Forest Service chief says Colorado roadless rule will enhance wild land protections on national forests

A Bill Clinton-era federal rule that keeps logging and road graders out of roadless areas in national forests was upheld by a federal appeals court Friday, but U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell believes a federal roadless rule unique to Colorado will enhance wildland protections across the state while keeping communities from being harmed by the bark beetle. The U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver on Friday upheld the long-contested 2001 Roadless Rule, which protects about 58 million acres of undeveloped wild lands on national forests nationwide and about 4 million acres in Colorado from new road construction. The Clinton rule, long derided by developers and extraction industries, had been overturned by a federal district court in Wyoming. Anticipating that the 2001 rule would not be implemented in Colorado, state and federal officials began creating a Colorado-unique rule six years ago, opening some land up for certain kinds of development, including the removal of some bark beetle-killed trees. That rule is set to be finalized soon. Though the court’s Friday decision makes the more restrictive 2001 rule effective in Colorado, the Forest Service is eager to push ahead with the Colorado rule, which will affect forest land throughout Larimer County. Tidwell, speaking at the Society of Environmental Journalists annual conference in Miami, said Saturday he doesn’t think there will be a conflict between Colorado’s rule and the 2001 rule. In fact, he said, the Colorado rule is an "addition and improvement" on the Clinton-era rule partly because it gives foresters the flexibility to remove dead trees around homes. "We’re hoping to get the final Colorado rule out later next year," he said...more