Idaho forest plan drawing criticism

BOISE – A government proposal for managing Idaho’s 9.3 million acres of roadless land is drawing early criticism from conservationists who claim it diverges significantly from the goals laid out a year ago in a state plan.

The U.S. Forest Service released a draft Environmental Impact Statement on Wednesday. It’s the latest step in a contentious process to settle how Idaho’s roadless backcountry, pristine national forests and other untouched lands will be managed and preserved or opened to logging, mining and other uses.

The document analyzes the environmental impacts of a series of recommendations submitted to the federal government last year by then-Gov. Jim Risch, now serving as Idaho’s lieutenant governor. The Forest Service has also crafted its proposed rule for managing Idaho’s 281 distinct and diverse roadless areas.

Under the agency’s proposal, about 609,000 acres would be managed as “general forest,” a designation that would be open to logging, mining or road building and an amount higher than the 525,000 acres recommended for development in the state plan. Those lands are currently protected under the 2001 Clinton-era roadless rule.

But the biggest sticking point, critics say, is the way the agency divvies up the remaining 8.7 million acres of roadless land in Idaho, which is second to Alaska in having the most roadless national forest land.

The proposal calls for keeping 3.2 million acres protected, but puts another 5.2 million acres under a so-called “backcountry restoration” designation.

Environmentalists say the wording that defines “backcountry restoration” could swing the door wide open to logging and other uses because it allows temporary road building to protect public health and safety “in cases of significant risk or imminent threat of flood, fire or other catastrophic event.”

Jonathan Oppenheimer, senior conservation associate with the Idaho Conservation League, says the proposal clearly steps away from the goals contained in the state plan a year ago.

“It appears a lot of Idaho’s roadless lands would be managed to a higher level of allowance for development,” Oppenheimer said. “The bottom line is we think the existing rules already allow for flexibility to responding to risk issues in Idaho’s roadless backcountry.”

The draft EIS issued this week sets in motion a 90-day public comment period that will include several public meetings across the state. The proposed rule will be published in coming days in the Federal Register.

Risch, who has been working with federal officials in developing the rule, will attend several of those meetings, said David Hensley, legal counsel to Gov. Butch Otter. Hensley said Otter has also been involved in the process and endorses the proposal.

Hensley disagreed with critics who say the federal proposal rolls back the state’s initial recommendations.

“Part of that may be rhetoric,” Hensley said Thursday. “I don’t think everyone has had the benefit of seeing the rule to determine whether it’s been a departure.”