State joins 3 others in lawsuit against Bush land policy

Friday, February 10, 2006

Saying she won't let the U.S. government dictate how federal lands in Washington's national forests should be protected from logging, mining and road building, Gov. Christine Gregoire on Thursday threw the state's weight behind a suit filed by Oregon, New Mexico and California.

At issue in Washington are some 2 million acres of national forests where roads have never been built. They are valued by conservationists as bastions of high-quality backcountry -- on a par with national parks and officially designated wilderness areas.

"We're going to stand tall. We will not be overridden by the federal government," Gregoire said in announcing the move at the Seattle headquarters of Recreational Equipment Inc.

"Trust me, we did not come to this lightly. We cannot allow what is happening here to happen," the governor said.

The Bush administration reversed course from a Clinton administration policy that would have severely restricted logging, mining and road-building in the roadless areas, which make up about one-third of the national forests. Roads are usually necessary before large-scale mining and logging can take place.

Faced with suits from Idaho, Wyoming and six other states, the Bush administration withdrew the protections. In their place, Bush appointees instituted a system in which governors can petition to protect the areas.

But Gregoire said the system envisioned by Bush is onerous and has a fatal flaw: In the end, the federal government makes the final decision. The purpose of the lawsuit that Washington has joined would be to return to the Clinton administration policy.

Mark Rey, the U.S. Department of Agriculture undersecretary in charge of the Forest Service, said pursuing the federal process envisioned by the Bush administration is the surest path to Gregoire's goal.

"Why would we have invited governors to participate with us as partners in a rule-making, only to pull the rug from under them? That's not the behavior of a rational person," Rey said. "If we didn't want to hear what they had to say, why would we have asked in the first place?"

P-I reporter Robert McClure can be reached at 206-448-8092 or robertmcclure@seattlepi.com.

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