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Roadless Areas

I share your concern for protecting the environment and the need to balance environmental values with economic interests in wilderness areas of the national forests. In some respects, conflict over whether forest wilderness areas should be used as sustainable economic resources or left as wilderness is inherent in the congressional mandate to manage forests for multiple uses, including wildlife, recreation and timber. I believe we must have public access to national forest lands, and these land use issues should be resolved with local community input in local forest plans.

Early in June, the Bush administration announced a proposed amendment to the Roadless Area Conservation Rule (Roadless Rule). The amendment would allow Governors across the country in states like Alaska and Utah to request an exemption from the Roadless Rule in cases where public health and safety is in jeopardy, or due to wildfire risks to communities and critical wildlife habitats. The proposed amendment to the Roadless Rule will be published in September for public comment and the U.S. Forest Service hopes to finalize the amendment at the end of the year.

I believe providing such exemptions are a step in the right direction. The exemptions provide access to inventoried roadless areas only in the extreme cases where the public health and safety is jeopardized or due to wildfire risks near communities or critical wildlife habitat.

In a separate but related matter, the State of Alaska recently settled its lawsuit with the Department of Justice over the implementation of the Roadless Rule. This settlement exempts the Tongass National Forest from the Roadless Rule.

As part of the settlement reached with the State of Alaska, the Forest Service will publish a proposed rule for public comment regarding the management of the Tongass.

Finally, in June Rep. Inslee introduced H.R. 2369 the National Forest Roadless Area Conservation Act to restrict access to inventoried roadless areas in our National Forests. This legislation is pending before the Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health. I look forward to reviewing this bill.

I realize that there is more than one viewpoint on the roadless area rule, particularly in how it applies to areas other than Michigan’s 1st Congressional District. My activities and any possible legislative votes on the roadless and road management policies will always consider first the impact these policies may have on our district and the people of Northern Michigan.