[Water_news] 3. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: WATERSHEDS - 11/2/07

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

November 2, 2007

 

3. Watersheds

 

 

 

Opinion:

Rebecca Giddens: Over the river and through the forest without roads

Sacramento Bee – 11/2/07

By Rebecca Giddens and Mark Singleton -

 

Paddling a river is an ancient activity – possibly the first human mode of transportation not involving putting one foot in front of the other. Yet while the world has grown since people first took to the water, there are still some places in our country where you can dip a paddle into a pristine river, feel the tug of the current and silently glide downstream. And thanks to the roadless areas found in our national forests, there are more such havens than most would expect.

 

Unfortunately, roadless areas occupy a legal netherworld where they are neither easily developed nor really protected. Even worse, efforts to weaken protections for these last undeveloped places, by the Washington allies of mining and logging interests, have put these regions in serious jeopardy. Leaders in Congress, however, have kicked off a renewed effort to protect such natural treasures once and for all.

 

Paddling along remote rivers and waterways – the original highways used to explore our great nation – offers a truly unique way to experience our national forests and some of the last vestiges of wild and unspoiled lands in America. Indeed, roadless areas are home to some of the most scenic and challenging whitewater paddling opportunities around, as well as family-friendly rivers and lakes.

 

Roadless areas, frequently at lower elevations than wilderness areas, provide accessible backcountry recreational opportunities for millions of Americans. For example, roadless areas in North Carolina's Smoky Mountains, the White Mountains of New Hampshire and West Virginia's Highlands provide world-class paddling opportunities. Out West, roadless areas preserve the water quality for headwater areas of the famous "River of No Return," Idaho's Salmon River.

 

One of the premier rafting and kayaking rivers in the world, the Salmon River is not only a magnet for paddlers but home to 70 percent of all salmon and steelhead habitat in the entire Columbia River Basin. And in California, roadless areas in the Sequoia National Forest safeguard the headwaters of the Kern River – an important recreation spot for thousands of visitors each year and an invaluable source of clean drinking water for millions of Californians.

 

But the ability for future generations to enjoy the paddling, rafting, fishing and many other such backcountry recreational opportunities in these areas lies in serious jeopardy.

 

Over the last seven years, cynical partisan politics has taken priority over protecting our roadless forests. In California, despite promises to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to halt new roadbuilding, the Forest Service recently announced new management plans for the Padres, Angeles, Cleveland and San Bernardino forests that would open the forests to new roadbuilding.

 

A similar story can be found in Idaho, where mining interests have employed loopholes to clear the way for phosphate exploration and mining, to devastating effect in roadless areas within the Caribou-Targhee National Forest. This project could replace once pristine backcountry with toxic settling ponds and strip mines – hardly a spot for a family trip down the river.

 

But now, members of Congress from both sides of the aisle are working together to ensure that America's natural heritage will be preserved for future generations of paddlers, bikers, climbers, backcountry skiers and hikers.

 

This year, more than 140 members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans alike, joined together to introduce legislation that would provide permanent protection for 58.5 million acres of pristine forestland in 39 states. This bipartisan initiative in the House was joined by a companion measure in the Senate, introduced with the support of 18 original co-sponsors.

 

Constructing new roads in wild forests, where the very absence of roads is their defining resource value, doesn't make sense.

 

Roughly 85 percent of all the revenue generated from our national forests comes from recreation activities. Yet, while a gym or city park can easily be rebuilt or repaired, once a roadless area is opened to logging, mining and road building, the damage can never be undone.

 

Responsible management of America's natural heritage is a value that cuts across both sides of the political aisle and unites us in a shared legacy of stewardship. It's time to protect these last vestiges of our nation's past before it's too late. The joy of paddling along a pristine river, far from any automobiles or other reminders of modern life in America, is an experience that we should not allow to become extinct.

 

About the writer:

• Rebecca Giddens is co-owner of the Kern River Brewing Co. in Kernville, Calif.; she won the silver medal in slalom kayaking at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Reach her at RebeccaGiddens@cs.com. Mark Singleton is the executive director of American Whitewater, a national organization based in Cullowhee, N.C., dedicated to conserving and restoring America's whitewater resources. Reach him at mark@amwhitewater.org. They wrote this for National Environmental Trust. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.#

http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/467032.html