OCTOBER 22, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Paul Turcke 208-331-1807; 208-861-1334
WYOMING COURT CONTEMPLATES RESTORING ROADLESS BALANCE
Cheyenne, WY- Recreational interests were among those present in the crowded courtroom as U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer presided on October 19th over the latest legal maneuvers affecting U.S. Forest Service roadless area management. In this latest lawsuit, the State of Wyoming seeks to have the Court reinstate its earlier ruling finding the 2001 Roadless Rule illegal. A number of recreational groups have weighed in as \"friends of the court\" in order to protect recreational access to the approximately 60 million acres of \"roadless areas\" potentially affected by the Rule. The groups, who include the California Association of 4 Wheel Drive Clubs (\"CA4WDC\"), United Four Wheel Drive Associations (UFWDA), the American Council of Snowmobile Associations (ACSA), and the BlueRibbon Coalition (BRC), have been involved in a series of Roadless lawsuits including several in the U.S. Districts of Idaho and Northern California, and appeals court proceedings in the Ninth and Tenth Circuits. In the present case the recreational groups are supporting Wyoming\'s position and are seeking to have an injunction issued preventing the Forest Service from implementing the 2001 Rule.
\"Thirty years of experience and several bouts of litigation have hopefully cemented the reality that top down, one-size-fits-all management programs will not work on diverse forest landscapes spanning the country. It is important to understand that each roadless area is unique and local conditions should be taken into consideration when managing these lands\" observed Paul Turcke, one of the lawyers representing the Recreational Groups. Also arguing at the hearing on behalf of the Recreational Groups was Hariet Hageman, a Cheyenne lawyer who successfully served as special counsel to the State of Wyoming in obtaining the earlier injunction of the 2001 Rule before Judge Brimmer.
In 2003, the Wyoming Court declared the 2001 Roadless Rule illegal and enjoined the Forest Service from implementing it anywhere in the National Forest system. While an appeal of that ruling filed by environmental groups wound through the federal courts, the Bush Administration in 2005 stated that it had no intention of resurrecting the enjoined 2001 Rule, preferring instead to address any \"roadless\" planning under rule-making petitions presented by individual states. However, the 2005 rule clarifying that approach was successfully challenged in lawsuits filed in the U.S. Northern District of California. In that appeal, the environmental groups were joined by the states of California, Oregon and New Mexico. In deciding those cases, the California court struck down the 2005 Rule and ordered that the 2001 Rule be reinstated. That ruling is currently under appeal from a number of parties, including the Forest Service, the Recreational Groups, and Silver Creek Timber Company.
\"We hope that the eventual outcome of all this litigation is for cooler heads to conclude that Washington DC is the wrong place to address \'roadless area\' management,\" opined Brian Hawthorne, the Public Lands Policy Director for the BlueRibbon Coalition. \"The current state petitions from Idaho and Colorado show that policy makers from diverse political backgrounds can best respond to these issues by engaging local interests in the Forest planning process, which provides for the deliberate, transparent and technically proficient analysis these areas require\" Hawthorne concluded.
After listening to nearly six hours of argument, the Wyoming Court took the matter under advisement. Pending any decision from the Wyoming Court, the 2001 Rule technically remains the operative strategy for managing \"roadless\" lands by virtue of the California decision.
