Sep 21
2009

  • Because Idaho is the ONLY state not protected by the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. Thanks in part to former Idaho Governor (and former Secretary of the Interior) Dirk Kempthorne and Bushco era politics – millions of acres of Idaho’s pristine roadless forest are at risk of invasive development.
  • Because roadless areas represent our last remaining intact ecosystems, water systems, wildlife areas and open-spaces.
  • Because roadless areas represent 2% of land in the entire US (Source: Wilderness Society). Where the bulk of the 2% is shared between Idaho and Alaska.
  • Because Idaho has the most roadless land in the lower 48 with over 9.3 million acres of beautiful, unspoiled roadless forests. Over 54% of Idaho’s public land is developed; leaving 46% of public land that is considered roadless (Source: Wilderness Society).
  • Because 74% of Steelhead and Chinook Salmon habitat in roadless areas, and Steelhead and Salmon fishers spend $60 million annually in Idaho (Source: Wilderness Society).
  • Because roadless areas are vital not only to our environment and wildlife, but to a healthy human existence as well. Without roadless land, our connection to nature will be forever lost.

“To me, a wilderness is where the flow of wildness is essentially uninterrupted by technology; without wilderness the world is a cage.” -David Brower

“The love of wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyond reach; it is also an expression of loyalty to the earth … the only home we shall ever know, the only paradise we ever need — if only we had the eyes to see.” -Edward Abbey

“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity; and that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers but as fountains of life.” -John Muir

“Plans to protect air and water, wilderness and wildlife are in fact plans to protect man.” -Stewart Udall

Take Action for Idaho’s Roadless Forests!