[ California ] A federal judge on Wednesday reinstated the “Roadless Rule, ‘ ‘ a Clinton-era ban on road construction in nearly a third of national forests – incluidng northeast Georgia ‘ s Chattahoochee . U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Laporte ruled that the Bush administration failed to conduct necessary environmental studies before making changes that allowed states to decide how to manage individual national forests. The 2001 rule prohibits logging, mining and other development on 58.5 million acres in 38 states and Puerto Rico , but the Bush administration replaced it in May 2005 with a process that required governors to petition the federal government to protect national forests in their states.

News notes are courtesy of Southern Forests Network News Notes
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