Esto perpetua – “may it endure forever” – reads the Idaho state motto. The Bush administration should take heed. If the administration has its way, the only things that will endure of Idaho’s pristine forestlands are denuded hillsides, polluted mines and a toxic legacy that our grandchildren will inherit.

President Bush has set the bar high on rolling back environmental initiatives. From global warming to air quality in national parks, the administration has staked its claim on preventing common-sense rules to protect America’s natural resources. Not content to rest on its laurels yet, the administration continues to belt out new proposals to roll back environmental protections and sell off the nation’s public lands to the highest bidder.

The administration’s latest swan song is a proposal to weaken protections on 6 million acres of Idaho forests. The proposal would open these lands – an area the size of Massachusetts – to logging, mining and other development.

A report by the Center for Biological Diversity details how after a court loss over its attempt to weaken roadless protections, this administration now intends to implement rule changes state by state, starting with the crown jewel of the system, Idaho’s 9.3 million acres. The report was co-signed by 55 other conservation organizations. The public comment period on the proposal ends Monday.

David Hensley, counsel to Idaho Gov. Butch Otter, baldly asserted that the plan forges an “appropriate balance.” It would retain existing protections on only one-third of the lands currently secured. Two-thirds would be sacrificed to special interests.

According to the administration’s own analysis, the plan would increase logging eightfold, boost phosphate mining by 545 million tons, and open 600,000 acres to oil and gas development. This is hardly the balance that Idahoans expect for their public forests.

Idaho has already experienced unregulated exploitation. No fewer than 10 phosphate mines in southeast Idaho are federal Superfund sites. They continue to leach selenium and other deadly contaminants into waterways and burden taxpayers with millions of dollars in clean-up costs. The job is rarely, if ever, finished.

Despite our best efforts, these polluted mine sites may well endure forever – not likely what the state’s founders had in mind.

These roadless forests perform essential ecological “services”: as spawning grounds for native trout, steelhead and salmon, and habitat for species such as grizzly bears, wolves, bald eagles, wolverines, fishers and martens. They provide clean drinking water for millions of people in the Columbia, Snake, Salmon and hundreds of smaller watersheds in the Northwest. They also constitute the largest tract of ancient, old-growth forests in the lower 48 states. As lands without roads or human use continue to shrink nationwide, these roadless areas become ever more valuable as they are.

Idaho is nationally renowned for its heritage forests, much like Wyoming’s Yellowstone or the California coast. Its forests provide unparalleled opportunities for hunting, angling, hiking and camping. These and other forms of outdoor recreation generate more than $2.2 billion in retail sales, 37,000 jobs and $150 million in sales tax revenue each year in Idaho. Why would the state want to jeopardize its tourist economy by destroying its last unspoiled forests?

A better idea would be to retain existing protections for these undeveloped forestlands. The protections were put in place in 2001 with a tremendous outpouring of public support – common-sense measures that ensure that Idaho’s heritage forests provide opportunities for hiking, camping, angling and just to “get away from it all.” Existing protections will ensure that Idaho forests – along with its rivers and streams, wildlife and watersheds – truly will endure forever.

The Bush administration fancies titling its anti-environmental initiatives in Orwellian doublespeak. The “Clear Sky Initiative” weakens restrictions on air pollution; the “Healthy Forests Initiative” loosens logging limits in national forests. Perhaps the administration should title its plan in Idaho the “Enduring Forever Initiative.” Of course, if the administration has its way, the only thing that will endure will be the scars left behind.