Let's Keep Wilderness Wild

Both as a senator and as a candidate for the White House, President Obama was forthright in his support for the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which protects nearly 60 million acres of pristine national forest lands. The rule was established by President Bill Clinton in 2001, but severely undercut by the Bush administration -- freezing its implementation, not defending it against industry court challenges, finally effectively repealing it by making it a state-by-state option that left roadless areas vulnerable to local political pressure. Earthjustice represented a wide swath of the environmental community in fighting off nine separate legal attacks on the rule filed by timber companies and a few states. The effort was remarkably successful, keeping the loggers and roadbuilders at bay and overturning Bush's local option rule. Several cases are still pending on the rule, or on site-specific projects such as proposed mines and timber sales in roadless areas. If these cases have to go through the entire process of decisions, appeals, and remands, years will go by without a resolution -- or full protection of roadless areas. In addition, later this year the Forest Service plans to offer several timber sales in roadless areas of Alaska's magnificent Tongass National Forest. That's why Earthjustice and our allies are calling on Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who oversees the Forest Service, to order an immediate time out on any projects in roadless areas pending the return of protection to all 60 million acres...Huffington Post