Roadless comment periods ending

Two public comment periods on important policies involving off-road vehicles and national forest roadless areas are ending this week.

Monday is the deadline to comment on the Forest Service plan to keep off-road vehicles on designated roads and trails across the nation.

Tuesday is the deadline to comment on the Bush administration proposal to change a Clinton-era rule that sought to maintain 58.5 million acres of national forest land as roadless without the more restrictive rules associated with being designated as wilderness.

Conservation groups initially applauded the Forest Service proposal for clamping down on ORVs, but at second glance they said it was toothless because it did not have a firm date for individual forests to comply.

The Bush administration proposal to roll back the Clinton roadless rule affecting 31 percent of U.S. Forest Service lands has received mixed reviews from Western governors.

Under the proposal, the fate of the 58.5 million acres of roadless areas among the 191 million acres of national forests would be largely put in the hands of the states.

In 2006, each governor would be allowed to submit a proposal either to continue protecting the roadless land or allow it to be opened to multiple use.

The federal government would consider each state petition and then issue a regulation determining the extent of future roadless protection.

Idaho was one of the first states to go to court to block the Clinton plan, which affected 9.3 million acres in the state, the most in the lower 48 states.

Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne supports the Bush proposal, while governors from some other Western states, including New Mexico, have said they’d prefer to leave the Clinton rule alone.

Gov. Gary Locke said he would let the Clinton rule stand for the 2 million roadless acres cited on the 9.2 million acres of national forest land in Washington.

Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman, who announced the proposal in July, has said the change would end the legal uncertainty about the rule. Court challenges are still pending.

Critics have argued that lifting the ban on roads in remote areas will open pristine areas to logging.

Some of the roadless areas involved, including the 10 Lakes Scenic Area of northwestern Montana, are remarkably pristine areas high in value for wildlife.