The notice last week in the Federal Register was a milestone for roadless policy in Colorado.
Three pages of small type summarized years of debate over how the state would manage roadless national Forest Service lands. It also defined a path forward, setting a timeframe for an environmental analysis and creation of specific rules.
As a national policy on the same issue is caught up in court challenges, Colorado is moving along with its own policy, one that was created by a bipartisan task force with significant public input.
While we understand the criticism of some environmentalists who would prefer stricter rules, we think the Colorado approach is a sound, homegrown plan for managing approximately 4 million acres of national forest land.
The state-generated plan would ban development of most of Colorado’s roadless forest land. The plan allows exceptions for ski areas, and when a temporary road is needed to fight forest fires, to use federal mineral leases and to extract coal via federal leases from certain national forest land in western Colorado.
While the roadless issue has been debated for three decades, the latest chapter began in 2005. That’s when the legislature passed, and then-Gov. Bill Owens signed into law, an act creating a 13-member bipartisan task force to recommend roadless management policies.
The task force held numerous meetings across the state, accepted 40,000 public comments and comprehensively reviewed the state’s roadless lands.
When Bill Ritter was elected governor, he tweaked the plan, tightening up protections, but largely left intact the consensus document that went to the federal government for review.
Ritter called it an “insurance policy for protection of our roadless areas.” He called it that because the fate of stricter Clinton-era rules on roadless management are tied up in court challenges and could, conceivably, be struck down.
If that were to be the case, the state would be left without roadless management policies.
So, now begins the public rulemaking process. There will be an environmental impact statement and a draft of rules. Along the way, the public will be invited to comment.
Over the years, Coloradans have invested a significant amount of time and energy into tailoring a roadless policy that fits the state’s unique history and needs. The protections are significant and deserve support.
