January 26, 2001

Honorable Ann Veneman
Secretary of Agriculture
U.S. Department of Agriculture
14th & Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20250
Telephone: 202-720-2791
USDA Fax Number: 202-720-2166
E-Mail: Ann.Veneman@usda.gov


Dear Ms. Veneman:

Congratulations on your recent U.S. Senate confirmation as the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture.  We are pleased to see this very timely change of administration.

We are writing to request your assistance in resolving a long-standing issue with the US Forest Service, specifically, the so-called  "Roadless Plan", which was pushed through and approved during the waning hours of the outgoing Clinton administration.  The roadless plan as prepared is riddled with errors and relies on hypothetical conjecture as the basis for a flawed decision process.

The Roadless Plan, if left unchanged, will over time lock-up over 58 million acres of Federal lands.  These same lands would not be accessible and available for multiple use activities, to include dispersed motorized recreation and other recreational pursuits of the American Public.  We believe that further public input, Congressional evaluation and consideration by your office should occur before such a far-reaching decision is left standing and finalized in its current configuration.

We believe these areas should not be named "roadless areas" as part of the ongoing forest land use planning by the US Forest Service.  These same areas include thousands of miles of roads, trails and ways, which are an important forest infrastructure and public asset.  We believe a more appropriate name to assign these areas for forest-planning designation is "Back Country Recreation Area".

The Back Country Recreation Area (BCRA) designation should be designed to protect and if possible enhance the backcountry recreation opportunities on these lands while still allowing for responsible utilization of these areas by the natural resource industries.  All  "roadless" federal lands, not currently designated as Wilderness, should be reviewed for their importance to back country receptionists and considered for designation as BCRA's within the next 2 years.  Recreational resources need not be sacrificed for responsible resource extraction. We need a designation that encourages cooperation, not only between diverse recreation interests, but also between recreationists and our resource industries. 
The BCRA can be that designation.

Thank you for your assistance in this matter.

Sincerely,


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