Letter: Roadless rule must be retained

Friday, Oct. 24, 2003 | 9:33 a.m.

The Bush administration recently announced plans to gut the widely popular Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which protects 58.5 million acres of pristine national forests from most logging and road building.

This proposal would exempt Alaska's Tongass rainforest -- America's largest national forest -- from the roadless rule and would allow state governors to seek exemptions for forests in their states, giving governors decision-making power over natural treasures owned by all Americans.

All states, including Nevada, will lose a great part of their national forests if the Bush administration is allowed to toss out the roadless rule. The rule benefits Nevada by protecting more than 3 million acres of pristine forests, including the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, which is so vast and complex that it houses five separate eco-zones.

Cutting the roadless rule doesn't make sense economically or environmentally. People across Nevada should urge the Bush administration to enforce the roadless rule of 2001 to protect our forests from harm and destruction by the timber industries.

BRENDA WICKLINE

Editor's note: Brenda Wickline writes from Washington, D.C., where she is an associate with the United States Public Interest Research Group.