After reading this whole article, I was very surprised to find here, a reporter that can stay down the middle of a topic and lean a little into both sides of the issue, in what I see as pretty fair to both sides. While at the same time giving a pretty good overview of the situation. Of course this individual didn't get into the deep nitty gritty of the whole whole thing, but then again, I don't believe the American people as a whole really want to be saddled with every single little detail of every single little subject at hand. I do think that this whole thing is starting to come to a head and we will probably start seeing good or bad of the things being implemented in the next couple years...
Battle renews on use of national forests
By E.A. Torriero Tribune staff reporter
Deep in the Bridger-Teton National Forest, a few cows meandered past the odd natural gas well, pausing at times in a meadow to take in the whirring of the drill pump and its chemical-smelling odors.
About 60 miles to the west, in Idaho, a cattle herd grazed in a green valley where cutthroat trout swim in a clear creek--in the shadow of a bald hillside mined for phosphate in Caribou-Targhee National Forest.
"Something sure doesn't fit in this picture," said Monte Clemon, a ranch manager surveying the clash of man and nature from a ridgeline across from the phosphate mine.
This uneasy detente has gotten uneasier this summer in the nation's treasured timberlands.
Across America's West, a debate as old as the pioneers of the 1800s is being rekindled over the fate of parts of national forests such as the Bridger-Teton and the Caribou-Targhee.
At the fulcrum is the Bush administration's plan announced in July to eliminate the Clinton-era "roadless rule" that limits construction in national forests by curbing access to about 58.5million acres of untamed lands.
The proposal would give state governors far more clout in deciding what happens in forests, opening the process to political wrangling and, environmentalists say, pressure from the energy and timber industries. Still, the final say would rest with the U.S. Forest Service.
But already plans are gaining momentum for more timber harvesting, mining, drilling or other industrial uses--including some in roadless areas--in Alaska, California, Idaho, Wyoming and other Western states where the bulk of the nation's forests are located.
U.S. forest officials and business groups say they have no desires or plans to run roads across much of the vast forests. They foresee development in only a small percentage of the land. The environment--including roads--would be monitored tightly with or without a roadless rule, they say.
Conservationists, however, are bracing for a fight, calling public meetings from New Mexico to Wyoming.
"Without the roadless rule, it makes it more difficult to say `no' to development," said Tom Darin, public lands director for the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance in Wyoming. "Our fear is that there is no turning back."
Officials: Protections remain
Federal forest officials see the concerns of environmentalists as overblown. The roadless rule was implemented in the last days of President Bill Clinton's administration and has since been an albatross for foresters attempting to balance competing concerns for the uninhabited wilderness, they say.
Besides road access, the Forest Service considers a host of environmental issues before proceeding with a project, officials say.
"Why not more people than less involved in the process?" asked Forest Service spokesman Dan Jiron. "Isn't that what they [environmentalists] have been asking for all along? The Forest Service has long sought to keep much of the land roadless. I don't foresee any big changes."
In the gigantic wilderness of two pristine forests south of Jackson Hole where elk and grizzlies run, the roadless rule fight already is fueling political shootouts.
Conservationists oppose two plans for new gas-mining leases in Wyoming's Bridger-Teton and a proposal to include some roadless areas in plans for further phosphate mining in Idaho's Caribou-Targhee.
Idaho and Wyoming are ground zero for the debate. Since the Clinton decision, federal courts in both states have left the roadless rule in limbo.
The cases have been wrapped in legal maneuvers and public posturing even as forest officials work to develop blueprints for territories as expansive as metropolitan Chicago.
To the east of Bridger-Teton lies "the Saudi Arabia of the West"--the hub of the nation's natural gas territory. Hundreds of wells have been drilled into the rolling plains, and thousands more are planned. It will be decades before the booming area around Pinedale, Wyo., is tapped out.
Still, in looking to the future, the energy industry is eyeing Bridger-Teton. A handful of wells, built in the forest after permission was granted in the 1980s, have provided spotty results. But federal geological surveys show potential.
In October, 82 lease sites in the forest are planned for bid, along with 17 in December and 10 in February. It will be years, if not decades, before wells are developed, forest officials predict. At first, federal regulations would prohibit access to some of the sites.
Brent Larsen, the Bridger-Teton deputy forest supervisor, said of leasing sites in designated roadless areas, "Right now our position is no."
Still, conservationists are alarmed. They are calling for a delay on further gas- and oil-development leases in Bridger-Teton pending debate over the roadless rule.
The public has until Sept. 16 to submit protests to the Forest Service about the Bush plan. Then there would be an 18-month period before new policies would take effect.
