Roadless policy salvaged

Conservation rules painstakingly developed in the Clinton administration to protect millions of acres of roadless forests from logging, mining and drilling have been restored by a federal judge. This is good news for the environment and taxpayers.

The Bush administration abandoned the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which covered national forests and grasslands in 39 states, in favor of local forest plans. Three years of review by the Clinton administration went into the policies that were to take effect in 2001, before newly elected President Bush suspended them and eventually repealed them in 2005. In Washington, the roadless rule protected about 2 million of 9.2 million acres of national forest. The fight, here and nationally, attracted the interest of more than the environmental community.

Congress and taxpayer groups were increasingly disenchanted with the expense of building, maintaining and decommissioning roads for commercial logging. The cost was not being covered by the proceeds of timber sales, and there was a $10 billion backlog of work on 300,000 miles of existing roads.

The expense was compounded when poorly maintained or abandoned logging roads washed out salmon habitat or destroyed restoration projects.

The court victory is a win for the tenacity of Western states, including Washington, and environmental groups, which filed suit to protect millions of pristine acres for future generations.