As the new home of OSPIRG's environmental work, Environment Oregon can be contacted regarding this news release.
The Bush administration
announced a proposal today to repeal the widely popular Roadless Area Conservation
Rule that was enacted in January 2001 to protect 58.5 million acres of pristine
national forests from most logging and road-building, including nearly 2 million
acres in Oregon. The administration proposed replacing the Roadless Rule with
a process that requires governors to petition for protections for pristine national
forests in their states with no guarantee of protection.
"The Bush administration
is unleashing yet another assault on America's last wild forests," charged
Laura Etherton, Field Director of Oregon State Public Interest Research Group.
"This proposal to repeal one of the most popular and far-reaching conservation
initiatives since Teddy Roosevelt is shocking even for an administration that
has weakened so many environmental and public health protections."
The Roadless Rule is the
most popular conservation initiative in our nation's history, having already
been supported by a record-breaking 2.5 million public comments, including over
58,000 from Oregonians.
The Bush administration
has already eliminated protections for Alaska's Tongass National Forest from
the Roadless Rule, despite receiving at least 250,000 comments in opposition
to its proposal, including comments from Staples, K.B. Homes, and Hayward Lumber—all
companies that are major consumers of wood products who support preserving America's
last wild forests.
Enacted 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.
"This latest attack on our environment is yet another example of the Bush
administration's pattern of catering to corporate special interests at the expense
of the public interest. It's well past time for the administration to abandon
its wrongheaded logging proposals and start protecting America's last wild forests
for future generations. Keeping the Roadless Rule intact in the Lower 48 and
in Alaska's Chugach and reinstating the rule in the Tongass would be a good
start," said Etherton.
Oregon State Public Interest
Research Group is a statewide non profit, non partisan public interest advocate
with 28,000 citizen members.
