Enviro groups want Obama to reject Colo. Gov's roadless plan

National environmental groups are pushing President Barack Obama to turn down Colorado's plan for backcountry forests. Gov. Bill Ritter last week asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture for a special Colorado rule on roadless areas. Currently, the Obama administration is enforcing a rule developed under former President Bill Clinton that bans new roads on about 58 million acres nationwide - 4.4 million of them in Colorado. Ritter's proposal would make exceptions for ski areas, coal mines near Paonia and fire-prevention projects near towns. More than 500 scientists sent a letter to Obama on Wednesday urging him to deny Ritter's request. “What's at risk here is the loss of what makes Colorado so special to the rest of America," said Stuart Pimm, a Duke University professor who signed the letter. Also Wednesday, environmental groups took out ads in The Washington Post and Politico. The ads feature a bald eagle flying above spruce trees, and they urge Obama to not exempt Colorado from the national rule. Colorado officials defend the proposal as a smarter way to manage forests, protect towns from fire danger and preserve coal-mining jobs...more