Today’s ruling is a great victory for the American people who have spoken out, time and again and in record number, for the protection of these lands.

Today’s ruling today found that the Bush administration acted illegally in reversing the 2001 roadless rule, opening up tens of millions of acres on our last wild national forests to logging and road construction.

The administration put in its place a cumbersome and uncertain state-by-state petition process which required governors to petition if they wished to see their lands protected. The final decision, however would be left to administration officials.

This ruling takes management of these public lands out of the hands of special interests and gives it back to the public, who have made it resoundingly clear that these lands should remain intact.

The 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which protected all of the nation’s inventoried roadless areas from most logging and road construction was the most widely supported rule in federal rule-
making history.

The Bush administration’s reversal of that rule and the substitute petition process which required governors to complete a cumbersome and uncertain bureaucratic process to request the protection of the lands in their state was the most widely opposed rule in federal history.

Courtesy of National Forest Campaign