Roadless areas often provide critical habitat and migration routes for wildlife and are particularly important to species needing large home ranges, like grizzly bears and wolves. A study by the World Wildlife Fund and the Conservation Biology Institute, released at the same time as Clinton's proposal, found that the remaining roadless areas within national forests are essential to ensuring animal and plant survival. Roadless areas offer unfragmented, productive habitat to wildlife and ecosystems. Watersheds in pristine, roadless national forests supply more than 900 communities with their drinking water. Road construction increases the risk of erosion, landslides and slope failure, jeopardizing wide ranges of watershed areas.
Wilderness areas offer pristine recreational opportunities for people.
Roadless areas that are officially designated as wilderness provide permanent protection from road building, logging, mining or other activities. Wilderness is a repository of biological diversity. Preserving roadless areas allows their ecological functions to continue and provides a setting for scientific study.