Overview Few natural resource issues in recent years have attracted as much public scrutiny as the management of the Forest Service road system.
Forest roads can have adverse impacts on watersheds, especially if poorly maintained.
Few marks on the land are more lasting than roads. Yet, forest roads are essential for forest use and often serve as the backbone of rural transportation networks. The estimated 380,000 miles of classified Forest Service roads on National Forest System lands are extensive and diverse. Most of the existing road system was built over the last 50 years for timber harvest and log removal. In the decades after World War II, logging traffic tripled, peaking in 1990.