07.10.01

Senator Maria Cantwell Criticizes Ashcroft and Justice Department for Failing to Appeal Injunction on Rule That Protects National Forests

WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) today sharply criticized U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and the U.S. Department of Justice for refusing to appeal an Idaho District Court's preliminary injunction, which delayed implementation of a federal rule designed to protect America's most pristine national forests from further development by oil, gas, coal and timber companies.

Cantwell challenged Ashcroft to follow through on promises he made at his confirmation hearing in January, when he pledged to uphold federal rules that have the force of law, specifically the Roadless Forest Protection Rule - a rule that also has the widespread support of the American people. During that hearing, Ashcroft responded to Cantwell's questions about enforcement of the Roadless Forest Protection Rule by saying, "I will, regardless of whether or not I supported something as a Senator, defend the rule … I think if the President wants to change the law, he has to follow the law in order to do so … And I will support and enforce the law. I think that's a responsibility, and I think that is what I have promised to do. I can't be results oriented, I have to be law-oriented, and I think I would disserve the President and the country were I to do otherwise."

"I am personally disappointed by Attorney General Ashcroft's decision to leave the preliminary injunction unchallenged, and his failure to live up to the promises he made to me, the rest of the United States Senate and the American people about his commitment to upholding the law, including the laws that he or the President don't agree with politically," Cantwell said. "If we can't count on the nation's highest ranking law enforcement official to keep his word, what can we count on?"

Cantwell said the Roadless Forest Protection Rule simply precludes new road construction on 58 million acres of public land. It preserves open space for recreational uses, including hunting, fishing, mountain biking and snowmobiling; protects watersheds that are sources of clean drinking water; and keeps intact pristine habitat for fish and wildlife.

Recent polls show that 67 percent of all Americans - including 58 percent of Republicans -strongly support the protections the existing rule provides for roadless national forests and public watersheds. The process the Forest Service and the Department of Agriculture undertook to establish this rule in the first place included 600 public meetings in local communities nationwide and 1.6 million public comments - the most extensive public outreach in the history of the National Environmental Policy Act. There were 60,000 comments from Washington state alone, and 96 percent of those favored strong protection for roadless national forests.

"Given that level of public participation and support for the Roadless Forest Protection Rule, I believe it will be extremely difficult for the Administration to make any changes that people perceive as threatening those protections or weakening the rule," Cantwell said. "Even if the Administration ultimately succeeds in modifying the existing rule, however, it is still obligated to defend the rule now as vigorously as it would any other federal rule that has the force of law."

Cantwell said that Ashcroft's failure to defend the Roadless Forest Protection Rule also represents "the Bush Administration's latest maneuver to undermine vital protections for roadless national forests."

"The Bush Administration has already announced its intention to begin a new rulemaking process in an attempt to modify this rule," Cantwell said. "I don't agree with what they're trying to do - and I will oppose them on the merits of that, because I think it's bad policy and bad for our national forests - but they certainly have the right to pursue that option. As long as this rule is in place, however, they have an obligation to defend it. Attorney General Ashcroft has repeatedly promised to vigorously defend this rule, and he has repeatedly failed to do so, but his latest decision to leave this preliminary injunction unchallenged is unconscionable."

Cantwell said she supports the Roadless Forest Protection Rule, and the long-term view it takes on preserving national forests for future generations. She called it a reasoned approach, particularly given that there are already 380,000 miles of roads on Forest Service property and that most of these roads are in disrepair. (The Forest Service has an $8.4 billion road-maintenance backlog.) Cantwell said she believes that competing uses for public lands could be better managed if the government focused on improving the condition of existing roads on the millions of acres of forest lands that remain open to road building and leasing for timber, oil, gas and coal, rather than trying to open America's few remaining roadless national forests to further development.

"We have been through major technological changes in this country, and one of the consequences of this wireless revolution is that people can now live and work anywhere they choose. Business no longer ties people to urban areas. But what we've gained in mobility, we've lost in open space," Cantwell said. "Development of open space and farm land has doubled over the past 10 years, making the preservation of publicly owned open space more important than ever. America's 'wide-open spaces' are quickly disappearing, and once lost can never be recovered."