Elkhunter
New member
B-T predicts little change in roadless
Forest supervisor plans to involve public in deciding fate of pristine areas near Jackson.
By Rebecca Huntington
The Bush administration's decision to lift a ban on road building in national forest roadless areas will not unleash bulldozers on the Bridger-Teton National Forest, according to forest officials.
The Bridger-Teton encompasses roughly 1.4 million acres of designated roadless lands, although some of those areas already contain roads despite the designation.
In the short term, roadless areas would remain protected from road building under an interim Forest Service directive, according to forest spokeswoman Mary Cernicek.
In the long run, the fate of those lands would be decided through a public process to revise the forest plan, which governs all activities on the Bridger-Teton, she said.
Forest Supervisor Kniffy Hamilton is "committed to managing these areas and conserving roadless values in a manner consistent with the public interest," Cernicek said Tuesday.
"We know [roadless] is a public issue, it's a public concern," she said. "We, as the Bridger-Teton, are planning to address it as we go through forest plan revision." The revision process would create opportunities for public input, she said.
Gov blasts Bush plan
The Bridger-Teton's assurances come as conservationists and Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal blasted the Bush administration for creating what they described as a flawed process designed to allow only input the government wants to hear.
In contrast, U.S. Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., and industry representatives lauded the new rule as a victory for local input and decision-making.
The Bush administration moved last week to open up 58.5 million acres, nearly a third of all remote national forest lands, to road building, logging and other commercial ventures. In one of its biggest environmental decisions, the administration announced a new rule rolling back protection for roadless areas that had been put in place by President Clinton eight days before he left office in January 2001.
No hearing this time
Under Clinton, the Forest Service held multiple public hearings across the United States, including one in Jackson, to gather public input before enacting the road-building ban. The Bush administration, in contrast, accepted public comment as part of a procedural rule-making process but did not hold hearings to gather oral comments.
The Bush administration rule now gives state governors 18 months to petition the Forest Service to maintain roadless protections or to lift those restrictions and open lands to development.
The Agriculture Department, which oversees the Forest Service, said governors could base petitions on requests to protect public health and safety; reduce wildfire risks to communities; conserve wildlife habitat; maintain dams, utilities or other infrastructure; or ensure that citizens have access to private property. The Forest Service, which will review and have final say over the petitions, calls the new process voluntary and is setting up a national advisory committee on the rule.
Gov. Freudenthal, a Democrat, attacked the process, saying it gives states only a one-time chance to influence the fate of roadless areas. That would not be a "fair shot" because Wyoming does not have the staff or expertise to engage in meaningful input within 18 months, he said. Moreover, the ultimate authority to decide what happens still rests with the Forest Service, he said.
"This is really a costly exercise in futility for the states and a mechanism for the Forest Service to deflect political pressure," Freudenthal said in a statement. "It is a cosmetic attempt to appear to act without any real change."
State may lack time
Tom Darin of Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance echoed the governor's concerns. If states don't have the time or expertise to offer meaningful input, "Does that mean the Forest Service pays less deference because they didn't weigh in?" Darin asked.
Moreover, the old rule had more public input than the new rule, and that public involvement is being "tossed out the window," Darin said. Environmentalists contend the new rule would let the administration rewrite forest management plans to lift restrictions against development on most of that forest.
But Sen. Thomas lauded the new rule as a victory for states and local input. Thomas said the new process would allow further cooperation and better address Wyoming's needs.
"This decision helps right the wrong of the Clinton administration's attempt to circumvent local management of federal roadless areas," Thomas said in a statement.
Industry lauds change
Likewise, industry representatives said the new rule takes decision-making power out of the hands of Washington, D.C., bureaucrats and puts it in local hands.
"President Bush is handing power back to the states and to local communities with his roadless rule," said Jim Sims, executive director of the Western Business Roundtable, which represents industries such as mining, energy and construction.
Federal courts, meanwhile, also might weigh in on the new roadless rule because several lawsuits are pending over the original Clinton rule.
A federal court in Idaho issued a preliminary injunction against the roadless rule in 2001, but the San Francisco-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit overturned the injunction based on an appeal by environmental groups.
Then in 2003, a federal court in Wyoming overturned the rule. Many of those same groups appealed to the Denver-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, which heard arguments last week.
