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Conservationists hope that the incoming Obama administration will boost protection for national forest roadless areas and make other changes aimed at conserving natural resources. Some shifts in policy will take time to implement, but in some key areas, the changes could be immediate and dramatic, and will be felt on national forest lands in Summit County, according to Andy Stahl, director of a watchdog group called Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics. The Portland-based organization is comprised of current and former agency employees, and offers cover for whistle-blowers along with closely tracking and analyzing Forest Service policies. Stahl said standard moves during a transition include the immediate suspension of any rule-making processes and the withdrawal of non-finalized rules. The most sudden changes could affect a contested set of rules for managing inventoried roadless areas, including about 60,000 acres of White River National Forest land in Summit County. Under the Bush administration, the Forest Service also adopted regulations that drastically cut public involvement and environmental studies associated with developing national forest plans. Agency officials said the goal was to speed planning and implementation, cut red tape and reduce planning costs, but the change widely was seen as a serious blow to resource protection and public involvement. The planning rule has also been tangled up in court, and was rejected by a federal judge in California last year....
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