We are concerned that the same time constraints placed on the public have also been placed on internal Forest Service analytical work leading to adverse effects on management. Access should be a primary objective of this policy. In some mixed-ownership watersheds, private landowners and other governmental entities are interested at minimum, in an efficient road system for the entire watershed, not just Forest Service land. The Forest Service's policy should create such a road system in partnership with private and other public landowners. These permits sometimes come with an unacceptable set of conditions on private land management.
Duplicate roads can lead to adverse ecological impacts.
The proposed policy should foster cooperative road development. The new analysis tools developed by the Forest Service are an improvement. However, road analysis that uses the proposed methodology and best available science must proceed quickly and must be relatively inexpensive. We cannot afford another layer of expensive process on top of the already cumbersome forest planning process. The two ought to be integrated.