Copyright 1999 Journal Sentinel Inc.
Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel
December 2, 1999, Thursday State
SECTION: News Pg. 2
LENGTH:
310 words
HEADLINE: Hearings are set on forest
roadless areas
Hotly debated plan would protect
quiet places in northern Wisconsin
BYLINE: TOM VANDEN
BROOK
SOURCE: Journal Sentinel staff
BODY:
The U.S. Forest Service will hold meetings in
the North Woods next week on a controversial rule that would close millions of
acres across the country to logging and development.
Earlier this fall,
President Clinton directed the Forest Service to establish rules that would
conserve so-called roadless areas. Generally speaking, these
are parcels of at least 5,000 acres that are not being logged or developed.
The rule-making process does not require congressional action.
All told, there are believed to be 50 million such acres within the
boundaries of the national forests, less than half of which have designations
that prohibit road building.
Forest Service officials point to public
support for conserving remote, rugged areas. And, they note, the existing
380,000-mile network of forest roads has fallen into disrepair with a
maintenance backlog of $8.4 billion.
Environmentalists have praised the
proposed rule. Loggers, meanwhile, have derided it as shortsighted.
In
Wisconsin, the 1.5 million acre Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest contains
such parcels. However, the extent of them will depend on how the proposed rule
ultimately defines a roadless area, said Paul Strong, a Forest Service
spokesman.
The Forest Service currently manages 34 million acres of land
as wilderness, about 45,000 acres of which can be found in the
Chequamegon-Nicolet.
Hearings on the proposed rule will be held from 6
to 9 p.m. Monday at Crandon High School and beginning at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the
Park Falls Library.
The agency will continue to take public comment on
the proposed rule until Dec. 20. A draft rule and environmental impact statement
should be completed by spring. The final rule could be implemented in the fall
of 2000. ------------ For more information, visit the Forest Service's Web site
at roadless.fs.fed.us
LOAD-DATE: December 3,
1999 
