The Governors of Oregon, California, Washington and New Mexico are currently suing the Bush Administration to retain roadless area protections and an injunction meant to halt the Biscuit logging in particular has been filed but has not yet been ruled on by a federal court.
The public process that lead to the creation of the Roadless Rule, which protected almost sixty million acres of the most wild and pristine public lands remaining in the United States from destructive practices like logging and mining, involved more citizen input than any other piece of federal policy on any issue in the history of this country. Despite this overwhelming public support for protection of roadless areas, the Bush Administration has aggressively pursued stripping the protections it provides by opening these areas up to massive commercial timber harvest.
"This assault on our public lands is a disaster for the forest, a taxpayer rip off and it's against the will of the vast majority of the American people. It is the result of a broken democracy and I am taking this action today to jumpstart the system of checks and balances that is supposed to protect us from the tyranny of an authoritarian government so this doesn't happen again."
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