"We are doing a complete U-turn in terms of the political process," said Frederick Smith, who has mapped the forest's roadless regions for the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance. "Now political pressure is coming into play on virtually every decision."
In the case of wells in Bridger-Teton, "once someone has a lease, you ultimately can't tell them you cannot get to it," Smith said.
Just over the Wyoming line in Idaho, mining interests are making a similar argument on Caribou-Targhee.
JR Simplot Co. operates a phosphate mine where the ore is crushed and then shipped via pipeline to a plant in Pocatello, where it is turned into fertilizer. The company is seeking exemptions from roadless restrictions to connect its three yet-untapped mine leases in the forest.
"We have a legal right to those modifications," said company spokesman Fred Zerza.
Under Clinton's roadless rule, though, the modifications were prohibited and Simplot's options were the more costly ones of building roundabout access.
"Roadless means no roads: It's that simple," said Marv Hoyt of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, which is fighting the mine expansion. "To change this so Simplot can have easier access is not acceptable."
The Forest Service is evaluating the options. But with or without road exemptions, the Forest Service says mining fits its plan for the eastern ledge of the forest, with caveats for environmental monitoring.
"We are absolutely looking at the development of these lands," said Caribou-Targhee Forest Supervisor Jerry Reese.
Ranchers whose properties lie on the downward slope of the existing mine say they already are feeling the effects. Water sources have shown selenium contamination in the basin down from the Simplot mine, they say.
Reese says that so far the federal studies are inconclusive. Still, ranchers are alarmed.
"I bought here to be on the edge of a beautiful national forest and not with a view of the phosphate mine," said cattleman Brent Stewart.
Governors weigh options
Throughout the West, governors are closely watching the debates over development and evaluating the role the Bush administration seems to have thrust upon them.
Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, a Republican, is thinking of establishing a state committee to handle the issues, his office said. Idaho has much to debate: Its 12 national forests and 9.3million acres of roadless areas are second only to Alaska's.
Conservationists fear that Kempthorne ultimately will side with big business that helped get him elected. But Kempthorne spokesman Mike Journee says the governor will be fair.
"Roadless areas are part of our character," Journee said. "The governor knows they have a definite place in Idaho."
For at least the time being, the fate of federal forests appears to lie in the hands not of Americans at large but of state residents and lawmakers where the forests are located.
"They took a process that was nationalized and localized it," John Freemuth, a Boise State University political science professor, said of the Bush administration.
But come November, roadless policies could change again.
"Of course, this could all go south if [Democratic presidential candidate John] Kerry wins," Freemuth said.
Battle renews on use of national forests
By E.A. Torriero Tribune staff reporter
Deep in the Bridger-Teton National Forest, a few cows meandered past the odd natural gas well, pausing at times in a meadow to take in the whirring of the drill pump and its chemical-smelling odors.
About 60 miles to the west, in Idaho, a cattle herd grazed in a green valley where cutthroat trout swim in a clear creek--in the shadow of a bald hillside mined for phosphate in Caribou-Targhee National Forest.
"Something sure doesn't fit in this picture," said Monte Clemon, a ranch manager surveying the clash of man and nature from a ridgeline across from the phosphate mine.
This uneasy detente has gotten uneasier this summer in the nation's treasured timberlands.
Across America's West, a debate as old as the pioneers of the 1800s is being rekindled over the fate of parts of national forests such as the Bridger-Teton and the Caribou-Targhee.
At the fulcrum is the Bush administration's plan announced in July to eliminate the Clinton-era "roadless rule" that limits construction in national forests by curbing access to about 58.5million acres of untamed lands.
The proposal would give state governors far more clout in deciding what happens in forests, opening the process to political wrangling and, environmentalists say, pressure from the energy and timber industries. Still, the final say would rest with the U.S. Forest Service.
But already plans are gaining momentum for more timber harvesting, mining, drilling or other industrial uses--including some in roadless areas--in Alaska, California, Idaho, Wyoming and other Western states where the bulk of the nation's forests are located.
U.S. forest officials and business groups say they have no desires or plans to run roads across much of the vast forests. They foresee development in only a small percentage of the land. The environment--including roads--would be monitored tightly with or without a roadless rule, they say.
Conservationists, however, are bracing for a fight, calling public meetings from New Mexico to Wyoming.
"Without the roadless rule, it makes it more difficult to say `no' to development," said Tom Darin, public lands director for the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance in Wyoming. "Our fear is that there is no turning back."
Officials: Protections remain
Federal forest officials see the concerns of environmentalists as overblown. The roadless rule was implemented in the last days of President Bill Clinton's administration and has since been an albatross for foresters attempting to balance competing concerns for the uninhabited wilderness, they say.
