BELOW: Shared by Pearl Rains Hewett - Behind My Back Thank You Pearl
The commentary and Text of Letter to the
Secretary of The Dept Of Agriculture
concerning Road Closures
Commentary
Cantwell working on "IT" for years
Who are these people???
Backlog grows by $8M yearly; neglected forest roads
cause environmental damage and
jeopardize salmon runs
WASHINGTON, DC – Friday, U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Patty Murray (D-WA) along with Congressmen Norm Dicks (D-WA), Brian Baird (D-WA), Rick Larsen (D-WA), and Jay Inslee (D-WA), sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns asking the U.S. Forest Service to improve maintenance of the deteriorating forest roads in Washington state.
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Yah-Sure U-Betcha!
The Forest Service is responsible for managing over 22,000 miles of roads in Washington and over $300 million alone will be needed to maintain the existing roads, replace culverts, and decommission old roads. Currently, $3 million is spent annually on road maintenance in the state’s national forests, while the backlog of deferred maintenance grows by $8 million each year.
"We believe that the federal government must promptly take the actions necessary to reduce the harmful impacts of deteriorating Forest Service roads," wrote Cantwell and her colleagues. "There needs to be a clear plan that identifies what has to be done to achieve an ecologically and fiscally sustainable road system that reasonably meets the future needs for public access and agency administration."
Maria failed to see this was done. Where did the funds go?
Cantwell is the primary Senate champion to preserve America’s remaining roadless areas, and has made the protection of these lands a priority since taking office. On May 24, Cantwell and Senator John Warner (R-VA), along with Inslee, reintroduced legislation to protect 58.5 million acres of roadless national forests, including two million acres in Washington state. The bill will enable the Forest Service to tackle the estimated $8.4 million backlog of road maintenance in the existing road system, and prevent the building of additional roads that would only exacerbate the problem.
GOVERNOR Jay Gay INSLEE ???????
Tip Toeing through the tulips.
on your TAB
Text Of Letter to the Secretary of The Dept Of Agriculture
June 29, 2007
1400 Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington, DC 20250
RE: Forest Service Roads
Dear Secretary Johanns:
We are very concerned about the decline in the health of national forest watersheds due to the poor condition of U.S. Forest Service roads in Washington State and across the nation. As you may know, the Forest Service is responsible for managing 380,000 miles of roads nationally, including over 22,000 miles in Washington. Due to inadequate funding, storm damage, and neglect, many of these roads are deteriorating and causing serious environmental damage.
Maria failed to see this was done. Where did the funds go?Unfortunately, the Administration’s budget request for FY 2008 will significantly worsen the problem of Forest Service roads. Nationally, the budget proposes a 31 percent cut in Forest Service road maintenance, while road decommissioning will decline from 682 miles in 2006 to 375 miles in 2008 – a 55 percent reduction. At the same time, the budget proposes a 184 percent increase in funding for timber sales in the Pacific Northwest. These budget proposals reflect a serious misallocation of resources to address Forest Service management issues in Washington and nationally.
What funds where actually produced? and where did those pennies go?
What are the current estimated costs of deferred road maintenance, culvert replacement and repairs, and road decommissioning? How have those estimated costs changed since 2000, when the Forest Service estimated $8.6 billion in road needs? To what extent are those changes due to better road information versus reduced maintenance standards?
What process does the Forest Service use to identify road needs? How complete is the analysis? Does the analysis identify roads that should be closed and decommissioned? Please provide this office the specific data on Washington's national forest road needs.
What is the Forest Service’s strategy to come into compliance with the Clean Water Act through reducing deferred maintenance, replacing culverts and decommissioning roads to a level that the agency can afford to maintain?
Therefore they have succeeded in the real agenda they are seeking.
An effortless job to let unmaintained roads decomission themselves.
Where did all the funds go?
Say what?
A trillion dollars? and not a penny left in the pot that's been peed in?
or for the people who've been peed on?
Sincerely,