Greenwire: Feb. 6, 2012
FORESTS: Roadless rule stirs controversy in Colo.
Groups in Colorado are clashing over a state draft plan that restricts road building in Colorado forests.
Federal roadless rules from the Clinton administration are already in place, but Colorado developed its own plan at the urging of the George W. Bush administration. The state restrictions are supposed to be at least as stiff as the national rule. A U.S. Forest Service decision on the plan is expected in the next few weeks.
Conservationists say the plan is much less protective of forestland than federal stipulations are.
"It would give Colorado, at the end of day, fewer protections than any other state," said Jane Danowitz, director of the public lands program at the nonprofit Pew Environment Group. "It's a runaway train."
State environmental managers strongly disagree, saying the draft is as protective -- if not more so -- as the national template. It would just get there in a different way.
Both sides agree that some economic interests stand to benefit from the state plan. Coal mines and ski resorts would get access to backcountry areas. More logging for fire prevention and possible commercial sale would be allowed. Natural gas drilling could expand into other areas.
Environmental groups argue the special interests are trumping the public good and the state is underestimating the long-term economic value of undisturbed land. State and federal officials say a special case for Colorado makes sense.
"It's not one prescription fits all," said Mike King, the executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. "We are moving forward with the Colorado rule because we believe it's better for Colorado -- that we are able to address our unique environmental circumstances, and our unique economic circumstances, in a way that the 2001 rule simply couldn't and didn't" (Kirk Johnson, New York Times, Feb. 5). -- JE
