Today’s decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturning theIdaho District Court’s preliminary injunction on the Roadless AreaConservation Rule is an outstanding victory for conservation of the Nation’s headwaters rivers and streams.
The Ninth Circuit Court’s ruling reflects the wishes of the millions ofAmericans who participated in the most inclusive rulemaking in federalrulemaking history. More than 1.6 million comments were received andmore than 600 public hearings were held throughout the country in theformulation of this landmark policy that protects 58.5 million acres ofAmerica’s last wildforests from most logging and roadbuilding.
American Whitewater encourages the Administration to honor today’s decision by the Ninth Circuit Court and implement the January 12, 2001 Roadless AreaConservation Rule immediately.
Notably this decision comes a day after the Forest Service released the Bush Administration’s Healthy Forests Initiative, which is designed to reduce the forest fire risk in the West through Forest thinning, logging, and expedited environmental assessments.