You need a scoreboard to keep track of the litigation vortex that has
tied up conservation of national forest roadless areas for the better
part of a decade.
The latest salvo was a ruling August 12 by U.S. District Judge Clarence
Brimmer, who tossed out the Clinton roadless rule, which was reinstated
in 2006 after Judge Elizabeth LaPorte tossed out the Bush roadless
rule, which was adopted in 2005 after a 2003 Brimmer ruling tossed out
the Clinton rule, which was adopted in 2001.
Got all that? In the national forests, all roads lead to the courthouse.
The good news is that the uncertainty created by the litigious
interregnum has resulted in the Forest Service approving few new roads
in the 58 million acres of roadless areas.
It’s good news because the national forest system has too many roads as
it is. Roads cost money to build and maintain, they damage fish and
wildlife habitat, and they degrade watersheds that supply clean
drinking water for 60 million people. The Forest Service has better
things to do with its limited funds than expand its too-large road network.
The bad news is that management by court edict is a bad way to run the
forests. Rangers can’t manage land rationally when they’re on a lawsuit
roller coaster.
Legislation might be the only way to fix the problem. Legislation
offers the certainty and political buy-in that is not possible with
administrative rules that can be erased by executive fiat or sued out
of existence.
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