[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 41 (Monday, October 18, 1999)]
[Pages 2023-2024]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Memorandum on Protection of Forest ``Roadless'' Areas

October 13, 1999

Memorandum for the Secretary of Agriculture

Subject: Protection of Forest ``Roadless'' Areas

    At the start of this century, President Theodore Roosevelt dedicated 
this Nation to the conservation of natural resources--our land, our 
water, our wildlife, and all the other precious gifts nature had 
bestowed upon us. One of America's great central tasks, he declared, is 
``leaving this land even a better land for our descendants than it is 
for us.''
    In pursuit of that goal, President Roosevelt established new 
protections for millions upon millions of acres across America. His 
remarkable legacy includes 5 national parks, 18 national monuments, and 
dozens of wildlife refuges. Among his most notable conservation 
achievements were the consolidation of 65 million acres of Federal 
forest reserves into the National Forest System, and the creation of the 
United States Forest Service to ensure wise stewardship of these lands 
for future generations. In this effort, he was guided by Gifford 
Pinchot, the first Chief of the Forest Service and a founder of 
America's conservation movement.
    Today, the National Forest System has grown to 192 million acres of 
forests and grasslands in 46 States and territories. These lands provide 
a broad array of benefits to the American people. They support rural 
industries, sustain fish and wildlife, generate drinking water for 60 
million Americans, and provide important recreation opportunities to an 
increasingly urban population.
    Over the years, unfortunately, our Nation has not always honored 
President Roosevelt's vision. Too often, we have favored resource 
extraction over conservation, degrading our forests and the critical 
natural values they sustain. As the consequences of these actions have 
become more apparent, the American people have expressed growing concern 
and have called on us to restore balance to their forests.
    My Administration has made significant strides in improving the 
management of our Federal forestlands. Beginning with the adoption of a 
comprehensive, science-based forest plan for the Pacific Northwest, we 
have sought to strengthen protections for wildlife, water quality, and 
other vital ecological values, while ensuring a steady, sustainable 
supply of timber and other commodities to support stable rural 
economies. The new forest planning regulation proposed last month 
represents another major step in that direction.
    It is time now, I believe, to address our next challenge--the fate 
of those lands within the National Forest System that remain largely 
untouched by human intervention.
    A principal defining characteristic of these lands is that they do 
not have, and in most cases never have had, roads across them. We know 
from earlier inventories that there are more than 40 million acres of 
``roadless'' area within the National Forest System, generally in 
parcels of 5,000 acres or more. A temporary moratorium on road building 
in most of these areas has allowed us time to assess their ecological, 
economic, and social values and to evaluate long-term options for their 
management.
    In weighing the future of these lands, we are presented with a 
unique historic opportunity. From the Appalachian Mountains to the 
Sierra Nevada, these are some of the last, best unprotected wildlands in 
America. They are vital havens for wildlife--indeed, some

[[Page 2024]]

are absolutely critical to the survival of endangered species. They are 
a source of clean, fresh water for countless communities. They offer 
unparalleled opportunities for hikers, campers, hunters, anglers, and 
others to experience unspoiled nature. In short, these lands bestow upon 
us unique and irreplaceable benefits. They are a treasured inheritance--
enduring remnants of an untrammeled wilderness that once stretched from 
ocean to ocean.
    Accordingly, I have determined that it is in the best interest of 
our Nation, and of future generations, to provide strong and lasting 
protection for these forests, and I am directing you to initiate 
administrative proceedings to that end.
    Specifically, I direct the Forest Service to develop, and propose 
for public comment, regulations to provide appropriate long-term 
protection for most or all of these currently inventoried ``roadless'' 
areas, and to determine whether such protection is warranted for any 
smaller ``roadless'' areas not yet inventoried. The public, and all 
interested parties, should have the opportunity to review and comment on 
the proposed regulations. In the final regulations, the nature and 
degree of protections afforded should reflect the best available science 
and a careful consideration of the full range of ecological, economic, 
and social values inherent in these lands.
    I commend you, along with the Undersecretary for Natural Resources 
and the Environment, Jim Lyons, the Chief of the Forest Service, Michael 
Dombeck, and the entire Forest Service for your leadership in 
strengthening and modernizing the management of our Federal forests--
lands held by us in trust for all Americans and for future generations. 
With the new effort we launch today, we can feel confident that we have 
helped to fulfill and extend the conservation legacy of Theodore 
Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot, and to ensure that the 21st century is 
indeed a new century for America's forests.
                                            William J. Clinton