Court Dumps Idaho Roadless Lawsuit

18 February, 2000

Contacts:
John McCarthy, Idaho Conservation League, (208) 345-6924 ext 14
Lahsha Johnston, Wilderness Society, (208) 343-8153
Mike Medberry, American Lands Alliance, (208) 429-1005; mmed@micron.net

 

BOISE -Conservationists today lauded Idaho District Judge Edward Lodge's decision to deny the State of Idaho its request to delay the US Forest Service's proposed roadless area protection policy. The roadless policy would protect as much as 50 million acres nationwide and more than 8 million acres in Idaho from road construction and logging. Judge Lodge ruled that the State's challenge was premature. The State filed its lawsuit in December, claiming that more time and more information were needed to review the Forest Service proposals.

"The State's lawsuit has been nothing more than waste of taxpayer money," said John McCarthy, conservation director of the Idaho Conservation League. "The roadless policy is in the initial stages of being formed and instead of filing lawsuits, Idaho should help form the policy to manage our forests."

In its lawsuit, the State of Idaho claimed that it needed more time and information to make meaningful comments on the proposed policy. Conservationists point out, however, that the debate over roadless area management has been going on for more than 20 years and that during that time the location of roadless areas has been well known. The Idaho Legislature paid for two University of Idaho reports which addressed roadless areas in 1993 and again in 1998. In addition, the first comprehensive roadless area inventory was done by the Forest Service in the 1970s and then repeated in the early 1980s and again in the mid 1980s during the Forest Planning process. All of that information is available to the State.

"There's no shortage of good information about roadless areas in Idaho," said Craig Gehrke, Idaho Director of the Wilderness Society. "The State is just seeking delay by filing a time consuming lawsuit, even though similar lawsuits have lost every time." A similar Wyoming lawsuit challenging the roadless policy went down in flames two months ago.

"The roadless area policy has been the most highly publicized and widely supported proposal ever advanced by the U.S. Forest Service,"said Mike Medberry, Idaho Representative of American Lands Alliance. Medberry cited a recent poll commissioned by the League of Conservation Voters that found that by a majority of nearly 2 to 1 Idahoans support protection of roadless areas. Another poll commissioned by the Heritage Forest Campaign found even stronger nationwide support for the policy. "It's a raw deal for Idahoans that State leaders are not reflecting the will of the majority to protect Idaho roadless areas," Medberry added. The Forest Service held 190 public meetings around the country and received more than 500,000 comments on the idea of protecting roadless areas. The agency will accept additional comments from the public on a draft roadless policy proposal that is expected this summer.

The three groups, along with Pacific Rivers Council, Oregon Natural Resources Council, and the Sierra Club are represented by Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund and the Land and Water Fund of the Rockies.