This 'Rule' is one of those presidential decrees that are so abominable. This one happens to be a Clinton era rule that removed any local control, or input for that matter, on park lands that are in a roadless area. The original rule was to make it so no new roads are allowed, thus no use of the parks areas could occur, well, unless you walked in.
The rule has been a big issue in western states where millions of acres of land was taken out of local control and the state governments had no further say in how that land is used. President Bush has now given control and use back to the state level governments. This means that if the local government should choose to open those lands to commercial uses, they can do so.
Inevitably, the swampies are up in arms.
This also should allow the logging of areas decimated by fires in the past few years. The article talks about the environmentalists working in court to block logging of the Biscuit fire area that burned 8000 acres of Oregon in 2002. If the logging doesn't occur shortly, the dead trees will be worthless for anything, but will continue to stand for decades to come. Yes, the land will recover naturally, but it will have an extra level of danger with tree fall hazards that may very well justify the closure of that park.
Personally, I'm surprised this took as long as it did. I'm also glad to see that local control has been restored. Far too much environmentalism has been forced down the throats of those who live in an area by those who have no vested interest in the area. I've seen this occurring in Maine quite frequently, where outside (non-resident) environmental groups come into the state and start large media campaigns to stop logging in the Maine woods. To date, I believe they've failed. What makes this scenario worse, is that all the woods that are being utilized are privately owned by the paper companies. These are not even national parks.
The rule has been a big issue in western states where millions of acres of land was taken out of local control and the state governments had no further say in how that land is used. President Bush has now given control and use back to the state level governments. This means that if the local government should choose to open those lands to commercial uses, they can do so.
Inevitably, the swampies are up in arms.
"The Wilderness Society is not at all ready to swallow this new Bush rule," said Mike Anderson, a senior resource analyst for the Wilderness Society in Seattle. "We think that this rule is probably illegal."Makes you wonder why they think this presidential rule is any less legal than the rule that closed off the use of the land. Let's be precise here, this rule just negates Clinton's rule and, I believe, just puts things back to where they were before Clinton started meddling in local control.
This also should allow the logging of areas decimated by fires in the past few years. The article talks about the environmentalists working in court to block logging of the Biscuit fire area that burned 8000 acres of Oregon in 2002. If the logging doesn't occur shortly, the dead trees will be worthless for anything, but will continue to stand for decades to come. Yes, the land will recover naturally, but it will have an extra level of danger with tree fall hazards that may very well justify the closure of that park.
Personally, I'm surprised this took as long as it did. I'm also glad to see that local control has been restored. Far too much environmentalism has been forced down the throats of those who live in an area by those who have no vested interest in the area. I've seen this occurring in Maine quite frequently, where outside (non-resident) environmental groups come into the state and start large media campaigns to stop logging in the Maine woods. To date, I believe they've failed. What makes this scenario worse, is that all the woods that are being utilized are privately owned by the paper companies. These are not even national parks.
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