Forest roads spark statewide debate

Friday, June 30, 2000 | 11:21 a.m.

More than half the residents who showed up Thursday night to tell U.S. Forest Service officials what they think of the agency's proposed roadless policy called for a halt to construction of new roads in the nation's forests.

Fred Dexter, a long-haul trucker, cited figures that show the 386,000 miles of roads already in the nation's forests cover eight times more miles than the entire interstate highway system.

"That is an awful lot of roads, and I think that era is ended," Dexter said. "(Forests) are finite resources I'd like to see preserved for future generations. I don't want to see any new roads."

The evening hearing that attracted about 40 people, 23 of whom spoke, was one of two conducted Thursday at the West Sahara Library. Fifteen residents spoke during an afternoon session, Forest Service officials said.

"There's a lot of misunderstanding, particularly from people who think we're going to close everything," Tom Kuekes, Las Vegas' district ranger, said. "All we're saying is we're not going to build more roads. But a lot of people think it's the first step of something else. There's a lot of mistrust."

The Roadless Area Conservation plan calls for a halt to building any new roads in nearly 53 million of the Forest Service's 192 million acres nationwide. These are areas not included in current wilderness or wilderness study areas, which already are protected.

The measure would affect 3.4 million roadless acres within the 6.3 million acres that compose Nevada's Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. Of that, 107,000 acres of the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area's 317,000 acres would remain roadless.

Kuekes noted that some of the Spring Mountains' "roadless" areas actually have roads in them, such as those that travel through Clark, Wallace and Carpenter canyons on the range's west side.

Under the proposal those roads -- and any others that exist in the designated "roadless" areas -- would remain and continue to be maintained, Kuekes said. The plan only calls for prohibiting the addition of new ones.

"It does not affect existing roads in these areas," he said, adding that snowmobiling and off-road vehicle would still be permitted in those areas as well.

But some of those in attendance Thursday didn't believe it. They fear deeming an area "roadless" is the first step to closing it to any but the most primitive and physically demanding recreation.

"If we could honestly believe them, that would be fine," Chelly Hawkins, 32, said following Thursday night's session.

Hawkins suffers from a severe spinal injury she received while serving in the U.S. Air Force. The condition was aggravated a couple of years ago when she was hit by a bullet from a drive-by shooting. Most of the time, she uses a wheelchair to get around.

"My back is pretty trashed. I will not walk the rest of my life. I know that," she said. "It has really limited my independence. But the independence I have in my four-wheel-drive, well, I can get out and see things."

Anne Martin, Nevada organizer for the national conservation group American Lands, said too many people still don't understand that the roads they now use won't be affected.

She and other conservationists say the proposal doesn't offer enough protection, as it still allows off-road vehicles, snowmobiling and even logging, mining and oil extraction in some areas.

Public comments will be accepted in written form or by e-mail until July 15, Kuekes said. For more information call (800) 384-7623.