Environmentalists say a federal appeals court decision reinstating most of a 2001 federal policy protecting roadless forests across the country means Colorado doesn't need its own management plan for the backcountry.
The ruling Wednesday by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco restored most of a policy approved by the Clinton administration in 2001 that barred roads and other development on about 58 million acres of forest nationwide. That included more than 4 million acres of roadless areas in Colorado.
"This decision is really a game changer in the decades-long fight to protect these areas," said Jane Danowitz, director of the Washington, D.C-based Pew Environment Group.
Colorado officials, however, note that the legal battle isn't over, making a state policy crucial. An appeal is pending before the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver on a federal judge's repeal of the Clinton-era roadless rule.
National and regional conservation, hunting and angling groups have denounced Colorado's proposed roadless management policy as weaker than the 2001 roadless policy. They say it's unnecessary after the appeals court's decision.
Colorado started developing the plan after a federal court in Wyoming threw out the Clinton-era ban on road-building and the Bush administration adopted one potentially opening some of the land to development.
Critics argue the proposal would leave Colorado's roadless areas the least protected nationwide because it would allow temporary roads for wildfire prevention, expansion of existing coal mining and some utility infrastructure.
Some ski area terrain would be permanently removed from the inventory of roadless areas.
Gov. Bill Ritter has called a Colorado plan an insurance policy amid the legal uncertainty.
The state is taking comments on the plan through Oct. 3. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the U.S. Forest Service, will have final say.
The ruling issued Wednesday doesn't change Colorado's approach, said Mike King, deputy director of the state Department of Natural Resources. The department believes the state plan makes improvements to the 2001 policy while making allowances for Colorado issues, including the wildfire risk from huge swaths of trees killed by bark beetles.
King said he's not convinced Colorado's roadless areas are affected by Wednesday's ruling because of the ruling by U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer in Wyoming that repealed the 2001 roadless rule.
The ruling, stemming from a lawsuit by the state of Wyoming, has been appealed to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.
But Kristen Boyles, an attorney with Earthjustice, which is representing environmental groups in the roadless lawsuits, said the San Francisco covers the roadless areas in Colorado.
Roadless areas in Idaho and Alaska's Tongass National Forest aren't affected because of separate management plans.
The next step will be whether the Obama administration joins environmental groups in appealing Brimmer's decision. Boyles noted that President Barack Obama has expressed support for protecting the roadless areas.
In May, the Obama administration ordered a one-year moratorium on most road-building in national forests because of the legal disputes. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has sole decision-making authority over proposed projects in designated roadless areas in all states except Idaho.
