Feds make minor changes to Idaho's roadless plan

The proposal would no longer protect more than 600,000 acres in the state.

The proposal would no longer protect more than 600,000 acres in the state.

 
The agency released its draft environmental impact statement on the plan written by former Gov. and now Lt. Gov. Jim Risch and has the endorsement of current Gov. Butch Otter. It plans to schedule more than a dozen public meetings around the state in January and February.

"We believe this proposed rule represents a unique opportunity to collaborate with the state of Idaho and bring a conclusion to the roadless issue," said Forest Service Northern Regional Forester Tom Tidwell. "The proposed rule considers the unique characteristics of each of Idaho's inventoried roadless areas and balances the integrity and natural beauty of these roadless areas with responsible stewardship."

The proposed roadless plan would release 609,500 acres of lands currently protected as roadless under the 2001 roadless rule pushed by the Clinton administration. That would allow logging, road building, mining and other activities.

But the rest of the land would be managed under four other designations that offer progressively more restricted limits on development. The most controversial, called backcountry restoration areas, would allow temporary roads and logging "to protect public health and safety in cases of significant risk or imminent threat of flood, fire, or other catastrophic event." These areas account for more than 5 million of the total 9.3 million acres currently protected under the Clinton rule.

Idaho was involved in writing the Forest Service's version of the proposed rule from Risch's plan, the lieutenant governor said. But he has not yet reviewed it in detail.

He said he would be satisfied with minor changes if the Forest Service don't upset the carefully written compromise, that got the support of the Roadless Area Conservation National Advisory Committee, a panel of environmentalists, recreation, timber and local interests organized to review state plans.

"I am not in any way backing down from the protection that I proposed for those properties nor am I backing down from the management of those properties that we agreed would be best for Idaho," Risch said Wednesday.

The Wilderness Society, which opposed Risch's plan from the beginning, said the language that authorizes logging and road building in the backcountry restoration areas has loopholes that could allow roads to be built deep into the areas instead of on the edges near communities. Logging is already allowed in roadless areas near communities under the 2001 Clinton plan.

"Fire is being used as a smokescreen to allow for further logging and road building in Idaho's backcountry," said Brad Brooks, a Wilderness society spokesman in Boise.

Chris Wood, who helped write the 2001 Clinton rule, and now is a vice president with Trout Unlimited, said the language of the 2001 rule was not "Talmudic." But he said he had not seen the draft and couldn't say whether it meets Risch's compromise, which he supports.

But he is confident Risch will not allow the kind of changes that made the state plan even stronger in some ways than the Clinton plan.

"Given his track record and demonstrated commitment to protecting the roadless areas for fish and wildlife, we're optimistic," Wood said.

The timber industry also supports the rule.

"We applaud the Forest Service's actions in proposing this rule, and the governor for supporting it fully," said Idaho Forest Association spokesperson Serena Carlson. "This is an important issue for all of Idaho. It is nice to see a home-grown, Idaho-based solution to this incredibly complex issue."

Risch is currently a candidate for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Republican Sen. Larry Craig. His opponent, former Democratic Rep. Larry LaRocco, said Risch's compromise was similar to a wilderness bill he authored in 1993 but was never passed.

"The Clinton 2001 rule threw in every acre of roadless land," LaRocco said. "I've always felt we need to be more practical about that."

Wyoming and several rural western counties are seeking a federal court decision to throw out the Clinton 2001 rule.

Immediately after the rule was put in place, Idaho sued and won when an Idaho U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge threw it out. The 9th District Appeals Court tossed out his ruling and another federal judge's similar ruling in Wyoming was called moot after the Bush Administration wrote its own rule that allowed states to offer their own roadless plans.

A California judge reinstated the Clinton rule the day Idaho rolled out its plan in 2006. Risch and the Forest Service moved forward with the current plan under a new, separate rule-making process.

A 90-day comment period on the proposed rule and the draft review will commence upon publication of the proposed rule in the Federal Register later this week.