MINNEAPOLIS – Millions of Americans who time and time again have told the Bush administration they want protection for our last wild national forests are celebrating U.S. District Judge Laporte’s ruling yesterday reinstating the Clinton-era Roadless Area Conservation Rule which bans road construction and other development in roadless national forest lands.

“62,000 acres of those roadless lands are in northern Minnesota,” says John Roth, Executive Director for Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, “and most of those lands are adjacent to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, where they can provide wonderful recreation opportunities and wildlife habitat in the unfragmented peace of roadlessness.”

In an unusual summary judgment, Laporte agreed with 20 environmental groups and four states - California, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington – by ruling that the Bush administration failed to conduct necessary environmental studies before making changes to the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. The judge’s ruling will stop the Bush administration's plans to open up 58.5 million acres of public lands in 38 states and Puerto Rico to logging.

“Citizen input prevailed as it should,” says Roth referring to the making of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule beginning in 1999 when President Clinton instructed the U.S. Forest Service to develop science-based regulations that would provide long-term protection for inventoried roadless areas. The rule-making process was marked by an extraordinary high level of citizen input and participation. Nationwide, the Forest Service held over 600 public meetings and received an unprecedented number of comments. In Minnesota alone, the rule-making received more than 31,000 comments. “Laporte’s ruling is a flat dismissal of the Bush administration’s disregard of the wishes of millions of Americans who care deeply about saving our last wild roadless places.”

In May 2001, under pressure from Congress and the public, the Bush administration pledged to uphold the Roadless Rule, promising only minor changes, but the administration quickly broke its promise and undermined national forest protections provided by the Rule through obscure bureaucratic maneuvers.

“Minnesota’s roadless wild lands are safe once again,” says Roth. “This is wonderful news for our 4,000 members (2,500 Minnesotans), many great employees of the Forest Service who helped develop the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, millions of Americans nation-wide who participated in the rule-making process, and future generations who deserve a wild, roadless, natural heritage.”

The Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness’ mission is to protect, preserve and restore the wilderness character of the BWCAW and the Quetico-Superior ecosystem.

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