Transportation Analysis Process Subpart A: The Road Study

Road Study Update (December 2016) –  Travel Analysis Report Now Available

Thank you to all who contributed to the road study (also known as the Travel Analysis). The Forest Service has released all the Travel Analysis Reports that analyze the existing roads systems and identify opportunities to achieve a more sustainable road system for each National Forest and Prairie.  These reports are part of a nationwide requirement and are not decision documents—instead, they provide an analysis of the road system as it exists today.  All future proposed actions and decisions will involve further opportunities for public input and engagement at the project-level under National Environmental Policy Act processes.

If you have a specific question on a road, trail, or area you may contact the Hiawatha National Forest for more information:  contact us

Travel Analysis Process Documents

  • Hiawatha National Forest Travel Analysis Report (pdf)
     
  • Appendix A – Glossary of Travel Management Terminology (pdf)
  • Appendix B – Science-baased Analysis (Risk/Benefit) Relationship to the Watershed Condition Framework (pdf)
  • Appendix C – Detailed Road Recommendations (pdf)
  • Appendix D – Financial Analysis (pdf)
  • Appendix E – Public Involvement and Collaboration Information (pdf)
  • Appendix F – Issues Summary from Public Involvement (pdf)
  • Appendix G – District Road Risk and Benefit Matrices and Recommendations by ML (pdf)
  • Appendix H - District Recommendations for Roads to Keep or Decommission Maps (pdf)
  • Appendix I - Summary of the TAP by District (pdf)

 

 

 

March 2016 Update from the Regional Office

The U.S. Forest Service is committed to balancing your needs for access to the National Forests & Prairies with the responsibility to sustain productive, diverse, and healthy forests/prairies. As part of this commitment, the Forest Service performed a forest-by-forest road analysis (also known as Travel Analysis – Subpart A) intended to guide future road management planning and address concerns about the future sustainability of the National Forest/Prairie road system. This analysis was not a decision, but was intended to recommend a minimum road system that takes into consideration access for the public and forest management activities, environmental impacts, public input, and budget constraints. Currently, all road analyses are being reviewed and then will be made available. This web site will continue to be updated with any new information.

Yellow sign that saysWhat is the Road Study?

The U.S. Forest Service plans to study the risks and benefits for visitors and the environment associated with the road system on the Hiawatha National Forest. The analysis, referred to as “Subpart A,” is part of the implementation of the 2005 Travel Management Rule, 36 CFR 212. The Subpart A process will be documented in a road study report which will identify opportunities to adjust our road system so that it considers access for public and forest management activities, minimizes environmental impacts, and can be maintained within budget constraints.

The Road Study is not a decision-making process, so implementation of any future opportunities will require a separate NEPA decision-making process.

Why?

Hiawatha National Forest manages more than 3,000 miles of roads. While many Forest roads provide land management- and user-related benefits, some may also pose risks to forest resources. Increased use of an aging roads infrastructure increases safety and maintenance costs, impacts wildlife, and contributes to degradation of water quality.

Over the past several years, even as maintenance needs have increased, funding to maintain National Forest system roads across the country has decreased dramatically. The goal of the national Travel Analysis Process is to define safe, fiscally feasible minimum road systems that provide the greatest benefit to the largest number of visitors with the least risk to the environment.

How the Public has been Involved

In 2014, we asked the public to review the road system with us to help recommend opportunities that lead to a safe, affordable and environmentally sustainable road system.  We encouraged anyone who uses roads or benefits from a national forest to share information and ideas that could be added to the Road Study report.

Hiawatha National Forest believes that it is critical for all parties to work together as we study our road system, with a full understanding of opportunities and associated trade-offs for road investment planning.  Continued participation by the public and partners is invaluable as we work toward identifying a minimum road system.

How the Public Submitted Information

Open House -- Several open houses were held during summer 2014 to share information and gather information from the public. For more information about the open houses, visit our web page or call 906-428-5800.  For office locations visit our Offices webpage. The open houses were held from 3-6 p.m. on:

  • June 11, 2014 (St. Ignace District Office)
  • June 12, 2014 (Sault Ste. Marie USDA Service Center)
  • June 18, 2014 (Rapid River District Office)
  • June 23, 2014 (Munising District Office)

Online — The public submitted information about benefits and risks of particular roads using our website.

U.S. Mail — For those who preferred to send hard copy comments, a mail-in option was made available.

 

Previous Updates

The final product of the Road Study will be a report that gathers the internal and external input.  We anticipate the study will be available by the end of September 2015; we will post it online and we will also hold an open house so that the public can ask questions.  The report will be used to inform future road investment proposals;  the public will be invited to comment on those proposals via the usual National Environmental Policy Act process.

Questions— Still not sure how this process works?  Call Ginger at 906-428-5800

Road Study Documents

Other Related Links

Road Study Maps

Please note that these maps are VERY large.  The paper sizes require a plotter.

Hiawatha's Transportation System

Your Great Lakes National Forest: Inspiring Unforgettable Experiences and Sustaining Ecosystems & Livelihoods

When Congress established the U.S. Forest Service in 1905, National Forest roads were relatively rugged and rare–and key among those roads were “wagon roads”!  In 1909, when Congress defined the Marquette National Forest (a predecessor of Hiawatha National Forest) -- motorcars were only just entering the scene! However, by the time Hiawatha National Forest was dedicated in 1931, one in five Americans owned a car: Roads had come of age across the country. 

