By Michael Kilian
Chicago Tribune
May 6, 2005
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration took sweeping action yesterday to
open nearly 60 million acres -- about one-third of the national forests
-- to road construction, which in turn could lead to logging, mining
and other commercial use of the previously protected areas.
Though lawsuits are pending over the issue, the plan undoes the
"roadless rule" that President Bill Clinton ordered in 2001 during his last
days in office. The rule had banned further road construction in 58.5
million acres of national forests, nearly all in Western states.
In announcing the new policy, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, whose
department includes the U.S. Forest Service, praised it as a
cooperative and collaborative form of conservation.
"Our actions today advance President Bush's commitment to cooperatively
conserve inventoried roadless areas within our national forests,"
Johanns said. He said that his department "is committed to working closely
with the nation's governors to meet the needs of our local communities
while protecting and restoring the health and natural beauty of our
national forests."
However, conservation groups termed it a giant step backward.
"Millions of acres of our last wild forests are now immediately at
risk," said Robert Vandermark, director of the Heritage Forest Campaign,
who pointed out that 386,000 miles of roads already exist in the national
forests. "This leave-no-tree-behind policy paves the way for increased
logging and mining in much of the nation's last wild areas."
Niel Lawrence, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense
Council, said, "The president has replaced the roadless rule with the
'treeless rule.' He has deprived future generations of their birthright and
national heritage."
Road-building and subsequent commercial uses could be started
immediately in 34.3 million acres because the Forest Service has prepared
management plans. An additional 24.2 million acres could be opened to road
construction and commercial development, but governors have 18 months to
file petitions to restore the "roadless rule" on sections of national
forest in their states, or to offer new plans to allow and manage
commercial uses.
The states would have to work with the Forest Service and localities in
drawing up such plans, and the Forest Service would have final say.
The Agriculture Department said yesterday's action would require the
federal government to "work with states, tribes, local communities and
the public through a process that is fair, open and responsive to local
input and information."
In the past, federal conservation policies and initiatives have led to
clashes with local politicians and interest groups that support
commercial use of the forests to protect jobs and tax bases.
Deb Callahan, president of the League of Conservation Voters,
complained that the Bush administration is "selling out to the logging and
timber industry" and that the president is opposing the will of the public
on the roadless issue.
"To date, the Forest Service has received a record-breaking 4 million
public comments in support of the rule," she said. "The rule also enjoys
broad support among members of Congress, governors, local officials,
businesses, hunters and anglers, scientists, economists and religious
organizations. ... It's time to stop the outrageous assaults on our
national forests."
Lawrence argued that the petition process called for in the Bush
administration's initiative is pointless because ultimate authority over
whether to allow roads and commercial exploitation remains with the
administration.
"The 'treeless rule' is about replacing real protections with a
meaningless process," said the attorney for the Natural Resources Defense
Council.
But logging and union worker interests applauded the change.
W. Henson Moore, president and chief executive of the American Forest
and Paper Association, said the Bush administration has crafted "a
thoughtful, legal and effective plan."
"The courts struck down the Clinton-era rule," Moore said. "This new
rule gives governors the opportunity to work with the Forest Service to
identify special and unique places in their states and then create
broadly supported plans for conservation and preservation."
Michael Draper, vice president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters'
Western Region and chairman of an umbrella group that represents
500,000 union workers, said: "The new rule returns the decisions that will
guide management of the forests to the local level -- to the people who
live near the land and know it, and its needs, the best."
In announcing the action, the Agriculture Department said the new rule
would remove legal uncertainties that have clouded the issue. In July
2003, a federal district court in Wyoming struck down the Clinton
administration's widespread ban on further road construction in the forests.
That decision was subsequently appealed to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals in Denver, which heard arguments in the case this week.
In 2001, in a separate lawsuit over the rules, logging interests won a
federal court injunction against the Clinton-era rule in an Idaho
court, but that was overturned on appeal by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals in San Francisco.
Thirty-eight 38 states and Puerto Rico have national forest land at
least marginally affected by the roadless rule, but 97 percent of the
acreage lies in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana,
Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
There are no national forests in Maryland. But an advocacy organization
called the Maryland Public Interest Research Group issued a news
release yesterday saying that 1.7 million Americans sent letters last fall
urging the Bush administration not to abandon the Clinton-era
protections.
"Public support of this rule is unmistakable," said Brad Heavner,
director of MaryPIRG. "But the Bush administration has chosen to ignore
millions of comments that citizens have submitted."
The Chicago Tribune is a Tribune Publishing newspaper. Sun staff writer
Tom Pelton contributed to this article.
