Who's minding the forest?

While the Obama administration has been consumed with problems tied to the country's economic woes, it's left our national forests largely in the hands of appointees from the previous administration. Unless the White House sends a clear signal to its agencies to change course, we could be living with the consequences for a long time. Although the Department of Agriculture, which oversees the country's 193 million acres of national forests, is now headed by former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, he's insufficient company. About half of the agency's top posts remain unfilled, while other personnel in place, including the chief of the Forest Service, were hand-picked by the last administration. Similar vacancies exist at the Department of Justice, where the Senate has not yet confirmed an assistant attorney general responsible for litigation on environmental issues. Still minding the store are some of the same allies of the timber industry who failed to defend - and ultimately sought to replace - the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, the popular Clinton-era policy that protects roughly 60 million acres of undeveloped national forests from road-building and other industry incursion. For example, in early July, the Justice Department must answer a complaint filed by environmentalists in Idaho challenging the Bush administration's decision to toss out the original roadless policy and replace it with a voluntary, state-by-state rulemaking. It's also going to settle on what legal argument to make before a Wyoming federal district court judge who has twice struck down the roadless rule. A separate decision from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals could also affect the measure's fate...Modesto Bee