Senate nears showdown on Clinton roadless plan

John Hughes

Sunday, July 9, 2000 | 11:36 a.m.

WASHINGTON - Western Republican senators have insisted for months that President Clinton's plan to protect 43 million acres of roadless forests is wrong, tainted and illegal.

Now they have a chance to delay the plan - or even quash it for good.

The Senate next week is expected to take up a proposal by Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, that would delay the Clinton administration plan for at least a year - or until 60 days after a panel reviews the effort and submits a report to Congress.

Environmentalists say Craig's proposal is a poorly hidden effort to put off the forest protection plan until after Clinton leaves office, with the hope that a newly elected president, possibly Republican George W. Bush, would scrap the initiative upon taking office.

This is the big environmental fight western Republicans and environmentalists have been bracing for since Clinton unveiled the roadless initiative last October.

The 43 million acres of already roadless forests that Clinton wants to set aside through an administrative rule would prevent road building or other development on more than one-fifth of federal forests for generations to come.

The plan sets broad criteria as to whether logging, grazing and other activities should be allowed and leaves it up to local foresters to decide whether roads should be banned in smaller forest parcels of 5,000 acres or less.

Environmentalists call the effort a crowning achievement of the Clinton presidency and one of the most important conservation moves of the last century.

But western Republicans, timber companies and recreation interests say the move would limit access to public lands. They denounce the rulemaking as an end run around Congress, since the plan can be implemented with administration action only.

The amendment Craig will offer on the Senate floor to a $15.5 billion interior spending bill would take $1 million from federal timber accounts to pay for a study of the roadless initiative and a separately proposed rule governing when new roads can be built.

Craig said such an advisory committee needs to review the rulemakings to ensure they are done right - and legally.

He and Rep. Helen Chenoweth-Hage, also R-Idaho, have been holding hearings of the forest oversight subcommittees they chair to argue that the administration roadless rulemaking is violating laws, such as those governing advisory committees and open meetings.

"The environmental community behind closed doors convinced this administration to pump out a roads policy," Craig said. "What I do is simply reverse that process ... I just cannot believe anyone serving in the U.S. Senate would condone a closed-door process."

While Craig and Chenoweth-Hage have been laying the groundwork for a challenge on Capitol Hill, Forest Service officials have continued to hold about 400 public meetings nationwide on the draft of the roadless plan they unveiled in the spring.

A Forest Service spokesman said the public meetings - not more study - are the best way to move forward on the roadless plan.

"This represents to me a truly fascinating turn of events - we're desperately seeking debate on the substance of an issue and others are relentlessly turning back to and arguing for more process," Chris Wood said.

Marty Hayden, legislative director Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, said the Craig amendment would derail the public process with "hope that the next administration is less favorably disposed to protecting roadless areas."

But Craig doesn't call his amendment a plan killer. One of his aides said that Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman could quickly appoint the review panel and complete the study and roadless initiative before Clinton leaves office.

"Within reason, this is something that could be done promptly," said Mark Rey, a staffer at the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Clinton is expected to issue a threat to veto the interior bill if Craig prevails on the Senate floor. Environmentalists expect a close vote.

Fights over environmental-related amendments to spending bills - so-called anti-environmental riders - have been common during the Clinton years.

Thirteen spending bills, including the interior measure, must pass Congress each year to keep the government operating. Lawmakers in both parities view the bills as excellent vehicles for key policy changes.

Clinton has usually won the fights over environmental riders - though there have been exceptions.

After a public comment period on the proposed roadless rule closes on July 17, administration officials will draft a final rule and expect to unveil it in late fall or winter.