The Problem with Motorized Roads/Routes

Roadless Areas are Important to the Forest

Not every motorized road/route results in every one of the following problems, but the more roads and routes that exist, the more the following problems occur:

• Wildlife mortality from collisions
• Increased harassment of wildlife
• Pollution of water, runoff, and air by fuel and oil
• Noise
• Loss and fragmentation of plant and wildlife habitat
• Diminished wildlife use of habitats because of noise, dust, emissions, and/or the presence of humans
• Interference with wildlife life-history functions such as courtship, nesting, and migration
• Introduction and spread of non-native plant species on vehicle tires, and disturbance of soil, which favors non-native species
• Increased poaching or unethical hunting practices
• Increased spread and reach of recreation impacts, particularly by off-road vehicles
• Degradation of aquatic habitats (wetlands, streams, creeks) through alteration of stream banks and increased sediment loads
• Increased vandalism, theft, and damage to archaeological and cultural sites because of increased access
• Loss of experience of solitude and quiet for non-motorized forest users
• Increased risk of human-caused fires from sparks
• Increased spread of diseases (e.g., whirling disease) between watersheds

Roadless areas contain:

• the largest blocks of native habitat for wide-ranging and road-sensitive wildlife species
• healthiest remaining native fisheries
• best quality hunting habitat
• last vestiges of wildness
• least invasive species
• greatest relief from motorized life

Most of our nation and public lands are heavily roaded.

Help keep our National Forests healthy for plants, wildlife, and future generations of humans.

We need our nation's few remaining roadless areas to stay roadless.