Idaho Conservation League, Trout Unlimited Join Forces to Support Idaho Roadless Rule

BOISE – The Idaho Conservation League and Trout Unlimited today joined forces in federal court to defend the Idaho Roadless Rule.

In 2001, the U.S. Forest Service established a rule to protect national forest roadless areas from road construction,  commercial logging and some mining.

That rule has been subject to legal back-and-forth over the past nine years. In response to this uncertainty, the State of Idaho submitted a petition to the Forest Service in 2006 to develop a new rule that would govern these backcountry areas. The rule, finalized by the Secretary of Agriculture in October 2008, protects nearly 9 million acres of Idahoʼs most spectacular backcountry national forests.

“Idahoans came together to develop a common-sense plan to protect our backcountry forests. The Idaho Roadless Rule represents an Idaho solution to a complicated national issue. We feel it strikes a fair balance,” said Rick Johnson, executive director of the Idaho Conservation League. “The rule   recognizes the importance of these areas for clean water, wildlife and recreation and also recognizes the needs of local communities,” he continued.

Some conservation groups are challenging the Idaho Roadless Rule in federal court. Trout Unlimited, the Idaho Conservation League, along with Dale Harris, former co-chair of the National Roadless Advisory Committee, have filed a joint “amicus” brief in support of the Idaho Rule.

“The Idaho Roadless Rule protects the best backcountry hunting and fishing in the country,” said Chris Wood, president and CEO of Trout Unlimited.

Conservation is most durable when it involves the widest array of interests. The Idaho Rule is a demonstration of what can happen when common sense is applied to common problems for the common good,” said Wood who served on the 14 member advisory panel that helped to shape the rule.

Wood, who helped develop the 2001 National Roadless Rule when he worked for Forest Service Chief, Mike Dombeck, continued, “then-Governor (now Senator) Jim Risch challenged conservationists, hunters, anglers, timber companies, county commissioners, the State of Idaho, and others to develop a rule that was as strong as the 2001 National Roadless Rule. We succeeded through collaboration, hard work, and our shared commitment to protecting Idahoʼs remarkable backcountry. As important, the Idaho Roadless Rule models a new form of collaborative stewardship that should be emulated across all of the national forests.”