Impact of Bush’s forest plan downplayed

BILLINGS – The head of the Forest Service Northern Region says she does not expect the Bush administration’s proposal to lift protections on roadless areas will lead to the dramatic changes some have predicted.

But Gail Kimbell said Wednesday that not all forests in the Northern Region will be the same as they are now.

“I don’t see dramatic changes,” Kimbell, who took over as head of the agency’s Missoula-based Northern Region earlier this year, said during a visit to the Custer National Forest offices in Billings. “But there are opportunities to make adjustments.”

The Bush administration announced this month that it plans to overhaul a Clinton-era ban on logging and road building on some 58.5 million acres of roadless areas in national forests.

Under the Bush plan, the prohibitions are to be scrapped in favor of a new plan that allows governors to petition to have those protections put back in place. Federal officials would have the authority to reject or accept those requests.

The proposal, still in draft form, would affect 6.3 million acres of roadless areas in Montana. The Forest Service’s Northern Region covers Montana and portions of northern Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota and Eastern Washington.

Conservation groups have blasted the Bush plan, saying dropping the protections could lead to more logging and oil and gas development and a general deterioration of forest health.

The Bush administration has emphasized that the rules will give state governments more say in the future of roadless areas. It also will require state officials to expend resources in studying those roadless areas and trying to determine how they should be managed.

“A statewide look is going to be a huge undertaking,” Kimbell said.

If a state wants to do something different from what the Forest Service intends, its request will be reviewed by a federal committee and the final decision will be up to the secretary of agriculture. There’s no guarantee that a state request will be granted.

National forests in Montana have plans in place to manage those roadless areas without the Clinton administration roadless rules.

Those plans, hammered out years ago after intensive public participation, balance the need to protect resources, wildlife and human uses on the land, Kimbell said.

As for claims that the Bush proposal opens forest land to large-scale logging, Kimbell said: “I’m not there for a minute.”

But, she said, there’s no doubt that timber companies and others are watching the new proposal closely.

“I’m certain there are a number of interests who would like to see less restrictions on these areas,” Kimbell said.

Gov. Judy Martz’s natural resource policy adviser, Todd O’Hair, said it’s too early to determine exactly what the new rules will mean and whether officials will ask the federal government to keep protections in place for certain roadless areas.

O’Hair said some areas may be contentious but the overall effect won’t be as drastic as some claim.

“At the end of the day, I don’t think it’s going to be a gutting by any means,” he said.