II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2364 

To provide lasting protection for inventoried roadless areas within the 

National Forest System. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 2, 2006 

Ms. CANTWELL (for herself, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mr. HARKIN, Mr. LAUTENBERG, 

Mrs. BOXER, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mrs. CLINTON, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. 

AKAKA, Mr. DODD, and Mr. KERRY) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

A BILL 

To provide lasting protection for inventoried roadless areas 

within the National Forest System. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Roadless Area Con5 servation Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Congress finds that— 

8 (1) there is a compelling need to establish na9 tional protection for inventoried roadless areas of the 


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1 National Forest System in order to protect the 

2 unique social and ecological values of those irreplace3 able resources; 

4 (2) roadless areas protect healthy watersheds 

5 and their numerous benefits including— 

6 (A) protecting downstream communities 

7 from floods and tempering the effects of 

8 drought; 

9 (B) ensuring a supply of clean water for 

10 domestic, agricultural, and industrial uses; 

11 (C) helping maintain abundant and healthy 

12 fish and wildlife populations and habitats; 

13 (D) providing the setting for many forms 

14 of outdoor recreation; and 

15 (E) providing drinking water to millions of 

16 citizens from the more than 354 municipal wa17 tersheds found on roadless areas; 

18 (3) maintaining roadless areas in a relatively 

19 undisturbed condition— 

20 (A) saves downstream communities mil21 lions of dollars in water filtration costs; and 

22 (B) is crucial to preserve the flow of af23 fordable, clean water to a growing population; 

24 (4) the protection of roadless areas can main25 tain biological strongholds and refuges for many imVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:12 Mar 04, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2364.IS S2364

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1 periled species by halting the ongoing fragmentation 

2 of the landscape into smaller and smaller parcels of 

3 land divided by road corridors; 

4 (5) roadless areas conserve native biodiversity 

5 by serving as a bulwark against the spread of non6 native invasive species; 

7 (6) roadless areas provide unparalleled opportu8 nities for hiking, camping, picnicking, wildlife view9 ing, hunting, fishing, cross-country skiing, canoeing, 

10 mountain-biking, and similar activities; 

11 (7) while roadless areas may have many wilder12 ness-like attributes, unlike wilderness areas, the use 

13 of mechanized means of travel is allowed in many 

14 roadless areas; 

15 (8) roadless areas contain many sites sacred to 

16 Native Americans and other groups that use 

17 roadless areas for spiritual and religious retreats; 

18 (9) from the inception of Federal land manage19 ment, it has been the mission of the Forest Service 

20 and other agencies to manage the National Forest 

21 System for the dual purposes of resource extraction 

22 and conservation; 

23 (10) consistent with that dual mission, this 

24 Act— 


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1 (A) protects social and ecological values, 

2 while allowing for many multiple uses of inven3 toried roadless areas; and 

4 (B) does not impose any limitations on the 

5 use of, or access to Nation Forest System, 

6 State, or private land outside inventoried 

7 roadless areas; 

8 (11) establishing a consistent national policy for 

9 the protection of inventoried roadless areas— 

10 (A) ensures that the considerable long11 term ecological and economic benefits of pro12 tecting roadless areas for future generations are 

13 properly considered; 

14 (B) diminishes the likelihood of con15 troversy at the project level; and 

16 (C) enables the Chief of the Forest Service 

17 to focus on the economic and environmental 

18 benefits of reducing hazardous fuel buildups in 

19 portions of the landscape that already have 

20 roads; 

21 (12) the National Fire Plan indicates that fires 

22 are almost twice as likely to occur in roaded areas 

23 as in roadless areas, because roadless areas are gen24 erally located further away from communities and 

25 are harder to access; 


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1 (13) the report entitled ‘‘Protecting People and 

2 Sustaining Resources in Fire-Adapted Ecosystems— 

3 A Cohesive Strategy’’ (65 Fed. Reg. 67480) advo4 cates a higher priority for fuel reduction on land 

5 that is near communities and readily accessible mu6 nicipal watersheds; 

7 (14) the Forest Service has an enormous back8 log of maintenance needs for the existing 386,000 

9 mile road system of the Forest Service that will cost 

10 millions of dollars to eliminate; 

11 (15) no State or private land owner would con12 tinue to build new roads in the face of such an enor13 mous backlog; 

14 (16) failure to maintain forest roads— 

15 (A) limits public access; and 

16 (B) causes degradation of water quality 

17 and wildlife and fish habitat; and 

18 (17) protection of roadless areas— 

19 (A) will impact less than 0.5 percent of the 

20 national timber supply; and 

21 (B) will have a negligible impact on oil and 

22 gas production because— 

23 (i) the entire National Forest System 

24 provides only approximately 0.4 percent of 


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1 the quantity of oil and gas that is pro2 duced in the United States; and 

3 (ii) roadless areas provide only a frac4 tion of the quantity of oil and gas that is 

5 produced in the National Forest System. 

6 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide, 

7 within the context of multiple-use management, lasting 

8 protection for inventoried roadless areas within the Na9 tional Forest System. 

