Summit County Citizens Voice

A state-based roadless plan would protect about 4.2 million acres from development. Click on the map for a larger version.

Future management of 4.2 million acres of roadless national forest land at stake in proposal

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY — Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter today petitioned the federal government to adopt a state-based plan for the future management of 4.2 million acres of roadless national forest lands in the state.

Management of the inventoried roadless areas, including about 60,000 acres in Summit County, has been in question since the U.S. Forest Service introduced a national rule in 2001 that was later rescinded, revised and challenged in two different federal court jurisdictions.

For a list and maps of the roadless areas in Summit County, click here. Visit the U.S. Forest Service national roadless rule web site here.

The national rule was introduced with the reasoning that those roadless areas provide important wildlife habitat, buffers against invasive plants and protection for water supplies. The Forest Service also said that it didn’t have resources to adequately maintain its existing road network.

Critics panned the rule as a quasi-wilderness designation that would lock out users and block logging and energy development. The Bush administration withdrew the rule and replaced it with a state-by-state petitioning process.

A federal judge in Wyoming rejected the 2001 version, ruling that the Forest Service failed to follow basic federal environmental laws. In a conflicting decision, another federal judge in California declared the Bush rule invalid. A final federal court ruling is still pending after a hearing last month in front of a federal appeals court in Denver.

That decision could re-instate the 2001 rule as the law of the land, but that wouldn’t prevent Colorado from pursuing its own version. The Forest Service will have the final say in determining which rule to implement in Colorado.

Colorado developed a state-based rule based on extensive stakeholder and public input. In announcing the decision to submit the petition, state officials said the Colorado rule adds 400,000 acres of new roadless areas. closes a loophole that would have allowed construction in roadless areas and includes a ban on road construction for new oil and gas leasing.

The Colorado version also allows more flexibility for community wildfire protection by permitting thinning and logging where neighborhoods are at risk from wildfire. It also provides flexibility for ski area activities and for coal mine expansion.

“This is simply a better rule for Colorado,” Governor Ritter said. “Our roadless areas get stronger protection and we get the targeted flexibility we need to address Colorado’s unique circumstances.”

National and Colorado-based conservation groups have said the state rule allows too much leeway for logging projects in areas that aren’t in direct proximity to at-risk homes and infrastructure. They have advocated for adoption of the national rule, saying that it could be implemented in a way that addresses Colorado’s specific needs.

More roadless information from the roadless conservation network is online here.

This story will be updated.

Filed under: federal government, Forest health, pine beetles and wildfires, Summit County Colorado, US Forest Service, White River National Forest Tagged: | Colorado roadless rule, roadless rule, Summit County Colorado, Summit County News, U.S. Forest Service roadless areas