MEDIA ADVISORY: July 12, 2004
Contacts: Robert Vandermark, Heritage Forests Campaign 202-887-8800,
rvandermark@net.org,
Tiernan Sittenfeld, Heritage Forests Campaign, 202-546-9707 #311,
sittenfeld@pirg.org,
CONSERVATIONISTS CONDEMN BUSH PLAN TO GUT PROTECTION FOR ROADLESS FORESTS
MEDIA CONFERENCE CALL TODAY AT 2:00 PM EST
Dial In in Number is 800/351-6808 password “forest”
REVIEW OF BUSH ADMINISTRATION’S NEW ROADLESS RULE
A June 28 Federal Register notice indicates that the Bush Administration
intends to replace the Roadless Area Conservation Rule with a state petition
process that essentially eliminates federal protections from logging and
mining in millions of acres of national forests - making these roadless areas
much more vulnerable to road building and commercial logging. These proposed
regulatory changes, according to the notice, were released for public comment
today, Monday, July 12, 2004.
a.. Replacing Roadless Rule Prohibitions with State Petitions
b.. This proposal eliminates the national protections afforded to these last
wild places by the Roadless Area Conservation Rule and leaves the management
of these federal public lands that belong to all Americans in the hands of
select state politicians.
c.. Allowing governors to "opt -in" for roadless protection, essentially
eliminates any thought of national protections for these wild roadless areas.
Governors will immediately and continuously be pressured by logging and mining
interests not to seek roadless protections so as to open up these public
lands/national forests for commodity development/ deforestation. Most/some
will not be able to resist putting perceived short-term benefits ahead of
sound stewardship and the public's best interests.
d.. Without the Roadless Rule in place, decisions on road building and
logging and roadless area management would once again go back to the local
Forest Service management plans. Most of these local plans allow road building
and logging on most of the 58 million acres of inventoried roadless areas - in
the past decade we have seen a loss of 2.9 million acres of roadless areas.
e.. Pro-development states such as Alaska, Idaho and Colorado could petition
the Administration to actually weaken protections provided by the local forest
plans - or not petition at all.
f.. This unwise proposal would upend our long tradition of consistently
applying the same laws and standards across the country. National Forests are
governed by national laws. These National Forests belong to all Americans.
This proposal would result in different rules for managing National Forests in
every state.
g.. The Administration's announcement/intensions show its willingness to
ignore public participation and citizen involvement. The proposal would
undermine the Roadless Rule - a public policy overwhelmingly supported by
Americans that was developed over many years and is backed by law and sound
science.
h.. Instead of a policy that benefits all Americans, the Administration is
pursuing a special deal for a few people at the expense of all Americans.
AP REPORT
ADMINISTRATION CONFIRMING PLANS TO OPEN MORE FORESTS TO LOGGING
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration will propose a new plan to open up
national forests to more logging, confirming a draft plan published two weeks
ago, The Associated Press learned.
Under the plan, to be announced by Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman on
Monday, governors would have to petition the federal government to block
road-building in remote areas of national forests, replacing a national rule
against such projects adopted by the Clinton administration.
The Bush administration for nearly two years has been weighing changes to the
so-called roadless rule, which blocks road construction in nearly one-third
of national forests as a way to prevent logging and other commercial
activity.
Officials call the new roadless policy a commonsense plan that protects
backcountry woods while advancing a partnership with the nations governors,
particularly in the West.
Veneman, whose department includes the Forest Service, was to announce the
policy at the Idaho Capitol in Boise with Gov. Dirk Kempthorne and Sen. Larry
Craig, both Republicans.
"Our actions today advance President Bush's commitment to cooperatively
conserving roadless areas on national forests," Veneman said in remarks
prepared for the event. "The prospect of endless lawsuits represents neither
progress, nor certainty for communities.
"Our announcements today illustrate our commitment to working closely with
the nation's governors to meet the needs of local communities, and to
maintaining the undeveloped character of the most pristine areas of the
National Forest System," she added.
As part of the plan, the administration said it will reinstate for 18 months
an interim rule requiring that Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth approve any
new road construction in previously protected areas. The administration had
let the interim rule lapse last year as it considered a permanent rule to
replace the Clinton-era policy.
