Court clears way for Clinton ban on forest roads

By Christopher Doering

WASHINGTON, Dec 12 (Reuters) - A federal appeals court in San Francisco on
Thursday reinstated a Clinton administration ban on road construction in nearly
60 million acres of U.S. forests, overturning a preliminary injunction obtained
by Boise Cascade Corp. BCC.N.

The decision overturned a lower court ruling in favor of Boise Cascade, which
is among many U.S. timber, mining and energy companies that oppose the
roadbuilding ban.

"This is a huge victory for our last wild forests, but also for the 1 million
people who supported this rule," said Tim Preso, a lawyer with Earthjustice
Legal Defense Fund, who had a copy of the decision issued by the 9th Circuit
Court of Appeals.

Environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, went to the appeals court
seeking to lift a May 2001 injunction issued by a federal judge in Idaho. The
judge halted the Clinton plan at the request of Boise Cascade, saying the
previous administration hurried the rule, skirted environmental rules and did
not allow enough time for the public to comment.

The Clinton plan aims to prevent road construction and the removal of oil and
lumber in 58.5 million acres (23.67 million hectares) of federal forest land,
unless needed for environmental reasons or to reduce the risk of wildfires.

U.S. timber, mining and oil companies oppose the plan because they cannot move
in heavy equipment without roads. It was issued just days before Clinton left
office in January 2001.

The Bush administration was accused by environmental groups of failing to
vigorously defend the road-building ban in the lawsuit.

On Thursday, a federal appeals court reversed the Idaho judge's ruling.

"Because of its incorrect legal conclusion on prospects of success, the
district court proceeded on an incorrect legal premise, applied the wrong
standard for injunction, and abused its discretion in issuing a preliminary
injunction," the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in a 55-page decision.

Environmental groups and the Bush administration have clashed on other forest
issues.

On Wednesday, the White House proposed to help prevent wildfires by making it
easier to cut down the forest growth that fuels them. That move was criticized
by activist groups who said logging companies would exploit the relaxed
measures to commercially harvest timber under the guise of forest-thinning
projects.

In November, the Bush administration unveiled a plan to give local forest
managers greater control over commercial activities in federal forests, a
policy that opponents said would skirt environmental rules designed to protect
fish and wildlife.