The Latest News

Roadless Protecton Bill Introduced in Congress

added 10.1.09

With bipartisan support, theNational Forest Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2009 was introduced into Congress today with more than 150 co-signers - including almost 20 from the Southeast.  The bill would put into federal law the popular, science-based rule to protect some 57.5 million acres of wild public lands that was adopted in early 2001, and immediately suspended by the Bush administration.

SELC played a key role in garnering support among the Southeast's congressional delegation to back this vital bill. Senators Mark Warner and Jim Webb of Virginia and Senator Kay Hagan of North Carolina joined 17 southern members of the House of Representatives in co-sponsoring the bill.

See SELC's press statement.

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Previous Case Activity

Court Restores Protections for Wild National Forest Lands

added 8.19.09

On August 5, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated a national regulation SELC has long championed that protects the wildest reaches of our national forests, including 723,000 acres in the Southern Appalachians. The decision brings back the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which prohibits commercial timbering and road building on these undisturbed public lands. The ruling also affirms a lower court’s rejection of a Bush administration rule that required each state seeking protection of its roadless areas to petition the Secretary of Agriculture. When this rollback was imposed in 2005, SELC helped secure the first three petitions in the country—from Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

SELC and its allies persuaded the Obama administration to put a one-year time-out on commercial logging and road building in roadless areas, allowing time for long-term protections to be restored. Meanwhile, SELC and its partners are working with members of Congress to make the 2001 Rule the law of the land through the Roadless Area Conservation Act. We expect the legislation to be introduced in September with an extensive list of co-sponsors.

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Push by SELC and partners pays off: Obama Administration protects wild lands.

added 5.28.09

On May 28, Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack announced a "time out" on roadbuilding, mining, commercial logging and other development activities in "roadless" areas in the national forests, including some 723,000 acres in the Southeast. These lands—mostly pristine, unbroken tracts of mountain woodlands—provide critical wildlife habitat, clean water, and some of the best recreation areas in the region and the nation.

The 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule had previously protected all the nation's 58.5 million roadless acres, but that rule's fate remains uncertain due to legal challenges and efforts by the Bush administration to replace it with a discretionary state petition process.  Under the "time out," any new activity proposed in a roadless areas must first be approved by the Secretary. The directirve issued by the Obama administration recognizes the importance of protecting roadless areas and responds to the strong scientific underpinnings of the 2001 rule and its broad public support in Virgina, North Carolina, across the Southeast, and nationwide.

SELC worked in tandem with the Pew Environment Group and others in calling on the Obama administration to enact such a "time out."  In March, 121 House members and 25 Senators signed on to letters asking the administration to take this interim step. SELC will continue to urge the administration, and the southern congressional delegation, to further uphold the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule.

Roosevelt Resolution (pdf)