Despite an announcement in early June 2003 that the Bush Administration was going to let the Roadless Area Conservation Rule stand, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) announced on June 9, 2003, that is was proposing revisions to the rule that will undermine the protections the original rule set in place for America's wild forests.
The first proposed rule change allows the Forest Service to eliminate roadless area protections for all Alaska's Tongass and Chugach National Forests. The second rule change would allow governors to exempt the national forests in their state from the roadless rule.
The Forest Service announcement was made by Mark Rey, former timber industry lobbyist who is now the Undersecretary of Agriculture in charge of the U.S. Forest Service. Rey said the Forest Service will write new regulations to let governors seek exemptions to the roadless rule across the national forest system. This proposed rule revisions would allow governors to request waivers from the roadless rule to allow logging and road building in certain areas.
The other proposed rule change exempting the Tongass and Chugach is the result of so-called settlement between the State of Alaska and the Forest Service. The State of Alaska sued to block implementation of the roadless protection rule. Under the terms of the settlement, the Forest Service will draft a short-term rule for Tongass roadless areas over the summer months. However, it will also propose a separate rule permanently exempting both the Chugach and the Tongass, scheduled to take effect by the end of this year.
In more positive news, the Representatives Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) and Jay Inslee (D-WA) and Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and John Warner (R-VA) introduced on June 5 the "Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2003" (H.R.2369/S.1200). This bipartisan legislation would implement the Roadless Rule in its original form protecting the full 58.5 million acres from road building and other development.
The Bush Administration's proposed rule revisions are expected to be released later this month at which time the Forest Service will accept public comment on the proposed changes.
Background
The landmark Roadless Area Conservation Rule was set in place by the Clinton Administration in January 2001, after two years of study and unprecedented public involvement. It placed 58.5 million acres of roadless lands on our national forests off limits to most logging and road-building and included areas in the Tongass and Chugach National Forests in Alaska. These two forests are respectively the nation's largest and second largest national forests: the Tongass encompasses 17 million acres, the Chugach 5 million. Together, they account for around a quarter of the roadless acreage the conservation rule was designed to protect.
Public comment on the Roadless Area Conservation Rule set a record with over 1.6 million Americans weighing in on behalf of roadless area protection. However, the timber industry quickly filed suit against the rule. The Bush Administration refused to defend the rule against the industry challenge, however, a federal appeals court upheld it.
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