A federal judge Wednesday reinstated a controversial 2001 rule that limits development in national forest roadless areas, throwing into question efforts to create state-by-state protections touted by the Bush administration.
The court ruling in San Francisco comes just a week after a state task force forwarded recommendations to Gov. Bill Owens to preserve most of the 4.4 million acres of roadless areas in Colorado’s national forests.
“While it is uncertain today how a California district court ruling may affect Colorado, one thing is clear: The bipartisan, collaborative process we have undertaken in Colorado is the appropriate way to determine our state’s position concerning roadless areas,” Owens said in a press statement.
U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Laporte ruled that the federal government failed to conduct necessary environmental studies before giving states permission last year to create their own management guidelines for new roads on federal land.
Conservation groups hailed the decision to return to the strong protections established in the waning days of the Clinton administration that would prohibit new roads in the nation’s 58.5 million acres of road less areas for activities such as logging and oil and gas exploration.
“We had always thought that the 2001 rule was legal and that it was a matter of time before we prevailed,” said Sean Cosgrove, national forest policy specialist for the Sierra Club. “What we argued in court was that the Bush administration rule was not based on real analysis and public input, and they changed it just because they wanted to.”
In the largest public-input effort of its kind before issuing the 2001 rule, the federal government received millions of public comments that overwhelmingly favored protecting roadless areas.
Similarly, the state task force heard from thousands of Coloradans who predominantly favored prohibitions on new roads, except for temporary ones used for activities such as fire prevention.
Dan Hopkins, a spokesman for the governor’s office, said Owens would continue reviewing the task force recommendations and additional input he has been receiving, with the intention of filing a petition with the U.S. Forest Service in November as planned.
In his statement, the Republican governor said: “We simply should not have a federal magistrate in San Francisco unilaterally dictating natural-resource policy for the entire country.”
Steve Smith, a regional director for the Wilderness Society and a member of the state task force, said the ruling appears to apply immediately to on-the- ground management of roadless areas rather than allowing for new roads during the ongoing review and recommendation process.
“For the moment, those areas are protected,” he said, acknowledging that he was unsuccessful in seeking such interim protections through the task force recommendations.
Denver Post wire services contributed to this report.
Staff writer Steve Lipsher can be reached at 970-513-9495 or slipsher@denverpost.com.
