Bush Administration Rolls Back Rule on Building Forest Roads - New York Times: "The Bush administration on Thursday supplanted a Clinton-era rule banning road construction in nearly 60 million acres of national forest with a complex prescription for state-by state decisions on which areas should retain protections.

The new rule gives governors a primary role in making recommendations. If the governors choose not to take the opportunity in the next 18 months, the Forest Service may begin an analysis of whether and where activities requiring roads, like logging and mining, would be appropriate. The final decision on the status of all 56.5 million acres once protected as roadless will rest with the federal government."

(Via NY Times.)