Bush Administration & States Attempt to Derail the Roadless Rule

by Kelly Matheson

Inauguration Day marked President Bush's first attack on one of our country's greatest land conservation initiatives - the Roadless Area Conservation Rule.

As we reported in the Winter 2001 issue of Frontline, the Roadless Rule, finalized in the last weeks of the Clinton Administration, would protect more than 58 million acres of U.S. Forest Service lands in 38 states from road building, commercial logging and oil and gas drilling. In Wyoming, the rule would safeguard 3.5 million acres of roadless wild country, most of which lie in the Shoshone and Bridger-Teton National Forests.

But on January 20, the Bush Administration ordered that all final rules published but not yet implemented be delayed for 60 days "for further review and consideration."

The State of Idaho and Boise Cascade Company quickly filed separate lawsuits in federal court seeking an immediate halt to the implementation of the Roadless Rule. The court granted a coalition of environmental groups the right to intervene in the lawsuits to protect the interests of millions of citizens who support the rule.

In the Idaho courtroom, despite promises made under oath by Attorney General John Ashcroft at his confirmation hearing, the Department of Justice failed to defend the merits of the Roadless Rule. As a result, on May 10, the court issued an order halting the implementation of the rule, which was to go into effect two days later.

"The Bush Administration has given no signal that it intends to appeal the judge's decision," said Bill Meadows, president of the Wilderness Society. "Instead, it appears to be hiding behind the judge's decision while it prepares to offer its own special poison-pill amendments to an already balanced policy that has the full support of the American people."

The states of Utah, North Dakota and Alaska also filed lawsuits against implementation of the Roadless Rule, while environmental groups from across the nation moved to intervene in its defense.

On May 18, the State of Wyoming filed its own suit in federal court seeking an immediate halt to the implementation of the Roadless Rule. The suit also attacks two other significant environmental-protection initiatives undertaken by the Forest Service during the Clinton Administration. It challenges new regulations governing the development of and revisions to overarching plans for the country's national forests and a new forest transportation initiative that overhauls Forest Service guidelines for managing the 386,000 miles of roads and the $8.4 billion backlog on maintenance and reconstruction of roads in the Forest Transportation System.

Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund will work with WOC and a large coalition of other conservation organizations to intervene on behalf of the Forest Service and defend implementation of the Roadless Rule to protect Wyoming's wildlands, wildlife, clean water and clean air. Our coalition includes The Wilderness Society, Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Biodiversity Associates and National Audubon Society.

During an Earth Day celebration this spring, President Bush stated, "Each of us understands that our prosperity as a nation will mean little if our legacy to future generations is a world of polluted air, toxic waste and vanished forests....I encourage Americans to join me in renewing our commitment to protecting the environment and leaving our children and grandchildren with a legacy of clean water, clean air and natural beauty."

But the president's actions have far more impact than his reassuring words. By attempting to derail one of our country's greatest conservation initiatives, he has broken his Earth Day promises to the American people and future generations.