Producers and their congressional supporters looking to expand drilling on certain federal lands praised a recent action by the US Department of Agriculture's US Forest Service. The new USFS proposal essentially would overturn the controversial "roadless rule" enacted by former US President Bill Clinton in the waning days of his administration.
Environmental groups called the new USFS decision misguided and warned it would mean ecologically vulnerable national forests are unnecessarily compromised by commercial activity.
States litigate
In June 2003, the 10th US Circuit Court struck down the Clinton-era rule enacted in January 2001 that set a federal standard restricting logging and road building in about one third of US national forests. States that sued USFS included Alaska, Idaho, Utah, North Dakota, and Wyoming. Industry groups also objected to the roadless rule, saying the provision choked off promising areas of domestic energy development.
A US Department of Energy-funded study in 2000 said an estimated (mean) 11.3 tcf of natural gas and 550 million bbl of oil could underlie inventoried roadless areas. The vast majority of those resources are in the Rocky Mountains, where an estimated 9.4 tcf of gas theoretically could be accessed (OGJ Online, Apr. 4, 2001).
An updated 2002 study of the Powder River basin found those numbers could be even higher (OGJ Online, Dec. 17, 2002).
Under US President George W. Bush's proposed rule, governors looking to shield certain public lands from road construction would petition USFS to prevent development.
"Strong state and federal cooperation in the management of roadless areas will foster strong local involvement and support for a final policy," Sec. of Agriculture Ann Veneman said July 12.
US officials said the new proposal gives governors the opportunity to work with USFS on collaborative, state-specific rulemakings for conservation and management of roadless areas.
Petitions would identify areas for inclusion and ways to protect public health and safety, reduce wildfire risks to communities and critical wildlife habitat, maintain critical infrastructure such as dams and utilities, and assure citizens access to private property.
Once the state finished its petition process, USFS would publish a subsequent rulemaking for inventoried roadless areas within a petitioning state. Each state-specific rulemaking would include the required National Environmental Policy Act analysis and input from the public during the notice and comment period. Petitions would have to be submitted within 18 months of the effective date of a final rule, USFS said.
Congressional reaction
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Pete Domenici (R-NM) congratulated USFS.
"More than 90% of the roadless areas in this country are in the West. This administration has taken yet another important step to give western citizens a greater voice in the management of western resources.
"For too long, Beltway bureaucrats were the ones who decided how federal resources in the West were managed. They made critical decisions on water, forest, rangeland, and wilderness without any real input from governors or western citizens," he said.
Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), top Democrat on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, called the proposal an "about-face" that turns the currently balanced, commonsense roadless policy on its head. "Although the Bush administration promised not to undermine the roadless rule, they broke their promise. The rollback they proposed [July 15] will threaten the future good health of America's forests," he said.