Obama Administration Calls 'Time Out' on Roadless Areas
Friday, May 29, 2009
Concord,NH - The Obama administration has called for a "time out" in New Hampshire roadless national forest areas. A directive announced Thursday from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack provides interim protection for over 50 million acres of national forest land across the country until a clear national policy can be worked out.
Jane Danowitz, public lands director for the Pew Environment Group, says the move is good news for Granite Staters who would like to keep their wild areas the way they are now.
"The majority of these national forests that are unroaded are not protected right now, and this time-out ensures no harm will be done until the Obama administration can put together a long-term, more permanent policy."
Roadless areas include Nearly 400,000 acres of New Hampshire's White Mountain National Forest, she says.
"These are places where prime fish and wildlife habitat exist. These are heritage forests; these are the forests that Theodore Roosevelt intended to protect when he created the national forest system."
Plenty of national forest lands today are open to logging, mining or drilling, adds Danowitz, so it's important to balance that with protection for remaining roadless areas.
"The economic engine in many locations is the landscape, and protecting that landscape provides substantial and sustainable communities."
In 2001, the Clinton administration put into effect a rule to protect the remaining roadless areas in National Forests. The Bush administration challenged the rule, and the issue has been in the courts for years, leaving the fate of the areas uncertain. Thursday's directive from the Agriculture Department puts in place a requirement for secretarial approval for any road construction and timber harvesting in roadless areas.
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