Purpose and Benefits of NF Road System

Why provide roads on National Forests?  The National Forest System Roads and Trails Act authorizes National Forest System (NFS) roads to support efficient timber harvest from NFS land, utilization of Forest resources, and protection, development and management of NFS lands.  Management needs for roads are determined in land management planning processes like the Forest Plan and travel analysis.

Given those purposes, how does the National Forest road system benefit the public?  The Hiawatha’s road system provides a variety of services essential to the local economy and quality of life.  The Forest’s roads serve many access needs -- from vegetation management to recreation, from utility corridors to administrative needs and beyond.  In these ways, roads support local tourism; historic preservation; a variety of outdoor sports; timber industry; gas, electric and other utility services; partnerships; and numerous other activities that reinforce the U.P. economy.

Defining the system

Today the Hiawatha National Forest’s road system includes 3,168 miles of National Forest System roads spread over five “operation maintenance levels,” as defined below:

  • Level 5:  Roads provide a high degree of use comfort and convenience for prudent drivers in a standard passenger car during the normal season of use.  Usually two lanes; usually paved. Primarily our developed campground access roads (i.e. Lake Michigan or Little Bay de Noc Campgrounds) and paved roads like the Buckhorn Road near Munising.  (38 miles on the Hiawatha National Forest.)
  • Level 4:  Roads provide a moderate degree of user comfort and convenience at moderate travel speeds for drivers in standard passenger cars during normal season of use.  Most have 2 lanes.  (234 miles)
  • Level 3:  Roads are passable to prudent drivers in passenger cars at low speed during the normal season of use.  User comfort and convenience are not priorities. (203 miles)
  • Level 2:  Roads are maintained for use by high-clearance vehicles at low speeds and low traffic volumes, and not suitable for passenger cars.  Passenger car traffic, user comfort and user convenience are not considerations. (1919 miles)
  • Level 1:  Roads are “in storage” (closed) between intermittent uses, and may be managed at any other maintenance level during the time they are open for traffic. (777 miles) 

Historically, we may have maintained individual roads at a higher level of user comfort than required by the maintenance level designation; with declining resources, this is no longer sustainable.  

What belongs to Whom?

Not all roads that lie within the Forest Boundary are National Forest system roads. Many are in city or county road jurisdiction (such as US Highway 2).  One might assume that smaller paved roads like Forest Highway 13 and Whitefish Bay Scenic Byway would be Level 5 National Forest System roads, but both belong to other jurisdictions.  Similarly, the East Lake Road near St. Ignace is often wrongly assumed to be a Forest system road.

Another point of confusion is that the maintenance jurisdiction and legal jurisdiction of a given road are not necessarily the same.  Through cooperative road maintenance agreements, Forest Service provides financial support to other jurisdictions (primarily counties) to accomplish efficient road maintenance on some Forest system roads, directing maintenance funds from various sources to county road crews.  Alternatively, Forest Service and cooperators swap in-kind services to maximize road maintenance efficiency for both parties.

Private inholders are sometimes surprised to learn that private access is not part of the Forest Service road system mission.  As a result, if a NF system road is not currently needed for official uses, then private in-holders must obtain a special use road permit in order to open and privately maintain the road to access their camp or acreage.  In some cases, when large private development occurs inside the Forest, roads may be transferred to other jurisdictions (e.g. counties) whose missions include providing access to private property.

Maintenance of Roads

The ideal annual maintenance plan for most Level 3 or 4 roads (our main routes) would include grading and spot graveling 2 or 3 times per year, and mowing and brushing every 3 years (although significant long-term decline in roads funding has made this standard unachievable).

Maintenance funding (usually modest amounts that fluctuate widely) comes from a variety of federal sources.  For instance, during 2009-2011, a significant infusion of Economic Recovery (ARRA) funds allowed the Forest to address seven road maintenance and watershed protection projects, bringing funding to County Road commissions.  Such funding is not the norm, so a large backlog of infrastructure maintenance needs exists on the Hiawatha. 

Transportation Analysis Process Subpart A:  The Road Study

The Hiawatha National Forest is currently gathering information about the environmental and social risks and benefits of its road system.  The road study, sometimes referred to as “Subpart A,” is part of the implementation of the 2005 Travel Management Rule, 36 CFR 212.  Once completed, the study will be available for future efforts to identify a road system that provides access for the public and forest management activities, minimizes environmental impacts, and is as fiscally efficient as possible.  To learn more about the Road Study, visit http://www.fs.usda.gov/land/hiawatha/landmanagement.

Into the Future

While timber extraction is an important mission-related use of Forest roads on the Hiawatha, scenic touring and access to recreation facilities are also popular benefits of Forest system roads.  You can access many outstanding Hiawatha National Forest locations and facilities via the interconnected network of Forest Service and other roads. 

You will find historic lighthouses like Point Iroquois and Peninsula Point, and scenic Great Lakes shorelines at places like Whitefish Bay Scenic Byway, Bay Furnace Campground and Historic Site, or Lake Michigan Campground.  You might enjoy pristine Wild and Scenic Rivers; outstanding recreation sites such as Grand Island National Recreation Area; or numerous ski and hiking trails including the North Country National Scenic Trail, Haywire & Coalwoods OHV Trails, and a vast network of snowmobile trails.  Or you might prefer outdoor activities near blueberry habitat, hunting grounds, fishing spots, and birding trails; -- the list goes on!

Next time you ride your local Forest road, we hope you will enjoy the Hiawatha’s beauty and pause to appreciate the costs, benefits and variety of different uses of the National Forest road system.