Judge won't reconsider order on 'roadless rule'

A federal judge in Wyoming won't reconsider his nationwide order blocking a Clinton-era ban on road construction in nearly 60 million acres of national forest. U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer on Monday denied a request from the federal government to reconsider his order last August declaring the so-called "roadless rule" invalid nationwide. Brimmer's is the latest in a series of conflicting court decisions that have put the roadless rule's legal status in doubt. Citing the conflicting court opinions, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack last month issued a directive reinstating the Clinton-era roadless rule for one year. The 2001 rule banned road-building and logging in more than 58 million acres of remote national forests, mostly in the West. Vilsack said last month that his interim directive provided clarity to help protect national forests until the Obama administration develops a long-term roadless policy. The directive gave Vilsack sole decision-making authority over all proposed forest management or road construction projects in designated roadless areas in all states except Idaho. Nevertheless, environmental groups on Tuesday promised to quickly pursue their pending appeal of Brimmer's ruling from last August. Brimmer's ruling ordered a permanent injunction against the federal government's roadless rule in response to a lawsuit filed by the state of Wyoming. Brimmer said the rule was enacted in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act and the Wilderness Act. "By violating NEPA, the USDA and the Forest Service neglected to consider all of the potentially negative environmental impacts the 2001 roadless rule would impose," Brimmer said in his ruling this week...AP