As a practical matter, officials said they expect few, if any, changes in
roadless policy during the next 18 months, noting that Bosworth did not
approve a single new road during the two-plus years the interim directive was
in place.
Environmentalists howled when the draft rule was made public earlier this
month. Without a national policy against road construction, they said, forest
management will revert to individual forest plans that in many cases allow
roads and other development on most of the 58 million acres now protected by
the roadless rule.
Environmentalists say it is unlikely that governors in pro-logging states
such as Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and Utah will seek to keep the roadless rule
in effect. Kempthorne is among several Republican governors in the West who
have strongly criticized the rule, calling it an unnecessary restriction that
has locked up millions of acres from logging and other economic development.
Citing such complaints, the Bush administration said last year it would
develop a plan to allow governors to seek exemptions from the roadless rule.
The latest plan turns that on its head by requiring governors to petition the
Agriculture Department if they want to protect against timbering in their
state.
The Clinton administration adopted the roadless rule during its final days in
office in January 2001, calling it an important protection for backcountry
forests. Environmentalists hailed that action, but the timber industry and
some Republican lawmakers have criticized it as overly intrusive and even
dangerous, saying it has left millions of acres exposed to catastrophic
wildfires.
Federal judges have twice struck down the 3-year-old rule, most recently in a
Wyoming case decided in July 2003. That case, which environmentalists have
appealed, is one of several pending legal challenges, complicating efforts to
issue a new plan.
The new plan will be published in the Federal Register this week, with a
60-day comment period extending into September.
__=
On the Net: Roadless Area Conservation:
http://www.roadless.fs.fed.us/ _____
ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND
Roadless Area Logging on the Tongass National Forest: The Bush administration
has already removed roadless area protections in the Tongass National Forest
and is now moving forward with 50 timber sales to log these pristine roadless
areas in Alaska
(http://wms.akrain.org/akrainDir/files/images/rdlsblocked_8.pdf). The first
sale notice was issued on July 6 for the Three-Mile timber project
http://www.ourforests.org/documents/tongassroadlessrulesales1203.pdf despite a
recent House vote to cut off funding for new logging roads on the Tongass.
Contact Laurie Cooper at 202/266-0441 or see
http://www.akrain.org for
additional information about the pending sales and the House vote to cut road-
building subsidies.
Roadless Area Logging on the Siskiyou National Forest: On July 8, the Bush
Administration issued a final decision on the Biscuit logging project in
Oregon’s Siskiyou National Forest. The plan calls for extensive logging in
once protected pristine roadless areas. Fifty-three percent of the project
total comes from roadless areas - about 195 million board feet
(http://www.biscuitfire.com/proj_plan_index.htm). For additional information,
please contact Don Smith, Siskiyou Project, 541/592-4459, don@siskiyou.org or
go to:
http://www.siskiyou.org Business and Recreation Interests Support Roadless Area Conservation: A number
of outdoor industry companies
(http://www.outdoorindustry.org/found.wild.camp.play.position.html) and
fishing and hunting interests have recently expressed their strong support for
roadless area conservation as essential to their economic well-being. Last
November, the Northern Sportsmen Network sent a letter to the chief of the
Forest Service signed by 460 gun clubs, protesting the impending decision to
remove the Tongass from the roadless rule.
(http://www.taxpayer.net/forest/11_03_gunclubletter.pdf) Some of the biggest
names in Oregon’s corporate world joined with local manufacturers of outdoor
equipment to call on the Bush administration to uphold protections for
National Forest roadless areas. Nike, Adidas, Salomon, Columbia Sportswear,
and seven other outdoor recreation businesses wrote to the administration
about the importance of wild roadless forests to their customers and their
businesses. Please see
http://www.onrc.org/press/Retailer.letter.pdf for a
copy of the letter. Trout Unlimited has released a report that demonstrates a
vital link between Oregon's roadless lands and native fish, wildlife. The
report found that the bulk of the state’s remaining healthy salmon, steelhead
& trout depend on headwaters and tributaries are found within federal roadless
lands, which also support its longstanding fishing, hunting and outdoor
recreation tradition. Please see
http://www.tu.org/pdf/home/RoadlessOR- final.pdf for a copy of the report.
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