Obama administration defends 2001 roadless rule

 

The Obama administration today formally entered the legal fray over the 2001 roadless rule that placed a large chunk of national forest land off limits to new road building and timber cutting.

In a one-paragraph court filing, the Department of Justice said it was appealing a 2008 U.S. District Court decision in Wyoming that struck down the road-building ban.

The 2001 rule, issued by the Clinton administration, has been the subject of a tangle of court rulings and administrative actions. Just last week, the federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the roadless protections across the country.

The conflicting lower court order in Wyoming has already been appealed by environmentalists. Now, the federal government, a defendant in the case, is also challenging it, formally moving to uphold the Clinton road ban.

“This is a very positive, exciting development because a favorable ruling in the 10th Circuit would end the legal assault on 40 million acres of our roadless forests,” said Mike Anderson, a Seattle-based attorney and senior resource analyst for the Wilderness Society.

But if the 10th Circuit upholds the Wyoming order, the fight will go on.

--Bettina Boxall

Photo: A 1909 photo of the Bitterroot National Forest in Montana. Credit: Associated Press
 

 

Comments

[Rebecca Blackmore]

Yes... You go Obama!!!!! It takes drastic measures at times to ensure the health and welfare of our lands, forest and all the creatures who claim these areas as their home. We must always try to hold dear and precious that which has just as much right to live then we humans. We have the power and means to either create or destroy that which is around us. We not only save ourselves by preserving these great tracks of forests, prairies, coral reefs, etc... we save our planet, Earth.

[david rogers]

good work - about time

[mushin]

Obarma is an idiot

[Malcolm ruddock]

I applaud the Obama Administration's stand on preventing roads incurring into the wilderness and forests. This is a great step towards keping the CO2 levels under control, even to reverse them. Forest are the natural users of CO2. Ihope many will view this positve news and comment as so much time is spent on negative information.

[ElleJ28]

I recently signed a petition to keep the roadless rule in force. We need to respect this planet and it more people don't get involved, we will have nothing left for future generations. The last administration wreaked havoc on some of our natural resouces and endangered species. Now I think we have a president who respects not only the enviornment, but endangered species as well.