10 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

11 In this Act: 

12 (1) CLASSIFIED ROAD.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘classified 

14 road’’ means a road wholly or partially within, 

15 or adjacent to, National Forest System land 

16 that is determined to be needed for long-term 

17 motor vehicle access. 

18 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘classified 

19 road’’ includes a State road, county road, pri20 vately-owned road, National Forest System 

21 road, and any other road authorized by the 

22 Forest Service. 

23 (2) INVENTORIED ROADLESS AREA.—The term 

24 ‘‘inventoried roadless area’’ means 1 of the areas 

25 identified in the set of inventoried roadless area 


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1 maps contained in the document entitled ‘‘Forest 

2 Service Roadless Areas Conservation, Final Environ3 mental Impact Statement, Volume 2’’, dated Novem4 ber 2000. 

5 (3) RESPONSIBLE OFFICIAL.—The term ‘‘re6 sponsible official’’ means a Forest Service line offi7 cer or employee with the authority and responsibility 

8 to make decisions regarding the protection and man9 agement of inventoried roadless areas under this 

10 Act. 

11 (4) ROAD.—The term ‘‘road’’ means a motor 

12 vehicle travelway over 50 inches wide, unless des13 ignated and managed as a trail. 

14 (5) ROAD CONSTRUCTION.—The term ‘‘road 

15 construction’’ means activity that results in the ad16 dition of classified road or temporary road miles. 

17 (6) ROAD IMPROVEMENT.—The term ‘‘road im18 provement’’ means activity that results in— 

19 (A) an increase of the traffic service level 

20 of an existing road; 

21 (B) an expansion of the capacity of the 

22 road; or 

23 (C) a change in the original design func24 tion of the road. 


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1 (7) ROADLESS AREA CHARACTERISTICS.—The 

2 term ‘‘roadless area characteristics’’ means re3 sources or features that are often present in and 

4 characterize inventoried roadless areas, including— 

5 (A) high quality or undisturbed soil, water, 

6 and air; 

7 (B) sources of public drinking water; 

8 (C) diversity of plant and animal commu9 nities; 

10 (D) habitat for— 

11 (i) threatened, endangered, candidate, 

12 or sensitive species, and species proposed 

13 for listing, under the Endangered Species 

14 Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); and 

15 (ii) species dependent on large, undis16 turbed areas of land; 

17 (E) primitive, semiprimitive nonmotorized, 

18 and semiprimitive motorized classes of dis19 persed recreation; 

20 (F) reference landscapes; 

21 (G) natural appearing landscapes with 

22 high scenic quality; 

23 (H) traditional cultural properties and sa24 cred sites; and 


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1 (I) other locally identified unique charac2 teristics. 

3 (8) ROAD MAINTENANCE.—The term ‘‘road 

4 maintenance’’ means ongoing upkeep of a road nec5 essary to retain or restore the road in accordance 

6 with approved road management objectives. 

7 (9) ROAD REALIGNMENT.—The term ‘‘road re8 alignment’’ means an activity that results in— 

9 (A) a new location of all or part of an ex10 isting road; and 

11 (B) treatment of the old roadway. 

12 (10) ROAD RECONSTRUCTION.—The term ‘‘road 

13 reconstruction’’ means an activity that results in im14 provement or realignment of an existing classified 

15 road. 

16 (11) TEMPORARY ROAD.—The term ‘‘temporary 

17 road’’ means a road that is— 

18 (A) authorized by contract, permit, lease, 

19 other written authorization, or emergency oper20 ation; and 

21 (B) not intended to be part of the forest 

22 transportation system and not necessary for 

23 long-term resource management. 

24 (12) UNCLASSIFIED ROAD.—The term ‘‘unclas25 sified road’’ means a road on National Forest SysVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:12 Mar 04, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2364.IS S2364

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1 tem land that is not managed as part of the forest 

2 transportation system, including— 

3 (A) an unplanned road, abandoned 

4 travelway, or off-road vehicle track that has not 

5 been designated and managed as a trail; and 

6 (B) a road that was once under permit or 

7 other authorization and was not decommis8 sioned on the termination of the authorization. 

9 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON ROAD CONSTRUCTION AND ROAD 

10 RECONSTRUCTION IN INVENTORIED 

11 ROADLESS AREAS. 

12 (a) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided in subsection 

13 (b), road construction and road reconstruction may not 

14 take place in an inventoried roadless area of the National 

15 Forest System. 

16 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—Road construction and road re17 construction may take place, including through the use of 

18 appropriated funds, in an inventoried roadless area of the 

19 National Forest System if the responsible official deter20 mines that— 

21 (1) a road is needed to protect public health 

22 and safety in a case of an imminent threat of flood, 

23 fire, or other catastrophic event that, without inter24 vention, would cause the loss of life or property; 

25 (2) a road is needed to conduct— 


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1 (A) a response action under the Com2 prehensive Environmental Response, Compensa3 tion, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 

4 et seq.); or 

5 (B) a natural resource restoration action 

6 under— 

7 (i) that Act; 

8 (ii) section 311 of the Federal Water 

9 Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1321); or 

10 (iii) the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (33 

11 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.); 

