Bush Administration failing to protect Georgia's wild lands

Atlanta - More than 55,000 acres of Georgia's most rugged and beautiful mountain forests could be subject to logging and roadbuilding if the Bush Administration reverses the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, according to a report released today by conservation groups. These areas provide premier recreation opportunities and wildlife habitat in the Chattahoochee National Forest in northern Georgia, and are the source of drinking water for many communities.

The roadless rule is designed to safeguard the last remaining unprotected wild areas on U.S. national forests from roadbuilding, mining and logging. The administration has already exempted America's largest national forest - Alaska's Tongass Rainforest - from the rule, and has announced intentions to revise the rule as it applies to the rest of the nation's forests.

The conservation groups released the report today to mark the 3rd anniversary of Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman's May 4, 2001, pledge to uphold the provisions of the roadless rule. Despite her pledge, Agriculture Undersecretary Mark E. Rey recently said changes to the rule were imminent, perhaps as early as this month. Environmental groups expect the changes will follow the Bush Administration's practice of favoring logging interests at the expense of protecting the natural resources on public lands for future generations.

"The Bush Administration has continually hacked away at the protections in the roadless rule, trying to open our public lands like the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests to more development," said SELC senior attorney David Carr. "It's a short-sighted view of natural resource management that will harm future generations."

The report profiles roadless areas in the Chattahoochee and three other national forests in the Southern Appalachian region that have been lost due to logging and roadbuilding before the roadless rule was adopted. It also identifies several roadless areas that could meet a similar fate if the rule is reversed. According to the report, the Chattahoochee already has 1,500 miles of roadway criss-crossing the 750,000 acres and a road-maintenance backlog exceeding $50 million. Half of the road system, about 800 miles, exists exclusively to serve commercial interests and is closed to the general public.

Late last year, just two days before Christmas when most Americans weren't paying attention, the Bush Administration exempted the Tongass National Forest from the rule. On March 3, during testimony before the House Resources Committee, U.S. Forest Service Chief Dale N. Bosworth indicated that his agency intends to propose changes to weaken the roadless rule in the lower 48 states and in the Chugach National Forest in Alaska.

The roadless rule is a landmark conservation initiative adopted in 2001 to protect 58.5 million acres of roadless acreage nationwide - roughly one-third of America's national forest land - from most logging and roadbuilding. The rule enjoys widespread support. The rule has received bipartisan support from almost 200 members of Congress - including Sen. John Warner (VA) and Georgia Representatives Denise Majette, John Lewis, David Scott - who have signed onto legislation to turn the rule into law. Virginia Governor Mark Warner announced his opposition to changes in the rule earlier this year, followed by governors from New Mexico, Maine, Washington and Pennsylvania. Major corporations such as Staples, outdoor retailers such as REI, and hundreds of gun groups around the country also support the rule. To date, the federal government has received nearly 2.5 million comments in support of the rule; 96% of Georgians who sent comments have been in support of full protection for roadless areas.