million per year.


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Wildlands CPR is on the front edge of the advocation and planningfor the removal of many of the old unused logging roads which

web the mountains of the west. This restoration will be excellentfor our economy, the land and its wildlife, and means good payingjobs for our skilled laborers. Wildlands CPRs Restoration Program

parallels the transition in our Rocky Mountain economy as it movesfrom extraction to renewal.

Pat WilliamsPat Williams, a Montana Representative for 18 years, introduced 16 state-wide Wilderness bills during his tenure. He now teaches at the University ofMontana, and is a Senior Fellow and Regional Policy associate fellow at the

OConnor Center for the Rocky Mountain West.

When a nonprofit grows, there is always the danger that it willstray from its original vision. Sometimes this is appropriate; some-times it is symptomatic of pressures that move us away from principleand too much toward political compromise.

Ten years after its emergence, Wildlands CPR continues to raiseawareness of the damage done by roads and motorized recreation. Asit trains activists and supports restoration, it has earned respect for itsleadership and its effectiveness at advancing its goals. We cofoundershope in addition that it will always speak out strongly for principles ofecological integrity and respect, and always hold these principles asmore important than political expedience.

The world continues to need strong voices speaking out on behalfof quiet, unadulterated wilderness, on behalf of vast, unroaded wild-lands, on behalf of restoration. We hope these strong voices will pointout the ongoing war against nature, and counter the insidious battle-fronts initiated by even the highest levels of our government today. Wealso hope people will hear and understand two important messages,principles on which this groups original vision was based: first, thathealthy unbroken ecosystems are the very basis for human survival;and second, that the more-than-human world has an inherent right toexist, and we have a moral imperative to respect and defend that right.

Thats why we think this organization hassurvived and flourished from its beginning in a box,why the seeds we planted sprouted and grew: morethan ever, we need strong and principled voices tospeak up, to speak truth, and to defend and restoreunbroken wilderness. In ten more years, we hope tosee Wildlands CPR playing that role more stronglyand powerfully than ever. And we hope to see,emerging on the ground, more of what we continueto envision: a tapestry of interconnected roadlesswildlands across North America.

Katie Alvord is the author of Divorce Your Car!Ending the Love Affair with the Automobile (2000,New Society Publishers, www.newsociety.com). In1994, she and Kraig Klungness cofounded the groupnow known as Wildlands CPR.

Photo courtesy of Bureau of Land Management,Uncompahgre District, Colorado.

August 1999Wildlands CPR launches SkidMarks, our mostly bi-weeklyelectronic newsletter about off-road vehicle and road news.

December 1999Wildlands CPR leads the effort todevelop comprehensive off-roadvehicle petition for rule-makingto the Forest Service. 106 otherorganizations join the petition.

1999High Plains Films releases Mo-

tor, by Joe DeFelice. Assisted byWildlands CPR, Joe developed thisexcellent video about the impacts of

off-road vehicle recreation.

February 2000Wildlands CPR funds the bulk ofa special section on the ecologi-cal effects of roads, publishedin the journal Conservation

Biology.


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Wildlands CPRand the

Natural Trails and Waters Coalition

February 2000Wildlands CPR hosts a meeting in Wash-

ington DC to start a national coalitionto fight off-road vehicles. The Natural

Trails and Waters Coalition is formed andin April, hosts its first lobby week and

national conference in Washington DC.More than 90 activists attend from around

the country.

2000Wildlands CPR co-founder,Katie Alvord, publishes herbook: Divorce your Car!

Ending the love affair withthe automobile.

2001Wildlands CPR co-hoststhe first restoration summitin Boulder, CO. Nearly100 activists and forest

practitioners attend.

Though off-road vehicle use

expanded exponentially in the1990s, the conservation commu-

nity wasnt quite ready to take on theissue. Beginning in 1997, Wildlands CPRdevoted one of the nations first full-time staff positions to addressing theimpacts and abuses caused by off-roadvehicle use on public lands; by 1999 werealized we had to expand our reachand bring more national attention to theissues.

