Our National Forests and Grasslands serve as the largest single managed source of drinking water in the United States – 18% of the nation’s supply, and over half the water in the West.
1 At least 3,400 cities and towns in the 43 states, with a total population of more than 60 million people, obtain at least a portion of their drinking water from watersheds located on National Forest System lands.
2 In the Rocky Mountain
Region alone, more than 33 million people in 13 states are dependent on water from National Forests.
3
Experts agree that sediment in waters flowing from National Forests is a major concern. Sediment increases turbidity, plugging filters and other components of treatment systems and incurring significant costs to water providers and taxpayers. Suspended sediment can also carry chemical pollutants into surface and ground water supplies.
The Forest Service has over 375,000 miles of official roads and an additional 60,000 miles of usercreated routes – which together are over 10 times the size of the U.S. Interstate system. The overwhelming majority of Forest Service roads are old, unused dirt routes leftover from a bygone era of timber and mineral extraction. These roads do not meet the current management needs of the Forest
Service and have led to serious and widespread environmental problems. The agency’s road system is commonly identified as being a major source of sediment in otherwise relatively undisturbed watersheds.
4
Further, the Forest Service cannot afford to maintain or manage its unwieldy and outdated road system; as of 2010, the Forest Service estimates a maintenance backlog of $5 billion. Out of all the actions forest managers can take to protect and improve water quality on our forests – especially in the face of climate change – one of the most important is to remove unneeded roads.
Although the road problem on our national forests is daunting, we have tools and opportunities to begin to address it. First, the Forest Service launched a major initiative in the fall of 2010 to “right-size” its road system – that is, to identify the road system it actually needs and prioritize which roads should be decommissioned. Over the next three to four years, forests nationwide must analyze their road systems to identify ecologically, socially, and fiscally sustainable systems. This travel analysis process is a public process, and a tremendous opportunity for the drinking water community to protect source water by ensuring accurate data and scientifically sound modeling is used utilized. It is important for U.S. Forest
1 Brown, T.C.; Hobbins, M.T.; Ramirez, J.A. 2008. Spatial distribution of water supply in the coterminous United States. Journal of the American Water Resources Association. 44(6):1474-1487.
2 Sedell, J.; Sharpe, M.; Dravieks-Apple, D.; Copehagen, M.; Furniss, M. 2000. Water and the Forest Service. FS-660.
Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. 27 p.
3 Furniss, Michael J.; Staab, Brian P.; Hazelhurst, Sherry; Clifton, Cathrine F.; et al 2010. Water, climate change, and forests: watershed stewardship for a changing climate. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-812. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. 75 p.
4 Gucinski, Herman; Furniss, Michael J.; Ziemer, Robert R.; and Brookes, Martha H. 2000. Forest Roads: A Synthesis of
Scientific Information. U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Service leadership as well as the Forest Service Regional Offices to hear from the drinking water community to ensure that source water protection is not overlooked in this effort.
Second, there is a dedicated line item in the Forest Service budget called Legacy Roads and Trails
(LRT) to address road-related environmental impacts. LRT presents a valuable opportunity for water providers to team up with conservationists and forest managers to direct LRT funds to keystone roads – that is, roads that when removed will improve water quality. LRT is the financial vehicle for reversing the damage of 100 years of intensive road building on our national forests. Over the last four years,
Congress has appropriated $225 MM to the Forest Service to address road-related impacts on water quality under the LRT program. It is important for Forest Service leadership and members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to hear from the drinking water community that this funding source is important for protecting water quality.
For more information: Josh Hicks, The Wilderness Society, 303-650-5818 x107, josh_hicks@tws.org