Respond to this article by e-mailing [email protected]
Forest supervisor plans to involve public in deciding fate of pristine areas near Jackson.
By Rebecca Huntington
The Bush administration's decision to lift a ban on road building in national forest roadless areas will not unleash bulldozers on the Bridger-Teton National Forest, according to forest officials.
The Bridger-Teton encompasses roughly 1.4 million acres of designated roadless lands, although some of those areas already contain roads despite the designation.
In the short term, roadless areas would remain protected from road building under an interim Forest Service directive, according to forest spokeswoman Mary Cernicek.
In the long run, the fate of those lands would be decided through a public process to revise the forest plan, which governs all activities on the Bridger-Teton, she said.
Forest Supervisor Kniffy Hamilton is "committed to managing these areas and conserving roadless values in a manner consistent with the public interest," Cernicek said Tuesday.
"We know [roadless] is a public issue, it's a public concern," she said. "We, as the Bridger-Teton, are planning to address it as we go through forest plan revision." The revision process would create opportunities for public input, she said.
Gov blasts Bush plan
The Bridger-Teton's assurances come as conservationists and Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal blasted the Bush administration for creating what they described as a flawed process designed to allow only input the government wants to hear.
In contrast, U.S. Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., and industry representatives lauded the new rule as a victory for local input and decision-making.
The Bush administration moved last week to open up 58.5 million acres, nearly a third of all remote national forest lands, to road building, logging and other commercial ventures. In one of its biggest environmental decisions, the administration announced a new rule rolling back protection for roadless areas that had been put in place by President Clinton eight days before he left office in January 2001.
No hearing this time
Under Clinton, the Forest Service held multiple public hearings across the United States, including one in Jackson, to gather public input before enacting the road-building ban. The Bush administration, in contrast, accepted public comment as part of a procedural rule-making process but did not hold hearings to gather oral comments.
The Bush administration rule now gives state governors 18 months to petition the Forest Service to maintain roadless protections or to lift those restrictions and open lands to development.
The Agriculture Department, which oversees the Forest Service, said governors could base petitions on requests to protect public health and safety; reduce wildfire risks to communities; conserve wildlife habitat; maintain dams, utilities or other infrastructure; or ensure that citizens have access to private property. The Forest Service, which will review and have final say over the petitions, calls the new process voluntary and is setting up a national advisory committee on the rule.
Gov. Freudenthal, a Democrat, attacked the process, saying it gives states only a one-time chance to influence the fate of roadless areas. That would not be a "fair shot" because Wyoming does not have the staff or expertise to engage in meaningful input within 18 months, he said. Moreover, the ultimate authority to decide what happens still rests with the Forest Service, he said.
"This is really a costly exercise in futility for the states and a mechanism for the Forest Service to deflect political pressure," Freudenthal said in a statement. "It is a cosmetic attempt to appear to act without any real change."
State may lack time
Tom Darin of Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance echoed the governor's concerns. If states don't have the time or expertise to offer meaningful input, "Does that mean the Forest Service pays less deference because they didn't weigh in?" Darin asked.
Moreover, the old rule had more public input than the new rule, and that public involvement is being "tossed out the window," Darin said. Environmentalists contend the new rule would let the administration rewrite forest management plans to lift restrictions against development on most of that forest.
But Sen. Thomas lauded the new rule as a victory for states and local input. Thomas said the new process would allow further cooperation and better address Wyoming's needs.
"This decision helps right the wrong of the Clinton administration's attempt to circumvent local management of federal roadless areas," Thomas said in a statement.
Industry lauds change
Likewise, industry representatives said the new rule takes decision-making power out of the hands of Washington, D.C., bureaucrats and puts it in local hands.
"President Bush is handing power back to the states and to local communities with his roadless rule," said Jim Sims, executive director of the Western Business Roundtable, which represents industries such as mining, energy and construction.
Federal courts, meanwhile, also might weigh in on the new roadless rule because several lawsuits are pending over the original Clinton rule.
A federal court in Idaho issued a preliminary injunction against the roadless rule in 2001, but the San Francisco-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit overturned the injunction based on an appeal by environmental groups.
Then in 2003, a federal court in Wyoming overturned the rule. Many of those same groups appealed to the Denver-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, which heard arguments last week.
Respond to this article by e-mailing [email protected]
