Roads scholar visits most remote spots

In the United States there are 4 million miles of public roads, which are used by at least 230 million vehicles. Obviously, these roads have a huge effect on their environments, including aspects of the natural ecology that many people seldom think about. "They impact wildlife movement, biodiversity, vegetation, water quality, sedimentation of streams, and other natural things for miles around," says Richard Forman, Harvard University professor of landscape ecology. Forman ventures into the most remote regions of the United States in order to determine the effects of roads on wild areas. His work began after he was appointed to a committee of the National Research Council charged with studying the future of transportation in the context of a sustainable environment. Now he and 13 other leading ecologists, engineers, and policy-makers are preparing what Forman believes is the first book on road and vehicle impact, called "Road Ecology: Science and Solutions." The book will be published next year; the research results will be presented at an international conference in September 2001.