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Latest Posts tagged with "Roadless Rule"

Roadless rule becomes law of the land

March 13, 2012 By Mike Anderson, J.D.

Just a two-hour drive from Seattle, Teanaway Roadless Area is popular with horseback riders, hikers, hunters and mountain bikers

Credit: Holly Werran

March came in like a lion to defend our national forests.  After years of courtroom wrangling and legal uncertainty, the Roadless Area Conservation Rule has finally become the law of the land.  Read more

Victory for roadless forests! Court moves to protect national forest roadless areas

October 21, 2011 By Christopher Lancette

Hikers in the North Cascades Roadless Area of Washington

Credit: Damon Parrish, REI

More than ten years after President Clinton banned roads and logging on the last roadless areas on our nation’s forests, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals has the final say — 49 million acres of America’s national forests will remain wild under the Roadless Rule. Read more

Do Roads Belong Here? New threats to Idaho’s backcountry forests

February 1, 2011 By Christopher Lancette

We prefer to inform you about advances in wild land conservation, but this week that opportunity has been denied for Idaho’s magnificent backcountry forests. At the end of January, a federal district court upheld a dangerous federal rule that eliminates protection for 400,000 acres of Idaho’s wild backcountry and exposes more than 5 million acres in the state to greater threat of development. Region:  Northern Rockies Read more

National forests in Idaho deserve full protection

October 25, 2010 By Craig Gehrke

Heart Lake in Mallard Larkins Roadless Area, Clearwater National Forest, Idaho. Photo by Craig Gehrke.

I spent a recent Friday afternoon uncharacteristically dressed in a jacket and tie, sitting in a court room, not particularly focused on what was being said. I found my mind wandering back to remember some of Idaho’s spectacular backcountry that I’d hiked this summer. It was the fate of much of that backcountry that was being debated by attorneys in that courtroom. Read more

Under Threat Again: Will the Obama Administration protect roadless forests?

April 7, 2010 By Susannah Clark

Waterfall in San Miguel Peak Roadless Area, Colorado. Photo by AlphaTangoBravo / Adam, Flickr.

The state of Colorado is attempting to institute a roadless forest management rule that could set a dangerous precedent for the nation’s roadless forests, potentially paving the way for fewer forest protections nationwide. Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter is asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture for a revised rule that would exempt the state’s 4.2 million acres of roadless forests from the 2001 national Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which protects 58 million acres of the nation’s most pristine forests. Read more

Roadless forests keep Golden Eagles soaring in Colorado skies

November 21, 2008 By Mariel Colombo

Drawing of Golden Eagle by Paula Ini.

When I think about birds of prey, the first idea that comes to mind is a strong sense of presence. Even more when it is the Golden eagle. This bird is the king of the skies — a great hunter living in mountainous areas. But this royalty member, beyond its magnificent features, is vulnerable to human activities. Without our efforts to protect the roadless forests the bird calls home, human impacts would be far worse. Read more