Hiking into the narrow and rugged Beaver Creek Canyon.    Antony Noble

2001 Roadless Rule
For over ten years, a fight has been going on to protect the remaining roadless areas on public land in the United States. Colorado is in the center of this process because of the high quality roadless lands found in our state and because of certain coincidences of the political process.

The 2001 Roadless Rule has been under attack almost as soon as it was put in place. Currently it is effect across the entire United States except for the Tongass National Forest in Alaska and the states of Idaho and Colorado.

Colorado Roadless Task Force
In 2004, the administration formally repealed the 2001 Roadless Rule, and replaced it with a process requiring governors to petition the Department of Agriculture in order to seek protections for roadless areas. Colorado was one of a small number of states that proceeded to undergo the lengthy and expensive petition process. The Governor and legislature appointed a Task Force that studied the issues, held public hearings and presented a recommendation to the Governor for protection of roadless areas in Colorado.

Roadless Rule Reinstated
Almost immediately after the task force reported to the Governor in fall 2006, federal courts reinstated the 2001 Roadless Rule and set aside the State Petition Process. Governor Owens at the request of the administration went ahead and submitted a petition for Colorado based on the Task Force recommendation. In the spring of 2007, Governor Ritter resubmitted the petition as an "insurance policy" in case the 2001 Roadless Rule was permanently revoked.

Colorado Petition Process
Because Colorado followed the rules of the petition process, the United States Forest Service is going forward with its evaluation of the Colorado Roadless Petition which it is allowed to change as it sees fit. On December 26, 2007 the Forest Service published a Notice of Intent to publish a draft Environmental Impact Statement for roadless rulemaking in Colorado based on the Colorado Roadless Petition. The Forest Service solicited public input based on this notice until February 25, 2008.

However, this special process singling out Colorado is unnecessary since the 2001 Roadless Rule had been reinstated. Furthermore, although the Colorado Roadless Petition provides strong protections, it is not as strong as the 2001 Roadless Rule. The Colorado Roadless Petition would:

• Open some roadless areas to be leased for ski area expansion, coal mining, and in specific areas where the state already owns mineral rights in order to mine these areas;
• Allow oil and gas drilling companies to build roads, pipelines and other industrial projects in roadless areas;
• Allow new roads to be built for ranchers to access their grazing livestock, and
• Loosen restrictions on logging in roadless areas.

We urge you to let the tell the Forest Service to retain the 2001 Roadless Rule for Colorado. Visit the Get Involved portion of this web site for information on how to share your concerns with the forest service.