II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1738 

To provide lasting protection for inventoried roadless areas within the 

National Forest System. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 1, 2009 

Ms. CANTWELL (for herself, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. 

LIEBERMAN, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. KAUFMAN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. WEBB, Mr. 

MERKLEY, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. KERRY, Mr. SCHUMER, 

Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. AKAKA, Mr. DODD, Mr. BURRIS, Mr. MENENDEZ, 

Mr. HARKIN, Mr. WARNER, Mr. REED, Mrs. MURRAY, Mrs. HAGAN, Mr. 

BROWN, and Mrs. GILLIBRAND) 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 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

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


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1 (1) there is a compelling need to establish na2 tional protection for inventoried roadless areas of the 

3 National Forest System in order to protect the 

4 unique social and ecological values of those irreplace5 able resources; 

6 (2) roadless areas protect healthy watersheds 

7 and their numerous benefits including— 

8 (A) protecting downstream communities 

9 from floods and tempering the effects of 

10 drought; 

11 (B) ensuring a supply of clean water for 

12 domestic, agricultural, and industrial uses; 

13 (C) helping maintain abundant and healthy 

14 fish and wildlife populations and habitats; 

15 (D) providing the setting for many forms 

16 of outdoor recreation; and 

17 (E) providing drinking water to millions of 

18 citizens from the more than 354 municipal wa19 tersheds found on roadless areas; 

20 (3) maintaining roadless areas in a relatively 

21 undisturbed condition— 

22 (A) saves downstream communities mil23 lions of dollars in water filtration costs; and 

24 (B) is crucial to preserve the flow of af25 fordable, clean water to a growing population; 


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1 (4) the protection of roadless areas can main2 tain biological strongholds and refuges for many im3 periled species by halting the ongoing fragmentation 

4 of the landscape into smaller and smaller parcels of 

5 land divided by road corridors; 

6 (5) roadless areas conserve native biodiversity 

7 by serving as a bulwark against the spread of non8 native invasive species; 

9 (6) roadless areas provide unparalleled opportu10 nities for hiking, camping, picnicking, wildlife view11 ing, hunting, fishing, cross-country skiing, canoeing, 

12 mountain-biking, and similar activities; 

13 (7) while roadless areas may have many wilder14 ness-like attributes, unlike wilderness areas, the use 

15 of mechanized means of travel is allowed in many 

16 roadless areas; 

17 (8) roadless areas contain many sites sacred to 

18 Native Americans and other groups that use 

19 roadless areas for spiritual and religious retreats; 

20 (9) from the inception of Federal land manage21 ment, it has been the mission of the Forest Service 

22 and other agencies to manage the National Forest 

23 System for the dual purposes of resource extraction 

24 and conservation; 


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1 (10) consistent with that dual mission, this 

2 Act— 

3 (A) protects social and ecological values, 

4 while allowing for many multiple uses of inven5 toried roadless areas; and 

6 (B) does not impose any limitations on the 

7 use of, or access to National Forest System, 

8 State, or private land outside inventoried 

9 roadless areas; 

10 (11) establishing a consistent national policy for 

11 the protection of inventoried roadless areas— 

12 (A) ensures that the considerable long13 term ecological and economic benefits of pro14 tecting roadless areas for future generations are 

15 properly considered; 

16 (B) diminishes the likelihood of con17 troversy at the project level; and 

18 (C) enables the Chief of the Forest Service 

19 to focus on the economic and environmental 

20 benefits of reducing hazardous fuel buildups in 

21 portions of the landscape that already have 

22 roads; 

23 (12) the National Fire Plan indicates that fires 

24 are almost twice as likely to occur in roaded areas 

25 as in roadless areas, because roadless areas are genVerDate Nov 24 2008 04:43 Oct 03, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1738.IS S1738

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1 erally located further away from communities and 

2 are harder to access; 

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

4 Sustaining Resources in Fire-Adapted Ecosystems— 

5 A Cohesive Strategy’’ (65 Fed. Reg. 67480) advo6 cates a higher priority for fuel reduction on land 

7 that is near communities and readily accessible mu8 nicipal watersheds; 

9 (14) the Forest Service has an enormous back10 log of maintenance needs for the existing 386,000 

11 mile road system of the Forest Service that will cost 

12 millions of dollars to eliminate; 

13 (15) no State or private land owner would con14 tinue to build new roads in the face of such an enor15 mous backlog; 

16 (16) failure to maintain forest roads— 

17 (A) limits public access; and 

18 (B) causes degradation of water quality 

19 and wildlife and fish habitat; and 

20 (17) protection of roadless areas— 

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

22 national timber supply; and 

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

24 gas production because— 


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1 (i) the entire National Forest System 

2 provides only approximately 0.4 percent of 

3 the quantity of oil and gas that is pro4 duced in the United States; and 

5 (ii) roadless areas provide only a frac6 tion of the quantity of oil and gas that is 

7 produced in the National Forest System. 

