A recent court decision is good news for our wild national forest lands and for all of us who love them.  Last week the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the Roadless Area Conservation Rule.  This Rule, enacted by the Clinton administration, was later overturned by the Bush administration.

     The Rule, promulgated in 2001, brought under federal protection millions of undisturbed acres in our national forests.  Thanks to the Rule, nearly one-third of our national forest land was put off-limits to logging, road development, and energy exploration.  In overturning the Rule, the Bush administration essentially left the fate of these lands to the governments of the states in which the lands are located. 

     The August 5 court decision ”is a huge victory,” notes Michael Francis, director of The Wilderness Society’s national forest program.  The decision “reinstates the most popular environmental rule of all time.”   The Wilderness Society was one of 20 environmental organizations and four states that brought the case to reinstate the Rule.

     Upholding a lower court ruling, the appeals court noted that the Bush administration had violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act.  The court also said that the Forest Service, under Bush, had acted unreasonably in asserting that overturning the Rule would not affect the environment, threatened and endangered species, and their habitats.  Instead, the Roadless Rule, the court emphasized, offered “immeasurable benefits from a conservationist standpoint.”

     While environmentalists hail the court decision as a major victory, they admit that it is not the last word.  A year ago a Wyoming U.S. District judge issued a permanent injunction against the Roadless Rule.  Environmentalists, who are fighting the injunction in court, are urging President Obama to instruct the U.S. Department of Justice to file an appeal.

     In any event, the Ninth Circuit Court’s ruling is “a big win for all Americans because we all value these lands for their clean water and air, quality outdoor recreation and important habitat for wildlife,” said Peter Nelson of Defenders of Wildlife.  “The Roadless Rule will help to keep these forests strong in the face of global warming, ensuring that our nation’s forests continue to provide these benefits for generations to come.”

Crabtree Falls, George Washington National Forest

Boise National Forest

 

 

 

 

 

Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 11th, 2009 at 8:55 am and is filed under Good news for Mother Earth!. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.