WASHINGTON (AP) - Expanses of national forest land that would have
been spared from logging and road building this weekend won't receive
that protection after a federal judge blocked the Clinton administration
policy.
The road ban would have prevented logging, road construction and
other activities on 58.5 million acres of federal forests, except
in rare circumstances. It was one of President Clinton's key environmental
legacies.
U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge in Boise, Idaho, blocked the
rule Thursday, saying it would cause ``irreparable harm'' to federal
forest lands and those that neighbor it. The four-page ruling came
less than a week after the Bush administration said it would implement
the rule on Saturday while work continued on revisions to allow more
local input.
In issuing a preliminary injunction indefinitely stalling the ban,
Lodge called the rule a ``Band-Aid approach'' that ``ignores the reality
... that once something of this magnitude is set in motion, momentum
is irresistible, options are closed and agency commitments, if not
set in concrete, will be the subject of litigation for years to come.''
However, Lodge encouraged the Bush administration to continue moving
ahead with its study of possible revisions ``because the ultimate
responsibility lies with the government and-or its agencies and not
with the court.''
The ban was praised by environmentalists as a way to protect the
nation's most pristine forest lands - a total area more than twice
the size of Ohio - from developers. Opponents, including the timber
and mining industries, say the rule needlessly places valuable resources
off limits and puts forests at risk to wildfire and disease.
The state of Idaho, timber company Boise Cascade and various groups
representing farmers, snowmobilers and others had filed a lawsuit
asking Lodge to block the rule. They argued the process used to create
it was one-sided and didn't consider the long-term consequences for
the forests.
"With today's ruling, the principles that the Bush administration
rightly put forth last week - including reliable information, accurate
mapping and local decision-making - will now be at the front end of
any future planning process for our nation's forests,'' Idaho Gov.
Dirk Kempthorne said.
The Justice Department is reviewing the order and has not decided
how to proceed, spokeswoman Cristine Romano said. The department could
accept the order or appeal it within two months to the 9th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman, who oversees the Forest Service,
said the department will move ahead with an effort to find a ``responsible
process'' that protects roadless areas. Many of the areas that would
have been protected under the rule are in the West, although they
spread from Alaska's Tongass National Forest to Florida's Apalachicola
National Forest.
Environmentalists said they planned to appeal Lodge's decision, which
they blamed in part on the Bush administration's failure to vigorously
defend the rule in court. "The judge actually cited the Bush
administration's filings in the case as justification for why he was
taking his actions'' against the policy, said Phil Clapp, president
of the National Environmental Trust.
Clinton administration officials began crafting the rule about three
years ago, but did not issue the policy until two weeks before he
left office. The rule was supposed to take effect in March, but the
Bush administration delayed implementation until May 12 while it conducted
a review.
Former administration officials defended the policy. "Squadrons
of Justice Department lawyers helped us develop this rule,'' said
Chris Wood, a top aide to the former Forest Service chief.
The timber industry praised the decision. "It's what we said
all along, that it was clearly illegal and it is now time for the
administration to move on,'' said Chris West, vice president for the
American Forest Resource Council.
On the Net:
Forest Service roadless policy: http://www.roadless.fs.fed.us/
U.S. District Court for Idaho: http://www.id.uscourts.gov
Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund: http://www.earthjustice.org/
American Forest & Paper Association: http://www.afandpa.org/
