On the recordFebruary 26, 2016
First, I want to let Representative Newhouse know I completely appreciate the dilemma that he is in and appreciate the motivation for this amendment. My one concern is that it will require the chief of the Forest Service to publish notice in the Federal Register, along with a justification, any time a national Forest Service road is closed, and there may be some unintended consequences which we should at least think about. For example, the amendment will require the Forest Service to publish the Federal Register notice to close a road that is being engulfed by wildfire, or a road that is covered with debris after a tornado or in jeopardy of being swept away after a landslide, a power line down on the road, or even one that is closed to prevent militants from coming and going, as we have recently seen. I certainly am sympathetic to the idea that there should be a justification for anything that closes a public road that people have used for many, many years, but I also don't want to hamstring them from closing roads that are necessary for the public safety. I tepidly encourage a ``no'' vote on the amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.