After many (small and large)strategy sessions with activists from

around the country, Wildlands CPRspearheaded a national effort to pres-sure the Forest Service to overhaultheir managment of ORVs. With sup-port from The Wilderness Society, wedeveloped a comprehensive rule-mak-ing petition and gathered more than 100signers from conservation, recreationand sporting groups. We submitted thepetition in December 1999, and a few

months later set out to create a national

coalition to address off-road vehicleproblems and counter the media andlobbying efforts of the off-road vehicleindustry.

After a national meeting supportedby several key foundations, The NaturalTrails and Waters Coalition (NTWC, orthe Coalition) was born. In additionto Wildlands CPR and The WildernessSociety, founding member organizationsincluded American Lands Alliance, Blue-water Network, Friends of the Earth,Sierra Club and Southern Utah Wilder-

ness Alliance. Coalition membersrecognized that motorized recreation terrestrial and aquatic was fastbecoming one of the foremost threatsto natural resources and social valueson public lands.

NTWCs mission is to protect andrestore public lands and waters fromthe damage caused by dirt bikes, jet

skis and other off-road vehicles. To

achieve this mission, the Coalition useslegislative, legal, media, and grassrootsstrategies targeted at those who man-age or make policy for state and federalpublic lands. NTWC is directed by asteering committee made up of theaforementioned groups, with one excep-tion Friends of the Earth has movedon to other projects and the ColoradoMountain Club has joined us. TWS andWildlands CPR co-chair the steeringcommittee.

During its first year, the Coalition

focused on media, message develop-ment, and national parks. For example,we supported a media campaign oppos-ing jet skis in Kachemak Bay (Alaska),promoted a plan to control off-roadvehicles on the White River NationalForest in Colorado, and assisted with astatewide effort to control off-road ve-hicles in Minnesota. We also developedmessage templates, held focus groups


2001Forest Service finalizes roadless

area protection rule and new na-tional road management strategy.The road management strategycalls for the removal of between146,000 and 186,000 miles of

roads over the next 20-40 years.


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My wife and I are firm supporters of Wildlands CPR. Theywaste no money on frills, instead spending our gift dollars

gathering facts and ground truthing what is happening on ourpublic lands better than any other outfit governmental or

nonprofit around. And most important,they have smart leadership that, while committed, also under-

stands how, to be successful, we have to workwithin a changing cultural-political world.

Tom and Susan Roy

and conducted opinion polls on the public perceptionof off-road vehicles. The results were not surprising:if people dont use off-road vehicles, they pretty muchdont like them.

Our work on national parks spanned the coun-try, from proposed snowmobile expansions in Denali(Alaska) and Yellowstone National Parks (MT/WY),to swamp buggy impacts in Big Cypress NationalPreserve in Florida. We also supported the Blue-water Networks efforts to control jet ski use in theparks. Snowmobiling in Yellowstone has been thesubject of multiple legislative and legal fights andits fate remains unclear, even today. On the otherhand, proposals to expand snowmobiling into thewilderness core of Denali never gained any ground,and in Florida, we and our partners took a big stepforward when a magistrates decision upheld the Park

Services plan to curtail ORV use. While we still await


the final court ruling, the plan wouldlimit off-road vehicles to 400 miles ofdesignated routes (from the current23,000 miles that users carved into thewetlands with no planning or analysis).

While the national parks offered usan important media and policy wedgefor exposing the problems with off-roadvehicles, we knew that we would haveto put some serious effort into both the

Forest Service and the Bureau of LandManagement, where off-road vehicleproblems are exponentially larger thanthose in the parks. So NTWC partneredwith the Wilderness Society to developa guide to addressing off-road vehiclemanagement on BLM lands, and in 2003the Coalition hired a dedicated staff

Photo by Jerry Sintz, Wyoming State Office, Bureau of Land Management.

2001BLM undertakes a

national assessmentof their off-road ve-

hicle management, butmakes no significant

changes.


removal fundingpeaks and thendrops by 55% the

following year.

