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No Drilling In Our Wild ForestsWhat's NewProtecting roadless areas Recently, President Obama and his administration took initial steps to address the national protection of inventoried national roadless areas in our national forests. The Department of Agriculture issued an interim directive requiring secretarial-level review of any projects that might be inconsistent with the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. Take Action. We've been working with Governor Schwarzenegger to permanently protect our roadless forests. But these places are so invaluable, it's time to make it official nationwide. Congress should approve legislation that makes roadless forests permanently protected. Click here What's at stake Our national forests protect clean water, preserve undisturbed wildlife habitat, and provide backcountry recreational opportunities for millions of Americans. Unfortunately, only a fraction of these forests remains undisturbed by extractive industries: 16,000 miles of roads already traverse their acreage. In 2001, our staff and their allies won a remarkable victory with the enactment of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which placed 56 million acres of pristine forest land off-limits to road-building, mining, and virtually all logging. Unfortunately, the Bush administration stripped away this vital protection
in an effort to give away these pristine forests to the timber industry and
other powerful special interests.
SummaryEnacted in January 2001, the Roadless Rule protects the last third of America's national forests while allowing new road construction in order to fight fires, ensure public safety, and allow brush clearing to protect forest health. The Roadless Rule ensures that forests will continue to provide clean drinking water, habitat for wildlife, and endless opportunities for recreation and solitude. On July 12th the Bush administration announced its proposal to repeal the Roadless rule and replace it with a process that allows governors to petition for more or less protection for roadless areas in their states. For three and a half years, the Bush administration has been undermining the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which protects 58.5 million acres of America's wild forests and 4.4 million acres in California. The Bush administration initially scheduled a 60 day comment period, but they later extended it for an additional sixty days so it ended on November 15, 2004. During the comment period, the administration received more than 1.4 million comments in opposition to its proposal. About a dozen governors spoke out in opposition to the proposal, as did many members of Congress. On May 5, 2005 President Bush implemented his proposed changes to the Roadless Rule. States now have until November 13, 2006 to petition the federal government for protection of their wild forests. However, taking advantage of a provision allowing states to make
recommendations regarding the managment of their national forests, on
July 12, 2006 Gov. Schwarzenegger petitioned the federal government to
protect 100 percent of California’s roadless forests. Finally, on September 20 the 9th district court in California struck down President Bush’s roadless rule because it violated the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) and other federal laws.
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