Congressman Gerry Connolly joined with Senators Mark Warner and Jim Webb and five other congressmen from Virginia in introducing a bill in the House and Senate to permanently protect 58.5 million acres of America’s most pristine public land in national forests in Virginia and across the nation.

In the Southeast, the legislation would protect approximately 723,000 acres of roadless areas in the Southern Appalachians, including more than 383,000 acres in Virginia’s George Washington and Jefferson National Forests.  While protecting the last one-third of our threatened national forests from most logging and road-building, the bill allows new roads when needed to fight fires and ensure public health and safety.

Only 1 percent of Virginia’s timber yield comes from the national forests within the Commonwealth’s borders, Connolly said.  “It is important that we protect the beauty and the natural resources in these public lands for future generations to behold and enjoy.”  The national forests provide many recreational opportunities and provide clean water for many communities.

Passage of this legislation codifying the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule would ensure that roadless areas are permanently protected and policy would not change with successive Presidential administrations.  In 2005, President Bush suspended the rule.  A federal appeals court reinstated it in August, calling the Bush administration’s 2001 action illegal.
 
More than 150 members of Congress have cosponsored the legislation.  Along with Connolly, Virginia Congressmen Rick Boucher, Jim Moran, Glenn Nye, Tom Perriello, and Bobby Scott sponsored the bill.