DENVER — A plan to manage some 4 million acres of national forests in Colorado is drawing fire from critics who say it offers less protection than proposals for comparable public land in every other state.
Environmentalists and others are asking state officials to withdraw or change the proposal to oversee roadless forest areas.
State officials are meeting this week with a federal advisory panel to discuss the plan.
The land was declared off-limits to development by the Clinton administration. Colorado and other states submitted plans to manage roadless forests after a federal court overturned the Clinton-era rule.
Colorado is moving ahead with its proposal as legal battles continue over the Clinton rule and a Bush administration policy that replaced it.
