The Obama administration is calling for a one-year moratorium on road-building, reinstating most of a Clinton-era ban put in place just before President Bush took office.
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced Thursday that he is signing an interim directive regarding inventoried roadless areas within U.S. National Forests and Grasslands.
"This interim directive will provide consistency and clarity that will help protect our national forests until a long-term roadless policy reflecting President Obama’s commitment is developed," said Vilsack.
Numerous court decisions over the last eight years have overturned portions of the Clinton-era rule, creating a complicated legal picture for forest management.
The directive provides decision-making authority to the Secretary over proposed forest management or road construction projects in inventoried roadless areas.
The interim directive changes procedural requirements for Forest Service projects in inventoried roadless areas. It does not prevent the Secretary from either approving projects that he believes are in the interest of forest stewardship or prohibiting projects he believes are not.
This interim directive does not affect roadless areas on National Forest System lands in Idaho-Idaho is exempt from this interim directive. Idaho developed its own roadless rule through the Administrative Procedures Act. That rule already prescribes how decisions with respect to forest management and road building in roadless areas in Idaho are to be made.
Environmentalists will be watching closely to see whether or not Secretary Vilsack approves 35 miles of proposed roads in the Tongas National Fores in Alaska. These roads are associated with several pending timber sales in the nation’s largest federal forest.
Trip Van Noppen, president of the environmental group Earthjustice, said the interim directive is "needed and welcome."
"Roadless areas are important as the last remaining pristine areas in America, and they are a great bulwark in how we will protect our environment in an era of climate change," he added.
This interim directive will last for one year and can be renewed for an additional year.
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