Judge puts Clinton's roadless policy back in action

The Roadless Rule Is Dead! Long Live the Roadless Rule!

In a Three Stooges-esque poke to the eyes of the Bush administration (nyuk nyuk!), U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Laporte yesterday reinstated a Clinton-era ban on road construction, logging, mining, and other development in roadless national forest areas. In May 2005, the Bushies replaced Clinton's "roadless rule" -- which applied to 58.5 million acres, or nearly a third of national forest land -- with a process that required governors to petition the feds if they wanted to protect national forests in their states. Siding with 20 green groups and four states that had sued the U.S. Forest Service, Laporte ruled that the admin did not conduct necessary environmental studies before yanking the Clinton policy. ''This is fantastic news for millions of Americans who have consistently told the Forest Service that they wanted these last wild areas of public land protected,'' said Kristen Boyles of Earthjustice. The timber industry denounced the ruling -- not because they want to log, silly, but because they're worried that roadless areas are vulnerable to wildfire. The Bushies may appeal.

straight to the source: Houston Chronicle, Associated Press, Terence Chea, 20 Sep 2006

straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Glen Martin, 21 Sep 2006

straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, Deborah Zabarenko, 21 Sep 2006

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Comments: (2 comments)

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Heiny-ho indeed

For the full effect of the second headline, go to:

http://www.peewee.com/

Click on the "Characters" option and then click on the genie as he spins by. He's in the amoire.

I love the things I'm required to do as an intern. Such as, researching the origins of this phrase.

Kate Sheppard

by Kate Sheppard at 3:02 PM on 21 Sep 2006

Selfish Americans - Let other countries destroy te

As Americans protect every inch of the environment they turn the coin for the I want lumber to build my houses, oil/gasoline to drive my cars and minerals to support my industries and products. All of these require non renewable resources.
So what do we do.
Let's get lumber from Canada, who cares that they lay waste to huge tracks of land, as long as our forests are kept virgin. And have the Phillipines and South American countries cut their forests to the ground, as long as we are pristine and ensure no American species are ahrmed.
:et Nigeria drill their off shore oil resources. But not one oil derrick offf the shores of California. Why Barabara Streisand might have to wake on her 2 ascres on the ocean to see a blighted ocean with two or three oil derricks 2 miles off shore. Let venezual destroy their poains with oil fields, but not in our pristine national parks. And not even 20 acres of land in Alaska's 1,000, of acres of national lands are ro be soiled by pirates of the oil industry.
Let Peru and Chile and the Phillipines mine the tops off hills , to get to the precious minerals we need to produce our copper pipes and brass faucets. But not one bit of soil; is to be touched in our American National lands.
Protect our land even though we need these natural resources to grow and accomodate America's growing population.
And don'tthink of us as selfish, WE ARE ENVIRONMENTALIST!!!!!

by henryjoe at 12:39 PM on 26 Sep 2006

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