Agriculture Secretary Takes Charge of National Forest Roadless Areas

The Roadless Area Conservation Rule protecting these inventoried areas was established by President Bill Clinton in 2001 just eight days before the end of his administration.

But the Bush administration froze implementation of the rule and did not defend it against industry court challenges.

In May 2005, the Bush administration replaced the roadless rule with the State Petitions Rule that required governors to petition the U.S. Department of Agriculture to protect national forests in their states.

"This interim directive will provide consistency and clarity that will help protect our national forests until a long-term roadless policy reflecting President Obama's commitment is developed," said Vilsack.

Federal district courts have issued contradictory rulings on the issue. A 2006 decision by a California federal magistrate judge upheld the Roadless Rule, while in 2008 a federal judge in Wyoming issued a permanent injunction against the rule.

In simultaneously upholding and overturning the 2001 Clinton roadless rule, the courts have created confusion and made it difficult for the U.S. Forest Service to do its job, Vilsack said.

Roadless areas in Washington's Mt. Baker Snoqualmie National Forest (Photo by Thomas O'Keefe)

The directive will ensure that USDA can "carefully consider" activities in these inventoried roadless areas while long term roadless policy is developed and relevant court cases move forward, he said.

The interim directive will last for one year and can be renewed for an additional year.

The U.S. Forest Service, an agency within the Department of Agriculture, has jurisdiction over the national forests and grasslands and makes decisions about what projects can take place on those lands.

The directive changes procedural requirements for Forest Service projects in inventoried roadless areas, but it does not prevent the Secretary from either approving projects that he believes are in the interest of forest stewardship or prohibiting projects he believes are not.

The directive does not affect roadless areas on National Forest System lands in Idaho. A federal rulemaking was completed last year in Idaho, which outlined specific management policies for roadless areas within the state.

Congressman Nick Rahall of West Virgina, who chairs the House Natural Resources Committee, called the directive "proof positive that the new administration is serious about turning the page on the legacy of the Bush administration, which was bent on chopping away at the health and future of America's forests."

In March, Rahall and 120 Members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to Secretary Vilsack urging him to review all projects in inventoried roadless areas to protect these lands from damaging activities that could move forward due to conflicting court decisions.

"The Bush administration spent eight years attacking the Roadless Rule, and I know that it will take time to establish more permanent protections for these treasured lands," Rahall said. "I look forward to working with the Obama Administration to achieve this goal."

The public interest law firm Earthjustice represented environmental clients in fighting off nine separate legal attacks on the rule filed by timber companies and a few states.

Earthjustice President Trip Van Noppen today said Secretary Vilsack's announcement was "needed and welcome."

"Roadless areas are important as some of the last remaining pristine areas in America, and they are a vital part of how we will protect our world in an era of climate change," he said.

"It's important that the Tongass National Forest is included in today's directive," said Van Noppen. "There are five timber sales scheduled this year in the Tongass that will be affected by the new interim directive."

Old growth trees logged from Oregon's Umpqua National Forest in 2003 (Photo courtesy Umpqua Watersheds)

"The Forest Service should end the temporary exemption of the roadless rule in the Tongass, and should also stop the expansion of the Smoky Canyon Mine into roadless areas of Idaho's Caribou-Targhee National Forest," said Van Noppen, who believes that Idaho should not be exempt from the interim directive.

"Hundreds of hearings have already been held on the roadless rule, millions of comments gathered, and Americans support roadless protection by a margin of 10 to 1. Supporters include hunters and anglers, religious leaders, scientists, backpackers, and many more," he said.

"Those who oppose the rule hope to profit from exploitation of these public resources for logging, mining, and other extractive activities," Van Noppen said. "But roadless areas are extraordinarily valuable just as they are - for recreation, wildlife habitat, climate adaptation, and clean water supplies for hundreds of communities."

Several cases are still pending on the rule, or on site-specific projects such as proposed mines and timber sales in roadless areas. "If these cases have to go through the entire process of decisions, appeals, and remands, years will go by without a resolution - or full protection of roadless areas," he said.

Van Noppen called on Secretary Vilsack to tell the Justice Department to drop the legal arguments carried over from the Bush administration and inform the courts that this administration supports the roadless rule.

Jane Danowitz, director of the Pew Environment Group's U.S. public lands program said, "This action by the Obama administration recognizes the science on which the landmark roadless rule is based, the public who supported it in record numbers and future generations who will benefit from its protections."

"In the Senate and on the campaign trail, the President supported the roadless rule, one of the most significant land conservation measures in decades. We are pleased he will take this critical step to honor his pledge to protect America’s national forests and hope he will move quickly to fulfill it by taking swift action to reinstate the roadless rule."

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2009. All rights reserved.