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Feds grant state delay on roadless rule
Herald Denver Bureau
Harris Sherman, director of the Department of Natural Resources, wrote to the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday to ask for a delay in finalizing the "roadless rule" for Colorado. On Friday, he announced that Bush administration officials promised to hold off on the rule until Sherman and Gov. Bill Ritter are ready.
Only Colorado and Idaho have taken advantage of a Bush administration plan to let each state craft its own rules for road-building in the backcountry. Colorado has been drafting its rule since 2005. Environmentalists and sportsmen have been fighting it as it nears completion, saying it allows too many roads for coal mines, ski areas, timber companies and the gas and oil industry.
Colorado officials need more time to address concerns expressed by environmentalists and the state Division of Wildlife, said Theo Stein, spokesman for the Department of Natural Resources.
"This is a time-consuming but critical process to ensure broad support for Colorado's rule," Sherman wrote to Undersecretary of Agriculture Mark Rey.
Sherman expects the rule to be approved during the first three to six months of 2009, after Bush has left the White House, he said in his letter.
The final decision rests with the secretary of agriculture. President-elect Barack Obama has not announced his choice for the office, but U.S. Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., said this week that he is on the short list.
Soon after Bush took office, he threw out a Clinton administration rule to protect 58 million acres of roadless forests. Instead, Bush let governors ask for state-specific rules.
A San Francisco federal judge overturned Bush's state-by-state rule and reinstated the Clinton rule. But then a Wyoming judge threw out the Clinton rule. Earlier this week, the California judge limited her ruling to states in the 9th Circuit of courts plus New Mexico. Colorado is in the 10th Circuit.
Mike King, deputy director of the state Department of Natural Resources, said the recent California court ruling validates Colorado's move to get its own rule.
"Last week's decision by a San Francisco judge that the 2001 roadless rule would not apply to Colorado shows once again why it's so important to get the Colorado rule completed," King said.
jhanel@durangoherald.com
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