The Forest Service is engaged in a widespread public comment period on the new forest management rule. The agency plans to hold forums in various parts of the country to allow greater public participation and information. Already conservation groups are concerned that the extensive overhaul of regulations in place since 1982 protecting 193 million acres of public forest and grasslands eliminates an important protection for wildlife. The viability standard in §219.19 requires fish and wildlife habitat be managed to maintain viable populations of species in a planning area. A viable population is regarded under the regulations at least the minimum number of reproductive individuals necessary and sufficient habitat to allow interaction. Without an enforceable standard like the one eliminated, conservationists argue the regulations will not guarantee the survival of forests and the animals that need undisturbed land into the future. The plan does endorse the concept of landscape protection as opposed to planning within individual man-made districts, allowing for efficiencies of scale in the planning and addressing ecological realities. The public comment period ends May 16th.
In another national forest development, A federal district judge in Anchorage, AK reinstated the Roadless Rule for the Tongass National Forest in southeast Alaska*. During the Bush regime, the forest was "temporarily" exempted from the roadless rule which protects nearly 60 million acres of wilderness throughout the national forest system. The exemption was granted to facilitate access for logging operations and has been in effect for more than seven years. It was renewed by the Secretary of the Interior on May 28, 2010 for an additional year. The court specifically ruled there was no support for the claim that the Roadless Rule hurt Alaskan communities economically. The conservation groups responsible for bringing the 2009 suit include the NRDC.
*Organized Village of Kake, et al v. USDA, et al, 1:09-cv-00023 JWS. The decision contains a brief summary of roadless rule litigation.