Speak Out for the Roadless Rule

On July 12, the administration announced its latest and most sweeping effort to end protection for tens of millions of acres of wild forestlands across the nation.

This new proposal would not only eliminate the protections provided by the popular Roadless Area Conservation rule, but would also pave the way for taking the "national" out of our national forests, by seeking management suggestions from state governors.

Please act today!

If you prefer to mail your comments, mail them to:

Content Analysis Team
ATTN: Roadless State Petitions
USDA Forest Service
P.O. Box 221090
Salt Lake City, UT 84122

Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject: Please save the Roadless Rule [Docket Number: 04-16191]

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

Please accept this letter as official public comment for the roadless area management state petition proposal.

I strongly oppose your proposal to repeal the Roadless Area Conservation Rule and replace it with a governor petition/rulemaking process that does not ensure protection for a single acre of pristine forest. The Roadless Rule is a balanced policy that was finalized after years of scientific study, 600 public hearings, and a record number of public comments, the majority of which overwhelmingly support protecting roadless areas through the original rule.

The Roadless Rule is critical for protecting our national forests from harmful and costly road building and damaging logging. These wild forests need the real protection provided by the Roadless Rule because of their vital importance as sources of clean drinking water, premier fish and wildlife habitat, and high-quality recreational opportunities.

I urge you to abandon this harmful proposal and keep the Roadless Area Conservation Rule intact in the Lower 48 states and Alaska's Chugach National Forest, and to reinstate the rule in the Tongass National Forest.

Thank you for consideration of my comments on this crucial national forest conservation issue.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
August 30, 2004

Background Information

The landmark Roadless Area Conservation rule, adopted near the end of the Clinton administration, would protect 58.5 million acres wild forests in our National Forest System from road building and most logging. When it comes to undermining this popular forest conservation legacy, the Bush administration has consistently tried to hide behind the rhetoric of "protecting roadless values."

After suspending the Roadless Rule in first days of their leadership, Agriculture Secretary Veneman and Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth held a press conference on May 4, 2001, to announce they believed in protecting “roadless values” and were going to allow the National Forest Roadless Area Conservation Rule to go into effect, saying they would later recommend minor changes to the rule. At the same time, they were directing their lawyers to roll over in their defense of the roadless rule before a federal district court judge in Idaho so that he could issue a preliminary injunction barring the rule’s implementation less than a week later.

The Bush administration did not appeal the lower court’s ruling. However, Earthjustice did (on behalf of many environmental organizations) and successfully overturned the Idaho court's injunction before the Ninth Circuit Court in December 2002. The rule was in force until July 2003, when a Wyoming district judge issued another injunction. Earthjustice again appealed and that case is currently before the Tenth Circuit. This time, the administration not only failed to appeal, but has argued that citizens do not have the right to appeal when the Bush administration refuses to do so.

On July 12, 2004, Secretary Veneman showed the nation once and for all what this administration really means when it says it wants to protect “roadless values” by announcing a new proposal intended to replace the Roadless Rule.

Rather than safeguard the last remaining unprotected wild forests in our National Forest System, the Bush administration instead proposes to throw out the protections brought to 58.5 million acres of pristine forests by the Roadless Rule. In the rule's place, they hope to allow governors to petition Secretary Veneman to "establish management requirements for all or any portion of a National Forest System inventoried roadless area within that state." With this new petition process, a governor could certainly ask that all or some of the roadless areas in his or her state be protected. However, it is just as true that a governor could request more road building, logging, mining, and oil and gas development be allowed in these pristine forests.

Governors are not compelled to file a petition at all, whereas Secretary Veneman is under no obligation to do a rulemaking, or even if she does, to protect roadless areas with it. Her new “roadless values” rule merely says she has to tell a governor whether or not she will undertake a rulemaking within 180 days of the filing of a petition. This proposal could take the "national" out of national forests, as its result could be a hodgepodge of forest management largely driven by the relative influence of extractive industries in state politics instead of any national interest or priorities.

By eliminating the Roadless Rule, some 34.5 million acres of roadless areas are immediately open to road building and other development. Another 24 million acres had some protection--though not necessarily the same provided by the Roadless Rule--in forest management plans that were in place before the Roadless Rule was finalized. This is the sleight-of-hand by which Secretary Veneman and her Undersecretary and former timber industry lobbyist Mark Rey hope to hit pay dirt. For example, pro-drilling, -mining and -clearcutting Governor (and former Senator) Frank Murkowski of Alaska could ask the Secretary to undo pre-Roadless Rule protections that were contained in Alaska's Tongass National Forest's 1997 land management plan (Read about the state of roadless protections for the Tongass here). Given this administration's track-record of putting clearcuts and oil drilling first, it is apt to roll out the red carpet for Governor Murkowski, whereas a governor that wants to protect pristine forests desired by Big Timber is just as apt to be told "thanks, but no thanks."

Link to the federal register notice of the proposed rule (pdf file)

Link to Earthjustice's background on the new Roadless Rule