Agency Priorities Put Headwaters Forest Reserve and Other National Treasures at Risk

Agency Priorities Put Headwaters Forest Reserve and Other National Treasures at Risk

-- Inadequate funding, staffing, accountability, and monitoring cited in first assessment of BLM’s National Landscape Conservation System.


For Immediate Release: October 26, 2005

Contact:
Geary Hund, The Wilderness Society,
Karen Pickett, Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters,
Wendy VanAsselt, The Wilderness Society,

Washington, DC – Inadequate funding and staffing have left the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) ill-equipped to manage its premier Western lands, putting nationally significant lands like California’s Headwaters Forest Reserve at risk. The agency’s management shortcomings are detailed in a first assessment of the BLM’s 26 million-acre National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS), titled State of the National Landscape Conservation System: A First Assessment , which was released today by The Wilderness Society and World Resources Institute.

“Conservation is supposed to be the top concern for national gems like Headwaters Forest Reserve, but the findings of this report raise some serious questions about the Bureau of Land Management’s national priorities,” said Geary Hund of The Wilderness Society’s California Office.

The NLCS was established five years ago, under the leadership of Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, to conserve, protect, and restore the Bureau of Land Management’s most scenic and significant lands and waters. The system incorporates the BLM’s National Monuments, National Conservation Areas, Wilderness, Wilderness Study Areas, Historic Trails, and Wild and Scenic Rivers. California has some of the most diverse lands in the system, including Headwaters Forest Reserve, Carrizo Plains National Monument, and Santa Rosa San Jacinto Mountains National Monument.


“The National Landscape Conservation System was created to safeguard landscapes that are as spectacular in their own way as our National Parks,” said former Secretary of the Interior, Bruce Babbitt. “There is clear evidence, however, that we are at risk of moving backwards and failing to adequately protect these special American lands. The Department of the Interior and our leaders in Congress should take the recommendations of this report to heart and support the conservation mission of the NLCS before it is too late.”

The report grades BLM’s Conservation System in seven categories, based on a review of more than 35 indicators ranging from natural resource monitoring to management accountability. The Conservation System as a whole scores no higher than a woeful “C” in any category. The full report and background information is available at: http://www.wilderness.org/Library/Documents/StateOfTheNLCS2005.cfm


“Although there are some very committed BLM staff on the ground in California, there’s only so much they can do on a local or regional level,” said Karen Pickett of Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters. “The staff at the field office needs support at the national level to ensure their management strategies do not fail. Setting these lands aside is not enough—continued resources must be there for restoration and protection.”



Many NLCS lands are threatened by excessive road networks that fragment wildlife habitat and bring motorized vehicles perilously close to archaeological resources. In Headwaters, BLM staff has prioritized the removal of old logging roads to restore habitat and enhance visitor experiences. In 2004 they removed about 20 percent of the targeted roads.



"Headwaters Reserve has the potential for cutting edge ecological restoration, but without a commitment from BLM and the Department of Interior to provide consistent funding, it would be impossible,” said Pickett.



According to the report, inadequate or unstable budgets are a national trend within the NLCS. Although the Conservation System represents approximately 10 percent of the 261 million acres managed by the BLM, including a large number of the BLM’s most publicly visited lands and waters, it receives just 2.5 percent of the Agency’s $1.8 billion budget.



The assessment includes five overarching recommendations to help BLM better protect the cultural and natural resources of the National Landscape Conservation System:

* Increased staffing and financial resources dedicated to the Conservation System by BLM.
* A better information base for conservation management, including more, or better-organized, data collection.
* Completion of overdue management plans and implementation strategies.
* Immediate closure of harmful roads and routes.
* Full utilization of volunteers and academic partnerships to inventory, monitor, and protect resources.
* Increased accountability, including the establishment of clear conservation goals specific to the National Landscape Conservation System, and a commitment from the agency to publicly track progress toward those goals.



“The good news is that it’s not too late from BLM, the Administration, and Congress to safeguard Headwaters and the other public treasures of the National Landscape Conservation System,” says Hund. “But with new development in the West putting increased pressure on these lands and waters, the time to act is now.”


