Our groups will closely examine the proposed rule, but from what we already know it is a bad deal for Colorado. It would result in less protection for roadless national forests here than in any other state. As citizens here and across the nation have called for time and again, these national lands deserve the strong protections found in the 2001 Roadless Rule.
The proposed Colorado rule falls far short.
The proposed Colorado rule would allow coal mining in a fragile watershed where no mine exists and no land has been leased for coal mining. It allows roadbuilding and logging more than a mile into the backcountry, diverting scarce resources away from communities potentially at-risk from wildfire. The proposed rule offers an open-ended invitation for roads to new damsites including private reservoirs. It gives the Forest Service so much leeway that the purpose of the 2001 Rule - to provide clear direction to protect these areas from further ecological damage - is lost.
In the coming days, we will review the proposal more closely and encourage citizens and community leaders to provide input to the Governor as well as the Secretary of Agriculture who oversees Colorado's national forests.
Our bottom line is that we support strong measures for the protection of roadless areas provided by the 2001 Roadless Rule. We believe Colorado's roadless national forests deserve the same standards of protection as those in every other state. The proposed Colorado rule simply doesn’t measure up.
