§535 Forest development roads; acquisition, construction, and maintenance; maximum economy; methods of financing; cost arrangements for construction standards; transfer of unused effective purchaser credit for road construction

Summary

The Secretary may buy, build, and keep up forest roads in and near national forests so timber can be taken out as cheaply as possible while still protecting and managing the land and its other resources. The roads can be paid for in four ways: (1) using appropriated funds, (2) by charging timber buyers and letting contracts spread road costs over time, (3) by sharing costs with public or private partners, or (4) by a mix of these methods. If a road is built to a higher standard than needed for a particular timber sale, the buyer must not be made to pay the extra cost for that higher standard, and the Secretary can arrange that. The Secretary can also allow unused road-construction credit earned after December 16, 1975 to be moved from one timber sale to another for the same buyer within the same National Forest under rules he sets.