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Department of Ecology News Release - Nov. 21, 2000
00-223
OLYMPIA - Two signatures may make all the difference in the long-term health of Washington watersheds.
The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) signed a landmark agreement today to improve water quality by repairing, maintaining or closing roads on national forests.
The agreement is patterned from the "forests and fish legislation" for state and private forests that Gov. Gary Locke signed in 1999. The new pact will ensure proper management of roads across multiple ownerships and builds on the strengths of the Northwest Forest Plan and Forest Service national road-management plan.
"The agreement brings the federal government along with private and state forests, and it represents another big step forward in our efforts to improve water quality and important salmon-spawning habitat," said Locke.
Most of Washington's waters flow from the tops of mountains and hillsides and through national forests. When roads fail or wash out, water quality problems cascade throughout the watershed, sending dirt, rocks and mud into streams, where they cover up salmon-spawning areas, cause floods and increase water temperature, which makes rivers unhealthy for fish.
USFS Regional Forester Harv Forsgren said, "Watershed health and restoration is one of our four priorities under our natural resource agenda. This agreement affirms our belief in collaborating with other partners to insure strong and healthy watersheds provide quality water and aquatic habitat. I am pleased that watershed health and restoration is receiving both importance and understanding to its critical importance."
The USFS and Ecology developed the agreement during the past year. The USFS will develop road management plans for all federal forest roads within five years and fully implement those plans within 15 years, so that roads are not contributing to water quality problems.
The agreement is different from the proposed Forest Service's roadless-area conservation plan, which looks at areas without roads. The agreement reached this week focuses on ensuring that existing roads stay in good repair.
"Forest roads need to be repaired and maintained just as much as our roads and highways do. If they deteriorate, they pose not only a safety risk, but also a threat to our environment and water quality," said Ecology Director Tom Fitzsimmons.
The USFS will work on high-risk, high-priority watersheds throughout the state first. During the next year, projects will occur in the following areas:
Nationally, the Forest Service faces an $8.4 billion backlog in road maintenance and reconstruction. In the Olympic National Forest alone, road maintenance and reconstruction needs total $50 million.
Within the next 15 years, the agreement directs crews to stabilize all national forest roads in Washington state to keep pollution out of the water.
CONTACT: Mary Getchell, Department of Ecology, (360) 407-6157; pager, (360)
534-8590
Rex Holloway, Forest Service, 503-808-2241
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
