New roads allowed in untouched forests.

Byline: From Register-Guard and news service reports

Much of the last 58.5 million acres of untouched national forests, which President Clinton had set aside for protection, were opened to possible logging, mining and other commercial uses by the Bush administration on Thursday.

New rules from the U.S. Forest Service allow new roads in some of the most pristine federal land in 38 states and Puerto Rico. Ninety-seven percent of it is in 12 states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

In Western Oregon, the move is unlikely to have much immediate effect, however. That's because new road building and logging is barred or severely limited in many federal forests under a separate document, the Northwest Forest Plan. That 1994 plan seeks to protect the northern spotted owl and other at-risk species.

Governors can submit petitions within 18 months to prevent road building on some of the 34.3 million roadless acres where it would be permitted under the new rule, or they can request that new forest management plans be written to allow the construction on some of the other 24.2 million acres.

Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski said he will study the new rules, but in the past he has expressed opposition to some logging in the roadless areas.

Rather than focusing just on roadless areas, Kulongoski wants "a meaningful dialogue with the administration and Congress on the future of the national forests in the 21st century and the role of the U.S. Forest Service in fulfilling that mission,'' said Mike Carrier, Kulongoski's natural resources adviser.

Many officials, including California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, made it clear that they want much of the land to remain untouched.

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said his agency, which includes the Forest Service, will work closely with governors ``to meet the needs of our local communities while protecting and restoring the health and natural beauty of our national forests.''

Democrats questioned why governors were getting so much power over use of federal land.

``Trees, wildlife and fish don't respect state boundaries, and I don't think decisions about management of roadless areas - or other parts of the national forests - should be based on those lines, either,'' said Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo.

Eight days before leaving office in 2001, Clinton acted to take decisions about roadless forest land away from locally based federal managers. Environmentalists said the managers often were too close to logging companies and other business interests.

``Any short-term economic gain that would result from turning over these areas to corporate special interests is significantly outweighed by the economic benefit of keeping them intact,'' said Steve Smith, The Wilderness Society's assistant regional director for Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico.

The Forest Service will have final say over the governors' petitions. The agency is creating an advisory committee to help put the rule in place.

The agency said petitions from the states could be based on requests to protect public health and safety; reduce wildfire risks; conserve wildlife habitat; maintain dams, utilities or other public works; or ensure that people have road access to their private property.

With the federal courts deeply involved since Clinton's action, the fate of the new regulations is in doubt.

For example, on Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit heard arguments from environmental groups that are appealing a Wyoming judge's ruling overturning Clinton's move.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld Clinton's rule. Many of the same issues apply in both cases.

Environmentalist say the existence of the Northwest Forest Plan in Western Oregon provides little comfort because the Forest Service is seeking ways to sell timber that had been protected under that plan, said Jay Ward, conservation director for the Oregon Natural Resources Council.

It was not immediately clear how much roadless area acreage in Western Oregon might be at issue in the new rule.

Oregon has nearly 2 million acres of roadless areas, but much of that is west of the Cascades summit and thus governed by the Northwest Forest Plan.

One hot spot that could be affected is in Biscuit burn area in Southern Oregon. Under the new ruling, the Forest Service could soon proceed with the sale of 8,174 acres once protected as roadless in the burn area.

In the Eugene-Springfield area, some land around Hardesty Mountain in the Cascade foothills would lose the roadless protections, Ward said.

The new roadless area policy is an ``unnecessary distraction'' from producing a reliable stream of logs for Oregon's timber industry under the 1994 plan, Carrier said.

The federal government "is taking a federal responsibility and imposing it on the governors, and imposing it at a time the states are strained to find the capacity to do the business of the state,'' Carrier said.

The timber industry does not expect to start logging roadless areas soon, because the rules still face a lengthy environmental evaluation.

Environmentalists see the new rule as the Bush administration's latest step to open public lands to exploitation.

``It's a way of giving anti-environmental governors a special influence, whereas pro-environmental governors will be just flat-out rejected,'' said Andy Stahl of Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics.

National forests cover 15.7 million acres in Oregon. In addition to the 2 million acres designated roadless, 3 million acres are off-limits to logging under other classifications.

ROADLESS AREAS

The Forest Service's inventory of so-called roadless areas in national forests includes lands within 38 states and the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. Ninety-seven percent of it is in the 12 Western states:

Alaska: 14,779,000 acres

Arizona: 1,174,000 acres

California: 4,416,000 acres

Colorado: 4,433,000 acres

Idaho: 9,322,000 acres

Montana: 6,397,000 acres

Nevada: 3,186,000 acres

New Mexico: 1,597,000 acres

Oregon: 1,965,000 acres

Utah: 4,013,000 acres

Washington: 2,015,000 acres

Wyoming: 3,257,000 acres