44.7 million acres of our forests are managed under the roadless rule, about 30% of our national forests.
The roadless areas we have in Northern Arizona are amazingly diverse. With that said the Coconino NF has more roads than we can count.
- The Forest Service already has more roads than they can maintain.
Estimated costs for annual maintenance 1.6 billion, the agency receives less than 20% of that per year
- The incidence of human caused fires generally increases in proximity of roads
- Roads effect biodiversity by causing habitat fragmentation and loss of connectivity. Elk prefer roadless areas and select habitat away from roads
- While fires tend to be larger in roadless areas the amount of moderate to high severity burns is only slightly higher in wilderness and roadless areas.