Conservationists criticize re-examination of roadless plan

Conservationists criticize re-examination of roadless plan

August 11, 2001

By Janelle Holden
Journal Staff Writer

The Bush administration’s July announcement that it will re-examine a roadless conservation rule has angered Colorado conservationists, who plan to wage a public-relations battle in response.

"The Bush administration is saying we should leave this, the job of protecting roadless areas, to local forests, but if we do that we won’t have very many roadless areas left in Colorado," explained Ted Zukoski, staff attorney for the Land and Water Fund in Boulder, during a conference call on Wednesday.

Zukoski’s concern addresses the objection that many, including the Montezuma County Commissioners, had to the rule: that it made critical use decisions, normally resolved within each national-forest management plan, into a national one-size-fits-all approach.

The rule, developed by the Clinton administration and approved in January, would protect nearly 60 million acres of roadless forest nationwide and 10,000 acres in Montezuma County from commercial logging and road construction.

The areas affected pertain to sections of land that contain at least 5,000 acres of roadless terrain or that sit adjacent to other federally protected areas such as wilderness areas or wilderness study areas.

"It doesn’t prohibit access to valid permits or properties, it doesn’t prohibit oil and gas leasing, it doesn’t prohibit coal-mining, it doesn’t prohibit logging, in certain cases, to prevent the danger of fire or endangered species, and it doesn’t prohibit ORV use," explained Zukoski.

On May 4, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that the roadless rule, which was approved in January, would be implemented, with a few adjustments. But on May 10, an Idaho district judge issued an injunction that stopped the rule’s implementation, citing inadequate opportunity for public comment.

Over 1.6 million comments were gathered and 600 public hearings were held before the rule was implemented. In Colorado, two dozen public meetings were held and 28,000 comments taken.

Conservationists have since appealed the Idaho district court’s decision, and oral arguments are scheduled to begin at the Federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals during the week of Oct. 15. Seven other lawsuits protesting the rule are pending in courts across the country.

In the interim, U.S. Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth has reserved the right to make decisions concerning timber harvests and road construction in inventoried roadless areas, and has also asked regional foresters to submit a detailed account of what roads currently exist in roadless areas.

Overall, there are a half-million acres of designated roadless areas within the 1.9 million-acre San Juan National Forest, most of which are in the central part of the national forest and the eastern sections near Pagosa Springs.

The largest pending roadless-area decision in the San Juan National Forest involves the HD mountains 25 miles east of Durango. The project would develop coal-bed methane in the roadless area, and would include the building of 45 miles of new roads and 100 wells.

According to Cal Joyner, manager of the San Juan Field Office, the decision whether to grant the application to develop coal-bed methane in the area will stay underneath his purview, since Bosworth only reserved the right on non-leased lands.

"The HD mountains are of particular interest because they contain some of the last pockets of old-growth ponderosa pines in the state, and they also have one of the most pristine low-elevation watersheds in the San Juan mountains — Ignacio Creek," said San Juan Citizens Alliance Director Mark Pearson.

Joyner said planning for roadless areas used to be on an area-by-area basis, but San Juan National Forest managers decided a few years ago not to grant permits for roadless-area development until after a revised forest plan was made. Thus, not many decisions were pending when the forest rule first came out. "It is having a very minimal effect on us."

The USDA stated that less than two-tenths of 1 percent of the roadless areas might be considered for road construction during the next five years, after appropriate environmental review and documentation. Currently, 84 percent of inventoried roadless areas are not managed for timber production and 41 percent prohibit road construction.

Citizens have until Sept. 10 to comment on the roadless rule and answer an optional 10 questions. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the U.S. Forest Service, plans to analyze the comments to determine how to proceed with the rule.

"We got lots of comments on the first time around, but I think we have a broader spectrum of engaged individuals now. No matter what walk of life, or what bias that you have, folks are aware of this issue now. It was even talked about in the presidential debate," said Joyner. "It’s our public lands, we manage them for everyone in this country. We need to hear from the full spectrum of diverse values people have for these lands — what they want."

To find out more information, visit the U.S. Forest Service’s web site at www.roadless.fs.fed.us . Send comments in writing to USDA, Forest Service -— CAT, Att: Roadless ANPR Comments, P.O. Box 221090, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84122, or by e-mail to: roadless_anpr@fs.fed.us , or via fax to 1-801-296-4090.