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For Immediate Release
Appeals Court Hands Defeat to White House on Forest Policy
SAN FRANCISCO – A strongly-worded decision in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today restored protection for 58.5 million acres of roadless areas in U.S. national forests, handing a major defeat to the Bush Administration, which had deferred to an industry lawsuit to lift a ban on logging, road construction, and other extractive commercial activity in these pristine areas. The court ruled against the timber industry, overturning a preliminary injunction by the lower court that had stopped enforcement of the so-called "Roadless Rule."
"This decision blunts one of the major thrusts of this administration's three-pronged assault on our national forests – undoing roadless areas, undermining forest management regulations, and boosting logging under the guise of fire protection," said Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife. "Again and again, the White House has made a strategic decision to side with the timber industry against the overwhelming desires of the American people, and the higher court just told them they picked the wrong side."
The Bush Administration refused to defend the Roadless Rule against industry lawsuits, practically inviting a U.S. District Court Judge to suspend the rule, which he did. Defenders of Wildlife and other conservation groups intervened in the case to fill the void and defend the Roadless Rule in the Administration's self-imposed absence, and appealed the lower court injunction to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which today overturned it.
The Roadless Rule is now in effect, pending final resolution of the case by Judge Edward Lodge of U.S. District Court in Idaho.
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Defenders of Wildlife is one of the nation’s most progressive advocates for wildlife and habitat, and was named as one of America’s Top 100 Charities by Worth magazine. With more than 430,000 members and supporters, including nearly 100,000 in California, Defenders is an effective voice for the environment. To learn more about Defenders of Wildlife, please visit www.defenders.org.
