From the Star Tribune, by Tom Meersman
In Minnesota, nearly 62,000 acres in the Superior National Forest have been classified as roadless areas, and could potentially be opened to logging under the new rule. Most of the roadless land is near or adjacent to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Some of the lands were logged decades ago, according to Kris Reichenbach, information specialist for Superior National forest. As such they may contain a few old or substandard roads or more recent trails, she said, but otherwise the lands have been largely undisturbed.
However, Reichenbach said it's too early to speculate on whether any logging would occur in Superior's roadless areas because of the new rule. For one thing, she said, the governor could file a formal petition that those areas in the national forest remain off-limits to logging. That request, if filed in the next 18 months, would go to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which includes the Forest Service. The agency could accept or deny the state's request.
Gov. Pawlenty's spokesman Brian McClung said that the governor will need to study the new rule before he makes any decisions on the matter.
Minnesota environmental leaders denounced the new policy and criticized the Bush administration, saying it has failed to provide leadership in managing federal lands. "Only a small portion of our national forests remain wild, and the American people want to preserve them -- not give them away to energy and logging companies," said Melissa Lindsay, executive director of Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness.
