Here's 1 for our Mother

And you all thought environmental victories under King George the Eco-Butcher were an endangered species! (Alright, so did I)

In short, BushCo violated the law (yes, a shocker, I know) (actually, 2 laws), specifically the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act, when they repealed the 2001 Roadless Rule. The court reinstated the 2001 Rule nationwide and enjoined any management activity contrary to the Rule (except in the Tongass National Forest -- The court did not extend the Rule's protections to the Tongass because the Bush Administration had previously exempted the Tongass through a lawsuit settlement with the State of Alaska)

Regardless, we'll take 'em however we can get them. Chalk 1 up for Mother Earth.


Statement from The Wilderness Society President William H. Meadows on the Historic Court Decision Reinstating the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule

WASHINGTON, DC (Sep. 20, 2006) - “Today’s ruling is a victory for the millions of Americans from all walks of life who have told the US Forest Service, time and again, to protect our last wild national forests. Our national forests belong to the American people, who deserve to be heard when it comes to the fate of our wildest, most unspoiled forests. In fact, since 1999, millions of Americans have spoken loud and clear that they want the wildest parts of our national forests to stay that way.”

“This decision is a stark repudiation of the Administration’s push to ignore the public’s wishes and turn over our public lands to special interests. In the past two months, trees have fallen in Oregon as the first timber sales in roadless areas were rammed through in defiance of the wishes of the people and the Governor. We hope that today’s decision will mean the end to such short-sighted and ill-considered timber sales.”

“The one disappointment in today’s decision is that it also retains the controversial ‘Tongass exemption,’ which keeps the nation’s largest national forest – the Tongass in Alaska – from enjoying the same protections as the rest of America’s national forests. There are 9.3 million acres at stake on the Tongass, more than in any other forest, and they remain temporarily exempted from protection and open to industrial-scale logging. President Bush’s 2003 temporary exemption of the Tongass was justified by a Tongass forest plan that the 9th Circuit has since thrown out as illegal. Leaving the Tongass out of the Roadless Rule now won’t pass the red-faced test.”

“As we continue to work to gain protections for the Tongass National Forest, we applaud today’s monumental decision, which clearly finds that the Bush Administration's roadless plan is flawed and most appropriately restores the valuable protections and preservations for America’s most pristine areas.”

“History will show the 2001 Roadless Rule to be the right policy for protecting our nation’s unspoiled forests and today’s court decision to be a historic correction.”