12 (3) a road is needed pursuant to a reserved or 

13 outstanding right, or as provided for by law or trea14 ty; 

15 (4) a road realignment is needed— 

16 (A) to prevent irreparable resource damage 

17 that arises from the design, location, use, or de18 terioration of a classified road that cannot be 

19 mitigated by road maintenance; and 

20 (B) to provide for essential public or pri21 vate access, natural resource management, or 

22 public health or safety; 

23 (5) road reconstruction is needed to implement 

24 a road safety improvement project on a classified 

25 road determined to be hazardous on the basis of acVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:12 Mar 04, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2364.IS S2364

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1 cident experience or accident potential with respect 

2 to the road; 

3 (6)(A) a Federal-aid highway project authorized 

4 under chapter 1 of title 23, United States Code, is— 

5 (i) in the public interest; or 

6 (ii) consistent with the purposes for which 

7 the land was reserved or acquired; and 

8 (B) no other reasonable and prudent alternative 

9 to the project exists; or 

10 (7)(A) a road is needed in conjunction with— 

11 (i) the continuation, extension, or renewal 

12 of a mineral lease on land that is under lease 

13 by the Secretary of the Interior as of January 

14 12, 2001; or 

15 (ii) the issuance of a new lease issued im16 mediately on the date of expiration of an exist17 ing lease described in clause (i); 

18 (B) road construction or road reconstruction 

19 under this paragraph will be conducted in a manner 

20 that— 

21 (i) minimizes the effects on surface re22 sources; 

23 (ii) prevents unnecessary or unreasonable 

24 surface disturbance; and 


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1 (iii) complies with all applicable laws (in2 cluding regulations), lease requirements, and 

3 land and resource management plan directives; 

4 and 

5 (C) a road constructed or reconstructed under 

6 this paragraph will be removed on the earlier of— 

7 (i) the date on which the road is no longer 

8 needed for the purposes of the lease; or 

9 (ii) the date of termination or expiration of 

10 the lease. 

11 (c) ROAD MAINTENANCE.—A classified road in an 

12 inventoried roadless area may be maintained. 

13 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON TIMBER CUTTING, SALE, OR RE14 MOVAL IN INVENTORIED ROADLESS AREAS. 

15 (a) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided in subsection 

16 (b), timber may not be cut, sold, or removed in an inven17 toried roadless area of the National Forest System. 

18 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—Timber may be cut, sold, or re19 moved in an inventoried roadless area if the responsible 

20 official determines that the cutting, sale, or removal of the 

21 timber is expected to be infrequent and— 

22 (1) the cutting, sale, or removal of generally 

23 small diameter timber— 

24 (A) will improve or maintain 1 or more 

25 roadless area characteristics; and 


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1 (B) is needed— 

2 (i) to improve habitat for threatened, 

3 endangered, candidate, or sensitive species, 

4 and species proposed for listing, under the 

5 Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 

6 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); or 

7 (ii) to maintain or restore the charac8 teristics of ecosystem composition and 

9 structure, such as to reduce the risk of 

10 uncharacteristic wildfire effects, within the 

11 range of variability that would be expected 

12 to occur under a natural disturbance re13 gime of the current climatic period; 

14 (2) the cutting, sale, or removal of timber is in15 cidental to the implementation of a management ac16 tivity not otherwise prohibited by this Act; 

17 (3) the cutting, sale, or removal of timber is 

18 needed and appropriate for personal or administra19 tive use, in accordance with part 223 of title 36, 

20 Code of Federal Regulations; or 

21 (4) roadless characteristics have been substan22 tially altered in a portion of an inventoried roadless 

23 area as a result of the construction of a classified 

24 road and subsequent timber harvest, if— 


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1 (A) the road construction and subsequent 

2 timber harvest occurred after the area was des3 ignated an inventoried roadless area and before 

4 January 12, 2001; and 

5 (B) timber is cut, sold, or removed only in 

6 the substantially altered portion of the inven7 toried roadless area. 

8 SEC. 6. SCOPE AND APPLICABILITY. 

9 (a) EFFECT.—This Act does not— 

10 (1) revoke, suspend, or modify any permit, con11 tract, or other legal instrument authorizing the occu12 pancy and use of National Forest System land 

13 issued or entered into before January 12, 2001; 

14 (2) compel the amendment or revision of any 

15 land and resource management plan; 

16 (3) revoke, suspend, or modify any decision con17 cerning any project or activity made before January 

18 12, 2001; or 

19 (4) apply to road construction, reconstruction, 

20 or the cutting, sale, or removal of timber in an 

21 inventoried roadless area of the Tongass National 

22 Forest if a notice of availability of a draft environ23 mental impact statement for such activity has been 

24 published in the Federal Register before January 

25 12, 2001. 


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1 (b) LIMITATION ON REVISION.—The prohibitions and 

2 restrictions established in this Act are not subject to re3 consideration, revision, or rescission in any subsequent 

4 project decision or amendment or revision to any land and 

5 resource management plan carried out in accordance with 

6 section 6 of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Re7 sources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604). 

Æ 


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