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NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
September 20, 2006
Contact Information
National Forest Roadless Protections Reinstated
Court Rules Against Bush Administration's Roadless Repeal
SEATTLE - National Forest roadless areas throughout the lower 48 states will once again receive protection from logging, mining, and oil and gas drilling, a federal judge ruled today. In a 52-page ruling, Judge Elizabeth LaPorte threw out the Bush administration's repeal of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, and reinstated the original rule, which prevents commercial logging, road building, and oil and gas development in the remaining roadless landscapes on the National Forest system.
"This is a great day for our native wildlife, which depend heavily on the superior habitat found in roadless areas, and for every American who enjoys hiking, fishing, hunting, or horseback riding in the remaining unspoiled landscapes on our national forests," said Erik Molvar, Wildlife Biologist with Biodiversity Conservation Alliance.
The ruling applies across the United States, except in the Tongass National Forest in southeast Alaska, which was excluded from protection by a later amendment to the original Roadless Rule.
"This ruling prevents any activity on our National Forests that would violate the original Roadless Rule, and will have important implications forWyoming," observed Molvar. "Roadless areas on the Bridger-Teton and Shoshone National Forests will now be withdrawn from oil and gas leasing, preserving their value for wildlife and for public recreation. And roadless lands on the Bighorn National Forest, 85 percent of which were left open to industrial destruction by the new Forest Plan, will now be accorded full protection."
The Roadless Area Conservation Rule protects pristine landscapes on national forest lands commercial logging, road building, and oil and gas leasing in lands determined to be roadless by an intensive Forest Service inventory in the 1990s. However, logging to reduce fire risk and motorized vehicles could be allowed in roadless areas under the newly reinstated Roadless Rule. Any projects currently underway that violate the protections of the Roadless Rule were halted by the ruling.
The case was brought by a large coalition of conservation groups, including The Wilderness Society, Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, California Wilderness Coalition, Center for Biological Diversity, Conservation NW, Defenders of Wildlife, Environmental Protection Information Center, Forests Forever Foundation, Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Greenpeace, Humane Society of the United States, Idaho Conservation League, Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, National Audubon Society, Northcoast Environmental Center, Oregon Natural Resources Council Fund, Pacific Rivers Council, Sierra Club, Siskiyou Regional Educational Project, and Sitka Conservation Society.
"Kristen Boyle and her fantastic legal team at EarthJustice are real heroes for achieving this difficult and complicated victory to protect America's roadless forestlands," concluded Molvar.
Statistics on Wyoming roadless areas are available at http://www.voiceforthewild.org/roadless/index.html.
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Contact Information
Erik Molvar, Wildlife Biologist, Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, (307) 742-7978
Kristen Boyles, Attorney, EarthJustice, (206) 343-7340 x33
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