As many of us sit in our cars to drive up to a trailhead, campground, or river in our closest national forest, we likely spend little time pondering what kind of impact the road we are on has. But there is a large volume of scientific literature devoted to this question with much of it summarized in our paper: The Environmental Consequences of Forest Roads and Achieving a Sustainable Road System.
Roads have an enormous impact on many wildlife and aquatic species such as elk, grizzly bear, salmon, bull trout, pronghorn, and salamander. Our latest handout, National Forest Roads and Habitat (DIS)-Connectivity, draws from the paper to spotlight this harm and offers recommendations to reconnect habitat. These actions are increasingly important as wildlife seek food and security in an ever changing climate.
