Looking at this as a taxpayer adds another layer. The Forest Service already manages more than 360,000 miles of roads and reports a multibillion-dollar backlog just to keep existing roads and bridges from falling apart. Every new mile is a long-term promise to plow, grade, replace culverts, and deal with washouts. In Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, an analysis by Taxpayers for Common Sense found that over roughly 40 years the Forest Service spent close to $2 billion on its timber program and brought in only a fraction of that in receipts, with road building taking up a large share of costs. Many remaining roadless areas are just as steep and expensive to log.