Conservation value of national forest roadless areas

Abstract

Conservation scientists call for establishing additional protected areas amidst ongoing threats of expanding human development. Nevertheless, some existing protected areas are being downsized and demoted of their existing conservation protections. In 2001, the Roadless Area Conservation Rule prohibited road construction and timber harvest in 240,000 km 2 of inventoried roadless areas (IRAs) located on United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service lands. IRAs represent a non-legislative protected status that is in jeopardy of conservation demotion or "degazettement," and few national protected area assessments recognize the IRA designation. Since the rule's conception two decades ago, little research has been conducted to assess the conservation values of IRAs and the values they could add to the existing system of highly protected areas in the continental United States. To increase understanding of these conservation values, we assessed three aspects of roadless areas: (a) how wild and intact are IRA lands compared to state, national, and protected lands, (b) how do IRAs complement the size, connectedness, and representation of protected lands, and (c) how do IRAs contribute to protection of important ecosystem services (drinking water and annual carbon capture)? Through this analysis we found that many IRAs are among the most wild, undeveloped areas both in the nation and within their respective states. IRAs increase the size of-and reduce isolation between-protected areas, likely buffering them from external stressors. In some places, IRAs protect watersheds that deliver drinking water to hundreds of thousands of people. IRAs also add significantly to the total carbon captured by existing protected areas. The results of our evaluation demonstrate the potential of IRAs to contribute to the conservation value of the U.S. protected area system and to deliver important ecosystem services.

Maximizing the effectiveness of national commitments to protected area expansion for conserving biodiversity and ecosystem carbon under climate change

“…6a). The 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Policy ended most logging, roadbuilding, and mineral leasing on 235,000 km 2 of undeveloped lands within the US national forest system (Talty et al, 2020)(Fig. 6a).…”

“…These national monuments and roadless areas incidentally resulted in protection of conservation values that policymakers had not yet established as explicit goals, by safeguarding important climate refugia and high-carbon ecosystems, especially within old-growth temperate rainforests in southeastern Alaska and the US Pacific Northwest (Buotte et al, 2020;Talty et al, 2020)(Fig. 6b).…”

“…The 2009–2017 Obama administration added 21,000 km 2 of terrestrial federal ownership to bring the network of terrestrial National Monuments designated by previous administrations under the Antiquities Act to approximately 76,000 km 2 (CRS, 2019) (Figure 6a). The 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Policy ended most logging, road building, and mineral leasing on 235,000 km 2 of undeveloped lands within the US national forest system (Talty et al, 2020) (Figure 6a).…”

“…These national monuments and roadless areas incidentally resulted in protection of conservation values that policymakers had not yet established as explicit goals, by safeguarding important climate refugia and high‐carbon ecosystems, especially within old‐growth temperate rainforests in southeastern Alaska and the US Pacific Northwest (Buotte et al, 2020; Talty et al, 2020) (Figure 6b). Adaptation and mitigation benefits from these existing initiatives should be assessed and integrated into any new national strategy to achieve the 30% protection target and national commitments under Paris Agreement.…”

“…The 2009-2017 Obama administration added 21,000 km 2 of terrestrial federal ownership to bring the network of terrestrial National Monuments designated by previous administrations under the Antiquities Act to approximately 76,000 km 2 (CRS, 2019) (Figure6a). The 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Policy ended most logging, road building, and mineral leasing on 235,000 km 2 of undeveloped lands within the US national forest system(Talty et al, 2020) (Figure6a).These national monuments and roadless areas incidentally resulted in protection of conservation values that policymakers had not yet established as explicit goals, by safeguarding important climate refugia and high-carbon ecosystems, especially within old-growth temperate rainforests in southeastern Alaska and the US Pacific Northwest(Buotte et al, 2020;Talty et al, 2020) (Figure6b). Adaptation and mitigation benefits from these existing initiatives should be assessed and integrated into any new national strategy to achieve the 30% protection target and national commitments under Paris Agreement.…”