Road Rage Heightens as Comment Period Continues

By Traci Robinson, Web Coordinator,
(301) 897-8720, ext. 155; Fax: (301) 897-3690; e-mail: robinsot@safnet.org

Nearly 200 people participated in the December 1 hearing in Portland, Oregon to debate the Clinton administration's proposal to permanently ban logging, road building and other development on approximately 50 million acres of national forests (AP/Oregonian, 12/1).

Timber industry representatives cited that scoping—a process defined in the President's proposal for identifying issues to evaluate in an environmental impact study by the USDA Forest Service—"was rigged from the start and will likely be challenged in court for violating guidelines under the National Environmental Policy Act" (AP/Oregonian, 12/1).

According to helicopter logger Max Merlich, "It's just a dog and pony show to allow Clinton to help Vice President Al Gore get elected president" (AP/Oregonian, 12/1).

Naturalist Elizabeth Magnus argued, "I feel preservation of these places is crucial to everyone, even people who never go there. We cannot reinvent them if they disappear" AP/Oregonian, 12/1).

Hearings such as this one will continue across the country until December 20, when the 60-day public comment period on the White House proposal ends. The Forest Service is using these hearings as a resource to determine what issues should be addressed in its environmental impact statement—expected to be released in the spring—on the President's proposal. Once the proposal is released, a public comment period will follow. According to Arnie Holden, deputy director of planning for the Forest Service in the Northwest Region, the final rule should be issued next fall (AP/Oregonian, 12/1).

Thirty-three senators have sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman requesting that he delay the proposal by four months stating that 60 days is not enough time to study and comment on the initiative (Greenwire, 11/29).

In a letter to the USDA Forest Service, the Society of American Foresters (SAF) also requested an extension to the comment period stating, "The issues before the Forest Service are too great for the public not to have adequate time to consider the implications of the alternatives the Forest Service presents (Letter to the Forest Service Commenting on the Notice of Intent (NOI) Regarding Roadless Areas, 11/8).

SAF goes on to say, "A rulemaking process that could affect all roadless areas through one national decision cannot address the unique forest conditions of each individual roadless area. Therefore, the Society of American Foresters, which represents more than 17,000 foresters throughout the nation, is strongly opposed to a unilateral decision to "protect" all roadless areas, which is the intent of this rulemaking process (Letter to the Forest Service Commenting on the Notice of Intent (NOI) Regarding Roadless Areas, 11/8).

Click here for more on President Clinton's executive order.

Click here for news on hearings in the US Senate and House of Representatives regarding the roads debate.