2001Wildlands CPR contracts with

Watershed Consulting to assess

the Clearwater National Forestsroad removal program and tocritique the Forest Services newnational Roads Analysis Process.

2002Wildlands CPR boardmember and longtime

road warrior Dave Havlickpublishes his book: No

Place Distant: Roads and

Motorized Recreation onAmericas Public Lands.

June 2002Wildlands CPR begins its sci-ence program, expanding our

knowledge about the ecologicalimpacts of roads and off-road

vehicles, and building a field ofresearchers dedicated to learningmore about the benefits of roadremoval as a form of restoration.


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person to work on BLM issues. 2003was also the year our Forest Servicework came full circle: the petition forrule-making that launched NTWC in1999 came back to the forefront thiswinter when the Forest Service an-nounced they would re-write their na-tional off-road vehicle rules. WildlandsCPR and NTWC quickly developed anational campaign plan to address thisrule-making process, and WildlandsCPR hired ten regional leaders to orga-nize in each region of the Forest Service(except Alaska). The rule-making pro-

cess is still in progress. The Coalitionwill also use Wildlands CPRs TravelPlanning Primer to ensure that any newrule is implemented in the most effec-tive way.

In 2001 Wildlands CPR started amini-grant program for off-road vehiclework. Our first grant, of $5,000, wentto the Florida Biodiversity Project for

their work in Big Cypress NationalPreserve. After distributing nearly$20,000, we turned the program overto NTWC, which has since awardedmore than $100,000 in mini-grants foreverything from monitoring programs,to legal battles, to scientific research, tooutreach and media. The results havebeen amazing, with activists expandingoff-road vehicle work in every regionof the country. Examples of successfulNTWC mini-grants include:

In Washington State, the Is-

saquah Alps Trails Club used a $5000grant from NTWC to dramaticallyimprove the allocation of gas tax fundsfor recreational uses. The mini-grantwas combined with other funding tosupport lobbying and education of stateofficials in Olympia, and outreach toenvironmental and recreational groups.

August 2002Natural Trails and Wa-ters Coalition publishes

ATV Safety Crisis:Americas Children at

Risk.

March 2003The Restoration Prin-

ciples are published inthe journal Ecological

Restoration. WildlandsCPRs Marnie Criley is

a co-author.

September 2003Wildlands CPR publishesInvesting in Communities,Investing in the Land,thefirst national economics as-sessment of the job creation

potential of a national roadremoval program.

July 2003Hells Canyon National

Recreation Area releasestheir new comprehensivemanagement plan, calling

for the closure of 200

miles of roads.

In California, NTWC helped CORE(Commitment to Our Recreational Envi-ronment) with materials and support toget the Stanislaus Forest to pay atten-tion and write a fair travel plan aftersix years of ignoring recreationists andadjoining private property owners.

In Utah, a mini-grant enabledthe Great Old Broads for Wilderness toincrease monitoring of BLM lands andcreate a state-of-the-art database on off-road vehicle impacts in the West.

In Montana, an NTWC mini-granthelped the Predator Conservation Alli-ance produce a video for distributionto the general public: BackcountryTravel, the Question of Multiple Use onour Public Lands.

These are just a few of the projectsweve supported, helping grassrootsorganizations fight the impacts of ORVsacross the country.

Photo courtesy of Bureau ofLand Management, Four RiversDistrict, Idaho.

2003Forest Service Chief

Dale Bosworth states thatunmanaged recreationis one of the four great-

est threats facing thenational forests.


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October 2003Wildlands CPR and the

Sierra Club fund the

removal of 2.5 miles ofroads adjacent to theAnaconda Pintler Wilder-ness, on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest

in Montana.

