Roadless Rule still alive and kicking, sort of

Despite President Bush's attempt to gut President Clinton's Roadless Rule in national forests by making state governments jump through hoops, it's still alive in seven Western states.

Well, sort of. Most states that have done anything have adopted protections well short of what Slick Willie proposed to "enshrine" by executive order.

That's the whole problem, though. We need a Roadless Act - legislation - not just a Roadless Rule.

Meanwhile, a U.S. District Judge found Bush's Roadless Rule Lite to have violated the National Environmental Policy Act. But, another district judge, in another federal circuit found that the Roadless Rule itself violated NEPA.

That, too, is why we need legislation.