I have lived in rural Uintah County since 1987. I believe that some of the greatest values come from land that remains undeveloped. A lonely fire tower overlooking the Uinta Mountains is a good place to contemplate that.
I recently climbed Ute Mountain Fire Towernear Manila, Utah, the only fire tower still standing in Utah.
I was rewarded with an awesome view of the Uinta Mountains of Ashley National Forest, in the area known as Uinta North Slope. Along the crest of the Uintas, I can see miles of rugged peaks separated by gigantic gouges where prehistoric glaciers carved into the north side of the Uintas. At the heads of these U-shaped valleys are lakes and meadows, while dark coniferous forests extend from the lake shores to timberline.
The Uinta North Slope is uninhabited and roadless. Yet it is hardly inaccessible. Forest Service roads lead to Hacking Lake, Spirit Lake and Chepeta Lake,providing entry points for backpackers, hunters, anglers and horse packers. An adventurous soul could spend weeks exploring the network of trails without retracing their steps.
The Roadless Rule shields these high-altitude watersheds from the impacts of road construction and logging. Such roadless areas remain roadless for a reason: they are steep, remote, and difficult to access.
At the high elevations of the Uinta North Slope, the trees are small and sparse. Logging them would require the expense of building and maintaining new roads, plus taxpayer subsidies to the timber industry to completely cover their costs, and markets for lumber of limited value. After roading and logging, soil would erode into pristine creeks. Anyone who has driven a forest service road in the rain has seen the muddy water gushing down into the nearest stream.
The real value of these roadless landscapes is far greater than any timber they might produce. The clean water flowing through irrigation canals around the town of Manila originates in these anonymous peaks. The economic value of hunting, fishing, and recreation is harder to measure but equally real. Recreational visitors support local businesses and communities throughout Daggett County.
Claims that additional roads are needed for wildfire protectionare highly questionable. Most wildfires occur in the lower elevation wildland-urban interface (WUI), where human activity is concentrated along roads. We humans start the great majority of fires. The WUI zone is where fuels reduction projects should be concentrated, including selective logging and prescribed fires. Any fires that DO ignite in the Uinta North Slope mountain basins are usually limited by natural barriers. The high alpine ridges are covered by short tundra vegetation, where fire cannot easily spread.
The Forest Service should keep the Roadless Rule intact exactly as it is. Do not weaken or repeal this critical policy.
National forests are the heart of our public lands. The Roadless Area Conservation Rule protects some of the wildest forests we have left, forests that protect critical wildlife habitat and drinking water for millions. Revoking the Roadless Rule puts landscapes, wildlife, and communities at risk.
Not only is the Roadless Rule good policy, it's also wildly popular across the country, with over 600,000 people submitting comments to the US Forest Service last year in support of keeping the rule in place. And more than 20 years ago, the American people overwhelmingly called for our national forests to be protected for future generations. Revoking the Roadless Rule would destroy the natural inheritance we leave for our children.