Wildalert: Roadless Conservation Rule
The roadless rule placed 58.5 million acres of roadless national forest lands off limits to road building and logging after a huge outpouring of public support for such protection.
The need for legislative defense of the roadless rule became painfully clear over the past two weeks. During the first week of June, Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey (former timber industry lobbyist) proclaimed that he would let the roadless rule stand by not renewing an interim rule he imposed to replace it.
But what Mr. Rey says and what Mr. Rey means and does are often very different things. On June 9, Rey announced that he would exempt our two largest national forests, the Tongass and the Chugach, from the reach of the roadless rule. Rey said the exemption for Alaska's forests was in settlement of a lawsuit that the state brought against the roadless rule. (It is worth noting here that the rule has handily survived other court challenges, even with the Justice Department's refusal to defend it.)
Rey went on to say he would give governors in the lower 48 states the option of seeking exemptions for national forests in their states. Rey's earlier announcement that he'd let the roadless rule stand was designed to steal a weekend's march on the truth. And the truth is that if the roadless rule is to "stand," it will have to do it without legs, for Rey has cut them off.
The web site of the Library of Congress, has a list of co-sponsors of the legislation.
Senate cosponsors: http://ga1.org/ct/Y7aCvI415pqW/@@@P
House: http://ga1.org/ct/YdaCvI415pqO/@@@P
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------