Idaho salvages roadless policy

After a lengthy, tortuous process, Idaho and the federal government have negotiated an agreement that revisits Clinton-era conservation rules for national forestlands in the heavily timbered state.

The result is a homegrown plan, which might be the key to success, and may also provide a template for other states.

The Roadless Area Conservation Rule was one of the last actions of the Clinton administration, and setting it aside was one of the first acts of the Bush administration. The intent had been to close 58 million acres of roadless forests to logging, mining and drilling. Three years of public consultation had found broad support for roadless areas, and frustration with the drain on the national treasury.

The high costs of building roads was never covered by the revenues from logging, and there was an astronomical backlog of expensive repairs. Failure to maintain or close roads caused problems for other expensive federal activities, such as salmon restoration.

Idaho did not like the Clinton rules and sued to stop them. In the meantime, local environmental and business interests continued to tussle over how to manage vast tracts of federal land. Neither the Clinton or Bush approaches — coming from outside the state — sat well in Idaho.

Under the Clinton proposals, 9.3 million acres were designated for roadless areas. The deal anticipated last week and reported over the weekend, would set aside 3.3 million acres to be left alone under strict rules. A majority, 5.6 million acres, would preclude most commercial resource activities allowed in national forests, but allow logging near fire-vulnerable communities. Approximately 400,000 would be open for established national-forest uses.

The deal is a triumph of pragmatism, which is a another way of saying that thoughtful negotiations can produce good results. Winner-take-all litigation is exhausting, dispiriting and risky.

Congress and other states have Idaho's constructive example to ponder.