For Immediate Release:
Thursday, May 5th, 2005

Contact:
David Willett, 202-675-6698

               Forest Protections Repealed for Sham Process
Statement of Sean Cosgrove, National Forest Policy Specialist, Sierra Club

"By formally repealing the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, the Bush
administration is, yet again, doing its hardest to ignore over 4 million
public comments in support of wild forest protection as well as an
exceptionally strong ruling from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upholding
the legality of the rule.

"By creating a sham process requiring a multi-step unfunded mandate, the
Federal government is shirking its responsibility to protect these few
remaining roadless areas. The concerns of millions of Americans meet deaf
ears, while the administration hangs on the words of a handful of timber
industry lobbyists.

"Instead of finding ways to provide millions of dollars in subsidies to the
timber industry, the government should be working to permanently protect
all remaining roadless areas in each state and across the National Forest
System.  These are areas of national significance and they deserve a
single, nation-wide policy to protect them--not a piecemeal state-by-state
approach.

"The original Roadless Rule was the product of exhaustive studies and
scientific, economic and public input, including 600 public meetings.
Unprecedented in its overwhelming popularity, the rule garnered 10 times
more public comments than any federal rule in history.  Sadly, the Bush
administration hastily replaced it with an ill-conceived plan that forces a
convoluted process on governors and leaves America's last remaining wild
forests at risk.

"By revoking the landmark Roadless Rule, the Bush administration is leaving
wild forests across the country vulnerable to destructive commercial timber
sales and road building. This move is part of the Bush administration's
overall assault on National Forest protections. From day one, the
administration has worked to weaken or eliminate the core protections for
America's wild forests, putting the interests of the timber industry ahead
of the clean water, recreational opportunities, economic benefits and
wildlife habitat that these forests provide the country."

###

for more information on the Roadless Rule, go to
http://www.sierraclub.org/forests/roadless/2004july_roadlessfactsheet.pdf


David Willett
Deputy Press Secretary
Sierra Club
(202) 675-6698
[log in to unmask]
www.sierraclub.org

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