Besides road access, the Forest Service considers a host of environmental issues before proceeding with a project, officials say.
"Why not more people than less involved in the process?" asked Forest Service spokesman Dan Jiron. "Isn't that what they [environmentalists] have been asking for all along? The Forest Service has long sought to keep much of the land roadless. I don't foresee any big changes."
In the gigantic wilderness of two pristine forests south of Jackson Hole where elk and grizzlies run, the roadless rule fight already is fueling political shootouts.
Conservationists oppose two plans for new gas-mining leases in Wyoming's Bridger-Teton and a proposal to include some roadless areas in plans for further phosphate mining in Idaho's Caribou-Targhee.
Idaho and Wyoming are ground zero for the debate. Since the Clinton decision, federal courts in both states have left the roadless rule in limbo.
The cases have been wrapped in legal maneuvers and public posturing even as forest officials work to develop blueprints for territories as expansive as metropolitan Chicago.
To the east of Bridger-Teton lies "the Saudi Arabia of the West"--the hub of the nation's natural gas territory. Hundreds of wells have been drilled into the rolling plains, and thousands more are planned. It will be decades before the booming area around Pinedale, Wyo., is tapped out.
Still, in looking to the future, the energy industry is eyeing Bridger-Teton. A handful of wells, built in the forest after permission was granted in the 1980s, have provided spotty results. But federal geological surveys show potential.
In October, 82 lease sites in the forest are planned for bid, along with 17 in December and 10 in February. It will be years, if not decades, before wells are developed, forest officials predict. At first, federal regulations would prohibit access to some of the sites.
Brent Larsen, the Bridger-Teton deputy forest supervisor, said of leasing sites in designated roadless areas, "Right now our position is no."
Still, conservationists are alarmed. They are calling for a delay on further gas- and oil-development leases in Bridger-Teton pending debate over the roadless rule.
The public has until Sept. 16 to submit protests to the Forest Service about the Bush plan. Then there would be an 18-month period before new policies would take effect.
"We are doing a complete U-turn in terms of the political process," said Frederick Smith, who has mapped the forest's roadless regions for the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance. "Now political pressure is coming into play on virtually every decision."
In the case of wells in Bridger-Teton, "once someone has a lease, you ultimately can't tell them you cannot get to it," Smith said.
Just over the Wyoming line in Idaho, mining interests are making a similar argument on Caribou-Targhee.
JR Simplot Co. operates a phosphate mine where the ore is crushed and then shipped via pipeline to a plant in Pocatello, where it is turned into fertilizer. The company is seeking exemptions from roadless restrictions to connect its three yet-untapped mine leases in the forest.
"We have a legal right to those modifications," said company spokesman Fred Zerza.
Under Clinton's roadless rule, though, the modifications were prohibited and Simplot's options were the more costly ones of building roundabout access.
"Roadless means no roads: It's that simple," said Marv Hoyt of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, which is fighting the mine expansion. "To change this so Simplot can have easier access is not acceptable."
The Forest Service is evaluating the options. But with or without road exemptions, the Forest Service says mining fits its plan for the eastern ledge of the forest, with caveats for environmental monitoring.
"We are absolutely looking at the development of these lands," said Caribou-Targhee Forest Supervisor Jerry Reese.
Ranchers whose properties lie on the downward slope of the existing mine say they already are feeling the effects. Water sources have shown selenium contamination in the basin down from the Simplot mine, they say.
Reese says that so far the federal studies are inconclusive. Still, ranchers are alarmed.
"I bought here to be on the edge of a beautiful national forest and not with a view of the phosphate mine," said cattleman Brent Stewart.
Governors weigh options
Throughout the West, governors are closely watching the debates over development and evaluating the role the Bush administration seems to have thrust upon them.
Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, a Republican, is thinking of establishing a state committee to handle the issues, his office said. Idaho has much to debate: Its 12 national forests and 9.3million acres of roadless areas are second only to Alaska's.
Conservationists fear that Kempthorne ultimately will side with big business that helped get him elected. But Kempthorne spokesman Mike Journee says the governor will be fair.
"Roadless areas are part of our character," Journee said. "The governor knows they have a definite place in Idaho."
For at least the time being, the fate of federal forests appears to lie in the hands not of Americans at large but of state residents and lawmakers where the forests are located.
"They took a process that was nationalized and localized it," John Freemuth, a Boise State University political science professor, said of the Bush administration.
But come November, roadless policies could change again.
"Of course, this could all go south if [Democratic presidential candidate John] Kerry wins," Freemuth said.
