The administration, after dodging and weaving for months on end, finally announced on May 13 that it was repealing the Roadless Area Conservation Rule established under the Clinton administration and replacing it with a new rule that invites governors to file petitions outlining their wishes concerning management of the national forests in their states. The Forest Service is under no obligation to approve the petitions, however; this smells like tricky politics. Moreover, in certain regions of the country, the Forest Service has been actively discouraging governors from filing a petition so that there is nothing beyond the agency's own forest management plans that might impinge on its ability to develop roadless areas. You may recall that the Forest Service essentially gutted the forest planning rules that have stood since 1982 late last year in a blatant attempt to make the agency even less accountable.

The action has remained vigorous, and is certain to continue indefinitely. Here's a brief rundown.

New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, a Democrat, immediately announced that he will file a petition seeking protection for all the national forests in his state, which could provide an early test of the governor-petition concept. Rumor had it that Mark Rey, the Agriculture Department official who oversees the Forest Service and effectively dictates forest policy nationwide, was behind the pressuring of governors not to file petitions despite the fact that he wrote the rule creating the petition process. Clearly, not all governors plan to play ball.
Idaho governor Dirk Kempthorne, a Republican, announced that he will submit a petition early next year seeking to open previously protected forests in his state to logging, mining, and other kinds of development. He plans first to consult nearby residents and get their views on which areas should be opened, and to what.
Utah's Republican governor Jon Huntsman announced that he will not submit a petition but leave management decisions to the Forest Service.
Colorado's Republican governor Bill Owens appointed a task force in accordance with a bill passed by the Colorado legislature to measure public opinion on the matter and make recommendations to the governor on any petition.
Montana's Governor Brian Schweitzer (D) has asked the agency to provide money to help cover the costs that would be incurred for his state to fulfill the petition requirements for the new rule.
Wyoming's Governor Dave Freudenthal (D) has also complained about cost were the state to do a petition.
And governors of many other states have complained that it would be overly costly to do the homework necessary to put together informed petitions that could well be ignored by the administration. Petitions are due within 18 months, by November 2006. Hmmm, an election year. Could be interesting.

Meanwhile, Earthjustice attorneys, writing on behalf of 20 regional and national organizations of conservationists and fishermen, sent formal notice to the Forest Service that it had acted illegally in repealing the Roadless Rule and replacing it with a new one without entering into formal consultations with the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service to ensure that the new rule won't put protected wildlife species in jeopardy. The letter was dated June 8, 2005, so a lawsuit is possible as soon as early August. Earthjustice attorneys continue to investigate other possible legal challenges.

This has not led, so far, to a rush to cut trees in roadless areas with the exception of a nasty timber sale near Yakutat near the top of the Alaska panhandle as we discussed last month.

And in June, amendments offered in both houses of Congress to strip away all monies for building roads on the Tongass National Forest in Alaska were defeated, in the House on a procedural ploy by Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA) and in the Senate despite the leadership of Sen. John Sununu (R-NH), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), John McCain (R-AZ), and Russ Feingold (D-WI).

Finally, on July 11, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed as moot Earthjustice's appeal of an injunction blocking the Roadless Rule issued by a judge in Wyoming. One bright spot: At the urging of Earthjustice attorney Jim Angell, the court issued an order eliminating the ruling from the Wyoming district court, which had said the Clinton rule had been illegally developed. While we are disappointed that we didn't get a court order reinstating the Clinton rule, we succeeded in eliminating the district court ruling and a nation-wide injunction against the implementation of the Clinton rule.

Tom Turner, Senior Editor
yourturn@earthjustice.org