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

9 within the context of multiple-use management, lasting 

10 protection for inventoried roadless areas within the Na11 tional Forest System. 

12 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

13 In this Act: 

14 (1) CLASSIFIED ROAD.— 

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

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

17 or adjacent to, National Forest System land 

18 that is determined to be needed for long-term 

19 motor vehicle access. 

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

21 road’’ includes a State road, county road, pri22 vately-owned road, National Forest System 

23 road, and any other road authorized by the 

24 Forest Service. 


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1 (2) INVENTORIED ROADLESS AREA.—The term 

2 ‘‘inventoried roadless area’’ means an area identified 

3 in a roadless area map. 

4 (3) RESPONSIBLE OFFICIAL.—The term ‘‘re5 sponsible official’’ means a Forest Service line offi6 cer or employee with the authority and responsibility 

7 to make decisions regarding the protection and man8 agement of inventoried roadless areas under this 

9 Act. 

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

11 vehicle travelway over 50 inches wide, unless des12 ignated and managed as a trail. 

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

14 construction’’ means activity that results in the ad15 dition of classified road or temporary road miles. 

16 (6) ROAD IMPROVEMENT.—The term ‘‘road im17 provement’’ means activity that results in— 

18 (A) an increase of the traffic service level 

19 of an existing road; 

20 (B) an expansion of the capacity of the 

21 road; or 

22 (C) a change in the original design func23 tion of the road. 

24 (7) ROAD MAINTENANCE.—The term ‘‘road 

25 maintenance’’ means ongoing upkeep of a road necVerDate Nov 24 2008 03:32 Oct 02, 2009 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1738.IS S1738

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1 essary to retain or restore the road in accordance 

2 with approved road management objectives. 

3 (8) ROAD REALIGNMENT.—The term ‘‘road re4 alignment’’ means an activity that results in— 

5 (A) a new location for all or part of an ex6 isting road; and 

7 (B) treatment of the old roadway. 

8 (9) ROAD RECONSTRUCTION.—The term ‘‘road 

9 reconstruction’’ means an activity that results in im10 provement or realignment of an existing classified 

11 road. 

12 (10) ROADLESS AREA CHARACTERISTICS.—The 

13 term ‘‘roadless area characteristics’’ means re14 sources or features that are often present in and 

15 characterize inventoried roadless areas, including— 

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

17 and air; 

18 (B) sources of public drinking water; 

19 (C) diversity of plant and animal commu20 nities; 

21 (D) habitat for— 

22 (i) threatened, endangered, candidate, 

23 or sensitive species, and species proposed 

24 for listing, under the Endangered Species 

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


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1 (ii) species dependent on large, undis2 turbed areas of land; 

3 (E) primitive, semiprimitive nonmotorized, 

4 and semiprimitive motorized classes of dis5 persed recreation; 

6 (F) reference landscapes; 

7 (G) natural appearing landscapes with 

8 high scenic quality; 

9 (H) traditional cultural properties and sa10 cred sites; and 

11 (I) other locally identified unique charac12 teristics. 

13 (11) ROADLESS AREA MAP.—The term 

14 ‘‘roadless area map’’ means an inventoried roadless 

15 area map that is contained in the document entitled 

16 ‘‘Forest Service Roadless Areas Conservation, Final 

17 Environmental Impact Statement, Volume 2’’, dated 

18 November 2000. 

19 (12) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 

20 means the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through 

21 the Chief of the Forest Service. 

22 (13) TEMPORARY ROAD.—The term ‘‘temporary 

23 road’’ means a road that is— 


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

2 other written authorization, or emergency oper3 ation; and 

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

5 transportation system and not necessary for 

6 long-term resource management. 

7 (14) UNCLASSIFIED ROAD.—The term ‘‘unclas8 sified road’’ means a road on National Forest Sys9 tem land that is not managed as part of the forest 

10 transportation system, including— 

11 (A) an unplanned road, abandoned 

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

13 been designated and managed as a trail; and 

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

15 other authorization and was not decommis16 sioned on the termination of the authorization. 

17 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON ROAD CONSTRUCTION AND ROAD 

18 RECONSTRUCTION IN INVENTORIED 

19 ROADLESS AREAS. 

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

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

22 take place in an inventoried roadless area of the National 

23 Forest System. 

24 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—Road construction and road re25 construction may take place, including through the use of 


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1 appropriated funds, in an inventoried roadless area of the 

2 National Forest System if the responsible official deter3 mines that— 

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

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

6 fire, or other catastrophic event that, without inter7 vention, would cause the loss of life or property; 

8 (2) a road is needed to conduct— 

9 (A) a response action under the Com10 prehensive Environmental Response, Compensa11 tion, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 

12 et seq.); or 

13 (B) a natural resource restoration action 

14 under— 

15 (i) that Act; 

16 (ii) section 311 of the Federal Water 

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

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

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

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

21 outstanding right, or as provided for by law or trea22 ty; 

