ISSUE BRIEF: Oppose Reinstatement of the Clinton Roadless Rule
Resist legislation that would permanently lock up millions of acres of land!
The Issue:
One of the disturbing developments that occured in public lands policy in recent years was the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Roadless Area Conservation Rule instituted by the Clinton Administration in 2001. The Clinton roadless rule proposed to permanently lock up 58.5 million acres of inventoried roadless areas throughout the U.S. About 97 percent of all roadless areas would be in 12 Western states. The Rule’s expansiveness, and the process, sleight-of-hand involved in its promulgation, led to a great outcry.
The Bush Administration released a revised roadless rule on May 5, 2005. The new rule jettisoned the "one-size-fits-all," bureaucracy of the Clinton Rule. In its place, it instituted an "opt-in" approach, whereby the governors of individual states could petition USDA to take the lead within their borders on identifying national forest lands that should be designated as "roadless."
In late 2006 California, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington and a number of environmental groups filed suit against the Forest Service for repealing the Clinton roadless rule without proper NEPA compliance. In September, 2006, Judge Elizabeth Laporte of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco sided with these entities, threw out the Bush Administration’s roadless rule, and reinstated the Clinton version. The Laporte decision contrasts strongly with a 2003 ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Clarence Brimmer, based in Wyoming. Brimmer’s decision invalidated the Clinton Roadless Rule, calling it a de facto attempt to create federal wilderness areas. The Brimmer ruling was rendered moot when the Bush Administration issued its own rule.Since the litigation on the issue is advancing in different circuits - the 9th and the 10th - the Supreme Court is likely going to be the final arbiter in determining how the 58.5 million acres of national forest are eventually managed.
Impacts on the West:
If reinstated, the Clinton roadless rule would impact tens of millions of acres of USFS lands in the West without any consideration of economic and social impacts and with no real public input. Clearly, given that states will now have to assess all inventoried roadless areas, take public input and develop regulations to protect those areas, the process could very easily move toward a "rubber stamping" of the USFS's original assessment. Westerners must be involved in the process and aggressively provide input to governors, in order to assure that the regulations that result do not inappropriately stymie the many activities on which our regional economy depends.
Status of the Issue:
The conflicting court rulings have placed the state roadless petition process in limbo. While most Western States are still assessing what course of action to take following the 9th Circuit ruling, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) has decided to continue entertaining state petitions under the Administrative Procedures Act (APA). This law, adopted in 1946, allows interested parties to request a specific rulemaking procedure from the federal government. Under the APA process, the USFS will conduct state-specific NEPA and ESA studies for national forests in each state that requests it do so.
States have responded to the situation in a number of ways. Idaho went ahead and proceeded with a roadless petition using the APA process. This plan was accepted in December of 2006. Other states are still in the process of determining whether to continue with the petition process, focus on working with the USFS on individual forest plans, or whether to wait and see how the roadless rule litigation turns out. Meanwhile, the State of Wyoming has petitioned the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals to reinstate its case before that Court.
Some members of Congress have sought to legislatively codify the Clinton rule. Rep. Jay Inslee (WA) and nearly 150 others supported legislation, H.R. 3563, last Congress that would do just that. A companion bill, S. 2364, introduced by Senator Maria Cantwell (WA) garnered 12 cosponsors in the Senate. It is expected that these bills will be re-introduced in the 110th Congress with even greater support.
Solutions:
- States should be pressed to apply under the APA and quickly develop a process based on local input that assesses the economic and social impacts of roadless area protections.
- Urge your Representative and Senator to oppose the Inslee and Cantwell legislation what would permanently lock up millions of our federal lands to most forms of public access.
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