Goal

To ensure the protection of 62,000 acres as roadless areas within the Superior National Forest.

Issues

1. Minnesotans overwhelmingly support the proposal to protect roadless areas within the national forests and specifically within the Superior National Forest.
   • In March 2000, The Feldman Group, Inc. asked Minnesotans if they supported the protection of 62,000 acres (2% of National Forest lands in Minnesota) as roadless areas. The results of the poll show that 83% of respondents supported the proposal to protect Minnesota’s roadless areas.
2. The protection of Minnesota’s roadless areas will not negatively affect the state’s economy or timber harvest.
   • According to U.S. Forest Service data, Minnesota’s National Forests supply 8% of the state’s total timber harvest. Only 2% of National Forest land in Minnesota has been designated as roadless. Therefore, the roadless policy affects only 0.0016% of the state’s total timber harvest. The impact would likely be further reduced because not all timber within the roadless areas is available for harvest.
   • Moreover, the forest products industry accounts for 2% of all jobs in Minnesota, meaning that the roadless policy would have virtually no negative effect on the overall economy of the state.
   • Due to increased use of labor-saving technologies, cutting in roadless areas would not necessarily translate into more jobs. A nationwide study conducted by Rasker, Gorte, and Alkire (1996) demonstrated that “there is very little predictable connection between employment and public timber harvesting”.
3. Protection of our wildlands provides numerous economic benefits, including increased tourism and property values.
   • Northern Minnesota’s main attractions are its lakes and forests. In 1994, 74% of visitors to Ely cited fishing, canoeing, camping, or hiking as their main purpose in visiting the area. All of these activities rely on wilderness areas.
   • Tourism has rapidly grown as an economic activity and will soon be the world’s largest industry. In 1995, total tourist expenditures in Ely were between $18 and $27 million annually, which translates into a current economic impact of $40-$60 million in Lake and St. Louis Counties.
   • Protected lands enhance the value of nearby private property. Steven Taff, Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Minnesota, demonstrated that smaller tracts of private timberland sold for recreational purposes have a higher value per acre than larger tracts of land sold for timber purposes. Recreational values and opportunities for private lands are increased when these lands are located in close proximity to wilderness or other large recreation areas.
4. The inventoried roadless areas are important to protecting the ecological integrity and scientific value of Minnesota’s forests.
   • Roadless areas provide essential habitat for native wildlife and plants. For example, studies by L. David Mech and others have shown the important role that roadless areas have played in the recovery of gray wolves in Minnesota. Un-fragmented roadless areas are necessary if Minnesota’s wolf population is to remain stable. Bald eagles, martens, and boreal owls are other animals that depend on roadless areas.
   • Forest integrity ensures the continuation of natural filtration of our air and water. The water quality function of forests is especially important given that 1/5 of the U.S. population receives water from sources with headwaters on a national forest.
   • Roadless areas are of great scientific value because they serve as a control by which we judge the impacts of management activities on other parts of the landscape. Researchers have written more than 300 articles in scientific journals based on research about or within wilderness areas.

Conclusion

• The Roadless Area Conservation Rule was a rule-making process during which citizen input was integral. To undo the roadless policy would be to ignore the wishes of thousands of Minnesotans.
• The Roadless Area Conservation Rule would not cause economic losses to Minnesota’s timber industry, but the policy would bring additional income through increased tourism opportunities and enhanced property values.
• The Roadless Area Conservation Rule would protect Minnesota’s forest and wildlife heritage while ensuring a baseline of ecosystem functions.