23 (4) a road realignment is needed— 

24 (A) to prevent irreparable resource damage 

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1 terioration of a classified road that cannot be 

2 mitigated by road maintenance; and 

3 (B) to provide for essential public or pri4 vate access, natural resource management, or 

5 public health or safety; 

6 (5) road reconstruction is needed to implement 

7 a road safety improvement project on a classified 

8 road determined to be hazardous on the basis of ac9 cident experience or accident potential with respect 

10 to the road; 

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

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

13 (i) in the public interest; or 

14 (ii) consistent with the purposes for which 

15 the land was reserved or acquired; and 

16 (B) no other reasonable and prudent alternative 

17 to the project exists; or 

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

19 (i) the continuation, extension, or renewal 

20 of a mineral lease on land that is under lease 

21 by the Secretary of the Interior as of January 

22 12, 2001; or 

23 (ii) the issuance of a new lease issued im24 mediately on the date of expiration of an exist25 ing lease described in clause (i); 


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1 (B) road construction or road reconstruction 

2 under this paragraph will be conducted in a manner 

3 that— 

4 (i) minimizes the effects on surface re5 sources; 

6 (ii) prevents unnecessary or unreasonable 

7 surface disturbance; and 

8 (iii) complies with all applicable laws (in9 cluding regulations), lease requirements, and 

10 land and resource management plan directives; 

11 and 

12 (C) a road constructed or reconstructed under 

13 this paragraph will be removed on the earlier of— 

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

15 needed for the purposes of the lease; or 

16 (ii) the date of termination or expiration of 

17 the lease. 

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

19 inventoried roadless area may be maintained. 

20 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION ON TIMBER CUTTING, SALE, OR RE21 MOVAL IN INVENTORIED ROADLESS AREAS. 

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

23 (b), timber may not be cut, sold, or removed in an inven24 toried roadless area of the National Forest System. 


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1 (b) EXCEPTIONS.—Timber may be cut, sold, or re2 moved in an inventoried roadless area if the responsible 

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

4 timber is expected to be infrequent and— 

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

6 small diameter timber— 

7 (A) will improve or maintain 1 or more 

8 roadless area characteristics; and 

9 (B) is needed— 

10 (i) to improve habitat for threatened, 

11 endangered, candidate, or sensitive species, 

12 and species proposed for listing, under the 

13 Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 

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

15 (ii) to maintain or restore the charac16 teristics of ecosystem composition and 

17 structure, such as to reduce the risk of 

18 uncharacteristic wildfire effects, within the 

19 range of variability that would be expected 

20 to occur under a natural disturbance re21 gime of the current climatic period; 

22 (2) the cutting, sale, or removal of timber is in23 cidental to the implementation of a management ac24 tivity not otherwise prohibited by this Act; 


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

2 needed and appropriate for personal or administra3 tive use, in accordance with part 223 of title 36, 

4 Code of Federal Regulations; or 

5 (4) roadless characteristics have been substan6 tially altered in a portion of an inventoried roadless 

7 area as a result of the construction of a classified 

8 road and subsequent timber harvest, if— 

9 (A) the road construction and subsequent 

10 timber harvest occurred after the area was des11 ignated an inventoried roadless area and before 

12 January 12, 2001; and 

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

14 the substantially altered portion of the inven15 toried roadless area. 

16 SEC. 6. MODIFICATIONS TO ROADLESS AREA MAPS. 

17 (a) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.—The Secretary may 

18 make 1 or more modifications to a roadless area map to 

19 improve the accuracy or inclusiveness of the roadless area 

20 map. 

21 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—In modifying a roadless area 

22 map under subsection (a), the Secretary shall— 

23 (1) make the modification in accordance with 

24 the National Forest Management Act of 1976 (16 

25 U.S.C. 1600 et seq.); and 


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1 (2) to evaluate the effect of the modification, 

2 prepare an environmental impact statement or simi3 lar analysis required under the National Environ4 mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 

5 SEC. 7. SCOPE AND APPLICABILITY. 

6 (a) EFFECT.—This Act does not— 

7 (1) revoke, suspend, or modify any permit, con8 tract, or other legal instrument authorizing the occu9 pancy and use of National Forest System land 

10 issued or entered into before January 12, 2001; 

11 (2) compel the amendment or revision of any 

12 land and resource management plan; 

13 (3) revoke, suspend, or modify any decision con14 cerning any project or activity made before January 

15 12, 2001; or 

16 (4) apply to road construction, reconstruction, 

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

18 inventoried roadless area of the Tongass National 

19 Forest if a notice of availability of a draft environ20 mental impact statement for such activity has been 

21 published in the Federal Register before January 

22 12, 2001. 

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

24 restrictions established in this Act are not subject to re25 consideration, revision, or rescission in any subsequent 


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1 project decision or amendment or revision to any land and 

2 resource management plan carried out in accordance with 

3 section 6 of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Re4 sources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604). 

Æ 


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