Importance of BLM Roadless Areas in the Western US

65 scientists urged Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt to protect the ecological integrity of the roadless areas administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in a letter sent today. The group noted recent National Forest efforts to protect undeveloped areas, and urged Babbitt to take similar steps for BLM lands.

The Bureau of Land Management oversees 175 million acres in the contiguous western states, more public land than the National Forest and Park Services combined.

The scientists' request is based on a recent report prepared by the Conservation Biology Institute that reviewed the impacts roads and associated human developments have on native ecosystems present on BLM lands in the western states. The review noted a rapid loss of roadless areas since the 1940s, and concludes that one of the most effective means of preserving the ecological integrity of these western landscapes is to provide adequate protection of the roadless areas that remain. The BLM should identify these areas and then protect their ecological values.

Dr. James Strittholt, Executive Director of the Conservation Biology Institute, stated, "arid and semiarid landscapes are fragile ecosystems easily damaged by human activities, and the amount of land currently protected is dismal in most of the eight ecoregions making up this part of the country. Much more needs to be done to maintain the native biodiversity and ecological functions of these important ecosystems."

The Bureau of Land Management lacks accurate information on the extent of its roadless areas, but a recent analysis by Conservation Geography estimates that there are approximately 85 million acres of BLM roadless areas in the contiguous western states. Currently 5 million acres of these lands are protected as designated wilderness.