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The Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2009 is readied for congress

Written by Mike on July 12th, 2009

This plan would make the Clinton era roadless rule permanent. That is a very good thing. Support is being gathered by Washingtons Senator Maria Cantwell and congressman Jay Inslee.

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Posted in National Forests, Roadless |

1 Comments so far ↓

  1. micki says:
    July 12, 2009 at 9:40 pm

    I was going to post this letter at the Bellingham Herald, but their requirements for posting are ridiculous. They must try to make money by selling marketing information!

    So, I’ll post it here instead…

    +++++++

    As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama supported the “roadless rule” in our national forests. The rule, a protection that President Bill Clinton signed to protect our national forests from new road-building in approximately 60 million acres of wilderness, was intended to provide permanent, and complete protection from all unnecessary logging, mining and other kinds of commerce.

    Obama’s agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack, recently issued a one-year moratorium on commercial activity in our most precious and sensitive areas of our national forests. One year? Okay, it’s a step, since the Bush administration tried to weaken the rule to favor oil and gas and other commercial interests. But, one year is a blink of the eye.

    President Obama must take a leadership role on this. Since he promised as a candidate to protect our lands, our watersheds, our environment, he should enlarge the scope of the Clinton-era rule, include more lands in the rule including the Tongass National Forest. Obama should update the rule, and send it to Congress, so that they can make it the law of the land.

    Senator Maria Cantwell and Representative Jay Inslee, both from Washington state, deserve credit for their efforts in sponsoring the Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2009.

    But, because Obama claimed to be a steward of the environment on the campaign trail, it is imperative that he take a proactive role on this very critical issue. Leadership from the top is essential.

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