NLCS Issue Examined Headwaters score National System score

Leadership, empowerment, and accountability D D

Planning for resource conservation N/A* N/A

Protecting Wild and primitive character B C

Visitor management and law enforcement B C

Natural resource monitoring B C

Ecosystem and species heath N/A N/A

Cultural resources management C D



*N/A indicates not assessable due to insufficient data


Headwaters Forest Reserve was established in 1999 to preserve the precious and stately redwoods (some more than 2,000 years old) and the diversity of wildlife that thrive in the forest, which also includes tan oak, western hemlock, sword fern, lichen, and mosses. Headwaters contains the headwaters of stream systems that still support the endangered coho salmon, and habitat for the threatened marbled murrelet, spotted owl and many rare plant species. The Reserve is located near Fortuna, about 250 miles north of San Francisco.


Public domain image of Headwaters Forest Preserve (free for media use):

http://photos.wilderness.org/scr_image_pub.pl?imid=2403




To view the entire “State of the NLCS” report, including state-by-state assessments, visit, http://www.wilderness.org/Library/Documents/StateOfTheNLCS2005.cfm


The Wilderness Society’s mission is to ensure that future generations will enjoy the clean air and water, wildlife, beauty, and opportunity for recreation and renewal provided by pristine forests, rivers, deserts, and mountains.


The World Resources Institute is an environmental think tank that goes beyond research to create practical ways to protect the Earth and improve peoples' lives.

The Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters is a grassroots advocacy organization that works to preserve the redwood forest ecosystem.

The National Landscape Conservation System at a Glance

Many National Landscape Conservation System units were created to protect contiguous landscapes that preserve the ecological or cultural integrity of some of the West’s most precious lands. For example, Arizona’s Agua Fria National Monument contains hundreds of archaeological structures and sites that were interrelated in a large community. To truly understand these ancient communities in context and tell their story, it is essential to look at the entire system of archaeological sites. Another example is the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, a truly landscape-scale unit that encompasses large parts of the watershed of the Grand Canyon adjacent to the park.

Managed by the Bureau of Land Management, the National Landscape Conservation System includes:
· 15 National Monuments;
· 13 National Conservation Areas;
· Steens Mountain Cooperative Management and Protection Area;
· Headwaters Forest Reserve;
· 38 Wild and Scenic Rivers;
· 175 Wilderness Areas;
· 5,327 miles of National Historic and Scenic Trails;
· more than 600 Wilderness Study Areas.

Flagship places in the National Landscape Conservation System include:

Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument (Arizona) -- A remote area on the edge of one of the most awesome places on Earth, the Grand Canyon, this monument includes both stark desert and high plateaus and is home to a collage of species ranging from Mexican spotted owls to desert tortoises to mountain lions.
Carrizo Plains National Monument (California) -- Dramatically bisected by the San Andreas Fault zone, the Carrizo Plain is home to the largest concentration of endangered wildlife in all of California. Thirteen plant and animal species have been state or federally listed as endangered, including the California condor and the Joaquin kit fox.
Canyons of the Ancients National Monument (Colorado) -- This 164,000-acre national monument includes the densest concentration of Anasazi Indian sites in America—totaling more than 6,000 recorded sites so far.
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (Utah) -- In the heart of Utah’s Red Rock Country, this monument includes bold plateaus and multi-hued cliffs and slot canyons—a wonderland of recreational opportunities and one of the last places in America to experience true solitude.
Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument (Montana) – Little has changed in this stretch of the Missouri River since Lewis and Clark traveled through the region more than 200 years ago. The monument includes some of the wildest country on the Great Plains. Its spectacular cliff and rugged coulees provide important habitat for elk, deer, antelope, and sage grouse.
Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument (Oregon) – In southwest Oregon, Cascade-Siskiyou is a 53,000-acre landscape of exceptional geologic complexity and a gateway to one of the great reservoirs of biodiversity in North America.
Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area (Nevada) – Just 10 miles from the city of Las Vegas, the mountains rise to a great colorful escarpment, formed along a fault zone with peaks of more than 8,000 feet and huge cliffs and ravines banded with gray, white, and red rock.

For more information about our National Monuments and the National Landscape Conservation System, visit http://www.discoverNLCS.org