In 2002, NTWC worked with the Consumer Federation of Ameri-ca to release a report on the safety risks posed by off-road vehicles.The report, ATV Safety Crisis: Americas Children At Risk, was alandmark report on the continuing safety problems with off-road ve-hicles. The manufacture and sale of three-wheeled off-road vehicleswas banned in the late 1980s after numerous studies showed theirinherent instability. Four wheelers were assumed to be more stable,but the Coalitions report showed that fatalities and serious injuriesare nearly as problematic as before, especially for children. Oneyear later the Coalition issued a follow-up report; both have gener-ated significant media attention. In addition, numerous states areconsidering changes to their licensing laws regarding children andoff-road vehicles, though no new legislation has been passed yet.

When Wildlands CPR and others created the Natural Trails and

Waters Coalition, we did so to raise awareness about the profoundimpacts off-road vehicle recreation has on our public lands, andto change management to protect and restore lands from theseimpacts. Weve been extraordinarily successful: weve helped stopbad legislation; weve promoted good legislation; weve developedadditional tools; and weve assisted grassroots groups by infusingsmall but critical amounts of funding for expanding their off-roadvehicle work. The Coalition works with people from all walks of life,including hunters, hikers, horseback riders, ranchers, private prop-erty owners, and, yes, conservationists! Its been exciting to see somany different people, with so many different backgrounds, get soriled up and active on one issue.

However, off road vehicle riders are often in the majority at

public meetings and by nature are louder than non-motorized forestvisitors. Quiet forest visitors will often choose to leave a favoritehiking or hunting area rather than face an uncomfortable and poten-tially dangerous conflict with an off-road vehicle.

Wildlands CPR is proud to have been a founding member of the

Natural Trails and Waters Coalition. Through this partnership wevealready changed the way off-road vehicle recreation is perceived inthe U.S. Over the next few years we will continue to work togetherto develop local, vocal, active networks of people working to protectpublic lands from off-road vehicle impacts.

Photo by Paul Happel, Bureau of LandManagement, Roswell, New Mexico.

It is refreshing to work with Wildlands CPR because theyhave an real hands on approach to restoration issues and aregenuine in understanding and support of those who work inthe woods. Because they have technical expertise in restor-ing degraded road systems they bring practical perspectiveand credible information to the discussion of policies relatedto roads on our public lands. Plus, they are fun people to be

around and work with. Maia Enzer, Sustainable Northwest

January 2004The journal Frontiers inEcologypublishes Ben-

efits and Impacts of RoadRemoval. Wildlands

CPR staff scientist AdamSwitalski is the leadauthor on the article.

January 2004The Forest Ser-

vice announces anational process tooverhaul their off-road vehicle rules;

the proposed rule isreleased in July.

April 2004Wildlands CPR co-hosts a work-shop with the Clearwater NationalForest on developing effective roadremoval programs; more than 40Forest Service employees attend.

Wildlands CPR releases severalnew resources including a guide toroad removal funding and a reporthighlighting model road removal

programs.

July 2004The Forest Service

announces a proposednew rule to remove

protections for roadlessareas and to rewritethe Roadless Rule.


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I

n honor of our tenth anniversary, weve been busy spruc-ing things up around the Wildlands CPR office and website.The first thing you may have noticed is our new logo! It

took us several months but we finally found something welike, and we hope you do too. Many thanks to Mark AlanWilson for the concept, and to Hank Green for making it work.Thanks also to Beth Peluso for many excellent ideas.

A second thank you goes to Mark Alan Wilson, ChuckIrestone and our own Kiffin Hope for revamping our website.We added new materials, fact sheets and other non-technical

2004Wildlands CPR

celebrates its 10thAnniversary!

Summer 2004Wildlands CPR begins the first oftwo field studies on the ecologi-cal effects of road removal, one

in the Flathead National Forest inMontana.

Information requestsWildlands CPR responds to an average of 500 informa-

tion requests per year roughly 5,000 since our inception.Requests include anything from bibliographic searches tostrategy consultations; many people also access our resourc-es directly on line.

