Others want a full environment impact statement. Proposed and existing roads will now have to undergo environmental assessments. Roads that don't make the grade will be decommissioned, the USFS says. Some 11,500 miles of roads in the Chequamegon and Nicolet national forests up north are affected. Environmentalists say forest roads add to erosion, destroy habitat and affect animal migration.
Loggers remain dubious about any cutback in roads.
More than 200 meetings were held nationwide on the plan, and the Forest Service received more than 500,000 comments. A 60-day comment period started March 3. Back to Top State Congressman Proposes Mississippi Initiative Wisconsin state Rep. Ron Kind garnered some environmental praise when he proposed legislation that would reduce polluted runoff in the Upper Mississippi River basin. Kind will introduce the Upper Mississippi River Basin Conservation Act of 2000, which will increase funding for conservation programs and target assistance to high-priority watersheds in the Upper Mississippi River basin. Sediment and nutrients that wash off farms and yards threaten drinking-water supplies, increase the cost of dredging the Mississippi's navigation channel and reduce habitat for river wildlife.