II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1831 To provide lasting protection for inventoried roadless areas within the National Forest System. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 6, 2023 Ms. CANTWELL (for herself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. DURBIN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. HEINRICH, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. MERKLEY, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. REED, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. WARREN, Mr. WELCH, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources A BILL To provide lasting protection for inventoried roadless areas within the National Forest System. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Roadless Area Con- 4 servation Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Congress finds that— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Jun 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1831.IS S1831 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1831 IS (1) there is a compelling need to establish na- 1 tional protection for inventoried roadless areas of the 2 National Forest System in order to protect the 3 unique social and ecological values of those irreplace- 4 able resources; 5 (2) roadless areas protect healthy watersheds 6 and the numerous benefits of healthy watersheds, 7 which include— 8 (A) providing the setting for many forms 9 of outdoor recreation; 10 (B) ensuring a supply of clean water for 11 domestic, agricultural, and industrial uses; 12 (C) providing drinking water to tens of 13 millions of citizens of the United States; and 14 (D) helping maintain abundant and 15 healthy fish and wildlife populations and habi- 16 tats; 17 (3) maintaining roadless areas in a relatively 18 undisturbed condition— 19 (A) saves downstream communities mil- 20 lions of dollars in water filtration costs; and 21 (B) is crucial to preserve the flow of af- 22 fordable, clean water to a growing population; 23 (4) the protection of roadless areas can main- 24 tain biological strongholds and refuges for many im- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Jun 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1831.IS S1831 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1831 IS periled species by halting the ongoing fragmentation 1 of the landscape into smaller and smaller parcels of 2 land divided by road corridors; 3 (5) roadless areas conserve native biodiversity 4 by serving as a bulwark against the spread of non- 5 native invasive species; 6 (6) roadless areas provide important back- 7 country fish and game habitat, creating opportuni- 8 ties for hunting and commercial and sport fishing; 9 (7) roadless areas provide unparalleled opportu- 10 nities for outdoor recreation, including hiking, camp- 11 ing, picnicking, wildlife viewing, hunting, fishing, 12 cross-country skiing, canoeing, mountain-biking, and 13 similar activities; 14 (8) while roadless areas may have many wilder- 15 ness-like attributes, unlike wilderness areas, the use 16 of mechanized means of travel is allowed in many 17 roadless areas; 18 (9) roadless areas contain many sites sacred to 19 Native Americans, Alaska Natives, and other groups 20 that use roadless areas for spiritual and religious 21 practices and access, including customary and tradi- 22 tional uses and activities; 23 (10) from the inception of Federal land man- 24 agement, the mission of the Forest Service has been 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Jun 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1831.IS S1831 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1831 IS to manage the National Forest System for multiple 1 uses, including resource utilization, conservation, 2 and other uses; 3 (11) consistent with the multiple-use mission 4 described in paragraph (10), this Act— 5 (A) ensures the continued protection of so- 6 cial and ecological values, while allowing for 7 many multiple uses of inventoried roadless 8 areas; and 9 (B) does not impose any new limitations 10 on— 11 (i) inventoried roadless areas; or 12 (ii) the use of, or access to, National 13 Forest System, State, or private land out- 14 side inventoried roadless areas; 15 (12) enacting a law for the protection of inven- 16 toried roadless areas— 17 (A) provides additional reliability to areas 18 with recreation-based economies that depend on 19 public land without roads for jobs, revenue, and 20 consumer spending; and 21 (B) encourages forest managers to con- 22 tinue giving priority to conducting fuel reduc- 23 tion treatments in the areas in which the treat- 24 ments will have the most impact; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Jun 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1831.IS S1831 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1831 IS (13) wildfires are almost twice as likely to occur 1 in roaded areas as in roadless areas, because 2 roadless areas are generally located further away 3 from communities and are harder to access; 4 (14) the Forest Service has an enormous back- 5 log of maintenance needs for the existing 371,581- 6 mile road system of the Forest Service that will cost 7 $3,200,000,000 to eliminate; and 8 (15) continued protection of roadless areas will 9 continue to allow for the development of hydropower 10 projects. 11 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to provide, 12 within the context of multiple-use management, lasting 13 protection for inventoried roadless areas within the Na- 14 tional Forest System. 15 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 16 In this Act: 17 (1) INVENTORIED ROADLESS AREA.—The term 18 ‘‘inventoried roadless area’’ means any area in which 19 road construction, road reconstruction, or logging is 20 subject to regulation under the Roadless Rule. 21 (2) ROADLESS RULE.—The term ‘‘Roadless 22 Rule’’ means part 294 of title 36, Code of Federal 23 Regulations, as adopted on January 12, 2001, and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Jun 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1831.IS S1831 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1831 IS modified for Idaho on October 16, 2008, and for 1 Colorado on July 3, 2012, and December 19, 2016. 2 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 3 the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the 4 Chief of the Forest Service. 5 SEC. 4. PROTECTION OF INVENTORIED ROADLESS AREAS. 6 The Secretary shall not allow road construction, road 7 reconstruction, or logging in an inventoried roadless area 8 where those activities are prohibited by the Roadless Rule. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:18 Jun 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1831.IS S1831 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS