Bush admin, states seek limited roadless ruling PDF Print E-mail
If U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer decides to once again strike down the Clinton-era roadless rule, the Bush administration and four Western states want him to limit the ruling to the state of Wyoming.

In the latest in a series of roadless-related lawsuits, Wyoming is seeking to enjoin the Clinton-era Roadless Area Conservation Rule that prohibits logging, roadbuilding and other development on 50 million acres of national forest. But in separate court filings this month, the Justice Department and the states of California, Montana, New Mexico and Oregon ask Brimmer in the U.S. District Court in Cheyenne not to make another nationwide ruling.

Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal (D) and other critics of the Clinton-era rule feel it is overly restrictive and arbitrary, an argument Brimmer found persuasive four years ago. In 2003, Brimmer struck down the Clinton rule, calling it a de facto attempt to create federal wilderness areas. The Bush administration used the ruling as an opportunity to promote a plan allowing states to petition for roadless protections. Last September, California Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Laporte threw the Bush plan out and reinstated the Clinton rule, which Wyoming is once again seeking to block.

The Agriculture Department is enforcing the Clinton prohibitions, but isn't happy about it. "The 2001 Roadless Rule no longer represents the policy of the USDA for the management of inventoried roadless areas within the National Forest System," the Justice Department wrote in a brief earlier this month.

But the Bush administration does not want Brimmer to make another nationwide ruling just because Wyoming opposes the roadless rule. "There is no explanation in Wyoming's pleadings as to how the management of inventoried roadless areas in New Mexico or Maine or anywhere else in the nation would impair the health of, or limit access to, lands owned by the State of Wyoming," DOJ wrote.

In an amicus curiae brief, California, Montana, New Mexico and Oregon also also urge Brimmer to confine any judgement to Wyoming if he finds the roadless rule is unlawful. The states cite the benefits of roadless areas, including water quality, endangered species habitat and recreation.

"In Montana, for example, the unparalleled five-week-long big game general hunting season depends extensively upon the habitat security provided by roadless areas within the state's forested lands," the states wrote.

A hearing is scheduled for Oct. 19 in Cheyenne. It will be the second time this year Brimmer has had a chance to rule on the roadless issue. In June, Brimmer denied a Wyoming request to reinstate his 2003 nationwide injunction against the Clinton rule on limited procedural grounds but made his feelings clear.

"This court is extremely perplexed how the California court could resurrect the Clinton roadless rule," Brimmer wrote. "The Clinton roadless rule did not comply with NEPA and this court held it invalid" in 2003. Brimmer added he is "troubled and questions the authority of the California court to raise this rule back to life" (E&ENews PM, June 8).