Changes to ban on logging, roads delayed
Copyright 2001 Gannett News Service
June 28, 2001
By MIKE MADDEN; Gannett News Service
WASHINGTON -- Proposed changes to a Clinton administration rule banning logging and new roads in about one-third of the national forests will not be released this week as originally planned, a Forest Service official said Thursday.
The Bush administration wants to revise the so-called "roadless rule" to allow local forests more flexibility in enforcing the rule's restrictions -- a move environmentalists fear could render the rule meaningless.
The rule bars new roads and logging in 58.5 million acres of woodlands, with some exceptions to maintain forest health and to fight fires.
In early May, Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth said revisions would be released for public comment by the end of June. But it could be mid-July before the agency's revisions are finalized, Forest Service spokeswoman Heidi Valetkevitch said.
"We want to make sure we're doing it right," she said.
When the proposal is ready, it is likely to pose questions about what a good roadless rule should look like, said Doug Crandall, who as staff director for the House subcommittee on forestry has talked with administration officials about the revisions. After receiving public comments, the rule could again be changed.
The Clinton rule is also under challenge in federal court in Boise, Idaho, where several local governments, ranchers, Indians and the Boise Cascade lumber company have filed suit to have the regulation thrown out. In May, U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge temporarily blocked the rule from taking effect, calling it a "Band-Aid approach" to regulation.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit has promised a speedy review of Lodge's order, perhaps by next month.