FORESTS: Final approval of Colo. roadless plan draws cheers, lingering concern
Scott Streater, E&E reporter
Greenwire: Tuesday, July 3, 2012
The Obama administration has granted final approval to a long-debated plan designed to preserve 4.2 million acres of roadless forests in Colorado while still allowing limited roads to accommodate coal mines, ski resorts and state wildfire protection efforts.
The Forest Service published a 114-page record of decision (ROD) in today's Federal Register, signed by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, that implements the state alternative to the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule and concludes years of evaluation and planning, partisan bickering, and conflicting court rulings.
The Obama administration has said the final Colorado rule first unveiled in May is stronger than the Clinton-era national rule that provided blanket restrictions on most logging and road building across more than 50 million acres of national forests. The Colorado rule prohibits tree cutting and road construction within most of the state's 4.2 million acres of roadless lands spanning eight national forests, and restricts the use of construction zones for power lines, pipelines and telecommunication lines on more than one-fourth of the lands (Greenwire, May 2).
"In addition to securing strong protections for roadless areas, the Colorado Roadless Rule will provide flexibility to restore and thin forests in roadless areas adjacent to communities, thereby helping to avoid catastrophic wildfires," Vilsack said in a statement. "The Colorado Roadless Rule will conserve our backcountry roadless areas which are vital for clean drinking water, recreational opportunities, and habitat for wildlife."
The final plan, among other things, doubles the amount of land given "upper tier" protections under a draft plan released a year ago (E&ENews PM, April 14, 2011).
The 1.2 million acres of upper-tier areas would bar roads unless authorized by statutes, treaties or legal rights or to respond to imminent threats to public health and safety.
That high level of protection pleases sporting groups, hunters and anglers, who say the final plan protects the most sensitive national forestlands while providing the flexibility to allow for mining, logging and other sanctioned activities.
"Colorado's anglers and hunters understand the connection between healthy fish and game habitat, and their ability to fish and hunt successfully on land that belongs to all Americans," said Chris Wood, Trout Unlimited's president and CEO. "That's why our volunteer members were engaged and involved in the Colorado rulemaking process. This rule, while not perfect, sets the bar pretty high and proves that sportsmen are a force to be reckoned with when it comes to protecting public lands and how they're managed today and in the future."
Mixed reaction
But the final rule retains exemptions for roads for methane wells needed to allow an expansion of underground coal mining in the North Fork area and allows more flexibility for existing ski areas. And critics say the plan could also allow oil and natural gas drilling in roadless areas in the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison national forests and White River National Forest.
Mike Freeman, an Earthjustice staff attorney in Denver, said the group is reviewing the ROD, but he added that it appears the Colorado rule still falls short of the Clinton administration's rule.
Freeman also said the state plan is unnecessary after the national roadless plan was upheld last year by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The court's decision reversed a Wyoming district court finding that the national rule had created de facto wilderness and violated the National Environmental Policy Act.
"We now have a consistent national approach to managing the 4.2 million acres in Colorado. It's the law of the land. There's no reason why Colorado forests should get second-class status and be managed to a less protective standard than the roadless areas in other states," he said. "The state plan provides less protections for about 75 percent of the roadless areas in this state."
Mike Anderson, a senior resource analyst with the Wilderness Society, said he's also concerned about possible drilling in some roadless areas but added that the overall plan is a good one, particularly the 1.2 million acres of upper-tier protections that "highlight some of the more superlative areas of the state for wildlife and recreation, and that is a really good feature."
Anderson said the Wilderness Society's focus now will be to work with the Forest Service and state to ensure the new rule is properly implemented.
"There's definitely pluses and minuses with this rule," he said.
The issue remains a contentious one. The ROD comes at a time when Western state governments and the mining and oil and gas industries, among others, have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out the federal roadless rule and let states like Colorado determine how best to manage these pristine forestlands.
Colorado and Idaho are the only two states to pass state roadless rules under a George W. Bush administration petition plan that was later ruled unlawful.
The Forest Service said in a news release announcing the ROD that "future forest plans and revisions will be consistent with the provisions of the Colorado Roadless Rule."
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) said his state's roadless rule "reflects the diverse, creative and passionate suggestions contributed by thousands of Coloradans" and should serve as the law of the land for managing roadless areas in the state.
"The rule adds new protections to millions of acres of our state's cherished national forests," Hickenlooper said in a statement, "while providing sufficient, targeted flexibility crucial to local economies and communities."