Bibliographic databaseIn 1995, Reed Noss oversaw development of a biblio-

graphic database on the ecological effects of roads andmotorized recreation. Weve updated the database everyother year, and it now contains more than 10,000 citations.Its been used by activists and land managers throughout theU.S., including nearly every federal agency that manages land(e.g. Park Service, Environmental Protection Agency, Bureau

of Indian Affairs). Researchers from Australia, Brazil, Canada,England, Germany, Indonesia, Israel, New Zealand, Pakistan,Sweden, The Netherlands, and many other countries havealso used the database it is one of the largest collections ofroad and off-road vehicle information in the world.

WorkshopsSince our workshop program began in 1995, Wildlands

CPR has trained nearly 1000 activists and agency employeesto: 1) monitor and inventory system and non-system roadsand motorized routes; 2) prevent new road construction; and3) understand and promote road removal. Weve sponsoredworkshops in Alabama, Alaska, Alberta (Canada), Arizona,Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan,

information, in addition to cleaning up and reorganizing ourtechnical resources and others to come are just a click awayfrom the activist resources page.

While weve been busy refreshing our look, we alsoreceived a number of generous grants during the past fewmonths. Many thanks to the Flintridge Foundation for a two-year grant for our restoration work, and to the Wilburforce,Lazar, Maki, and Weeden Foundations. And thanks to thoseof you who responded to our tenth anniversary mailing, wereally appreciate your continuing support!

Minnesota, Montana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Oregon,Pennsylvania, and Washington (weve held multiple work-shops in many of these states).

Presentations, conferences and researchWildlands CPR staff members have given hundreds of

presentations to thousands of people at conferences andworkshops throughout the U.S. In addition, weve raisedand distributed nearly $100,000 for original research on roadremoval.

LitigationWildlands CPR has been involved in about 20 lawsuits,

ranging from intervening on behalf of the Forest Service

against the timber industr y or off-road vehicle users,to suing to stop roads and motorized recreation.Weve won all but two of our cases, upholding manyroad and route closures and preventing newconstruction.

Ten Years of Clearinghouse Assistance


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Join Wildlands CPR Today!Weve made joining Wildlands CPR easier and more effective than ever before.

In honor of our 10th anniversary, please consider pledging $10/month!

Consider the advantages of our Monthly Giving Program Reducing Overhead

Monthly giving puts your contributiondirectly into action and reduces our

administrative costs. The savings go torestoring wildlands and building a more

effective network.

Making Your Gift Easier

Say goodbye to renewal letters! Yourcredit card or bank statement will

contain a record of each gift; we willalso send a year-end tax receipt for your

records.

Our Promise To You

You maintain complete control overyour donation. To change or cancel

your gift at any time, just write or giveus a call.

Name

Street

City, State,

Zip

Email

Phone

Organization/Business Name (if applicable)

Type of Membership: OrganizationIndividual/Family Business

Please send this form and your payment option to:

Wildlands CPR P.O. Box 7516 Missoula, Montana 59807

Thank you for your support!

Payment Option #2:

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from Checking Account

Payment Option #1:

Credit Card Pledge

I/we authorize Wildlands CPR to deduct the amount indicated above

from my checking account once per month.

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Signature

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Charge my: ___ Visa ___ MasterCard ___ American Express

Credit Card Number: _________________________________

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* The Card Security Code (CSC) is usually a 3 - or 4 - digit number, which isnot part of the credit card number. The CSC is typically printed on the back ofa credit card (usually in the signature field).

NOTE: If you would prefer to make an annual donation, please visit our website(www.wildlandscpr.org) or send a check for any amount to the address at the right.

Please include a voided check. All information will be kept confiden-

tial. Transfers will be processed on the first Friday of each month, orthe following business day should that Friday be a bank holiday.


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The Road-RIPorter is printed on 100% post-consumer recycled, process chlorine-free bleached paper with soy-based ink.

Non-profit Organization

US POSTAGEPAID

MISSOULA MT, 59801PERMIT NO. 569

Photo by Marcel Huijser.

Wildlands CPR is widely

recognized and utilized as the

expert source on critical roadand motorized recreation

science and policy.

Taylor McKinnon,

Grand Canyon Trust

Documents

Road RIPorter 9.3