As the new home of OSPIRG's environmental work, Environment Oregon can be contacted regarding this news release.
Statement of Laura Etherton, OSPIRG Field Director
The Bush administration
intends to remove protections for 58 million acres of the nation’s last
remaining wild forests, including nearly two million acres in Oregon. A June
28 Federal Register notice indicates that the administration will replace the
widely popular Roadless Area Conservation Rule with a state petition process,
forcing state governors to petition the federal government for roadless protections.
In addition, the Federal
Register states that the administration intends to propose permanently exempting
both of Alaska’s national forests from the roadless rule in November 2004.
These proposed regulatory changes, according to the notice, are scheduled to
be released for public comment in July 2004.
OSPIRG opposes the Bush
administration’s move to eliminate protections for our last pristine forestlands.
These wild places are vital to preserve clean water, recreation opportunities,
and habitat for fish and wildlife. In addition to preserving these areas for
future generations, the roadless rule enables the Forest Service to address
the estimated $8.4 billion backlog in needed roads maintenance instead of using
taxpayer dollars to build new roads. Protecting roadless areas is also important
for preventing catastrophic wildfires—Forest Service statistics show that
fires are twice as likely in areas that have been roaded and logged than roadless
areas.
The roadless rule was finalized
after years of scientific study, 600 public meetings in communities across the
country, and a record-breaking 1.6 million comments in support of the rule.
To date, it has been supported by more than 2.5 million comments from across
the country, including over 58,000 comments from Oregon.
Recently, Governor Ted Kulongoski
indicated his support for protection of roadless national forests. In a June
1 statement in response to the Bush administration's plan to aggressively log
Oregon’s Siskiyou wild rivers area in the largest timber sale in modern
history, Gov. Kulongoski issued a statement in which he said he "strongly"
opposes intrusion into roadless areas. In addition to Governor Kulongoski, the
governors of five other states have declared their support for protection of
roadless areas.
OSPIRG applauds Governor
Ted Kulongoski’s support for roadless protections and urges him to call
on the Bush administration to enforce, not eliminate the Roadless Area Conservation
Rule.
Oregon State Public Interest
Research Group (OSPIRG) is a non-profit, non-partisan public interest organization
with over 28,000 members across Oregon.
