Fed's 'roadless rules' limit public's recreation

OLYMPIA — Washington state citizens are on the verge of losing the ability and the right to enjoy national public lands within our state.Apparently, there are bureaucrats in the other Washington who have forgotten Woody Guthrie’s famous song, “This Land is Your Land” and the oft-repeated verse: This land was made for you and me.

As an avid horseback rider and snowmobiler, I have a personal and vested interest in our nation’s stance on public land management.As a legislator with miles of national forest land in my district, and as co-chair of the Department of Natural Resources’ Sustainable Recreation Work Group, I have a professional and dutiful obligation to the same.

At issue is a recent ruling by the 9th U.S. District Court of Appeals which declared the Bush Administration’s State Petition Rules are in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act.In effect, this ruling reinstated the Clinton Administration’s roadless rules from 2001, which prohibits all building of roads on 58.5 million acres of national public land, even though an earlier court ruling found that the Clinton land grab was a “thinly veiled attempt to designate ‘wilderness areas’ in violation of the clear and unambiguous process established by the Wilderness Act.”

In a nutshell, you have the roadless rules prohibiting the building of roads versus the state plan which allows each state to develop their own guidelines for the federal land within their boundaries.

Needless to say, I am much more in favor of allowing individual states to have a say in land management strategy.

Supporters of the roadless rules invariably point out the need to preserve and protect our land so that our families will have pristine wilderness areas in which to recreate.But this concept is at odds with the types of recreation in which the majority of our average citizens take part.

While I’m sure there are those who are willing to backpack in the wilderness for miles and enjoy the seclusion and tranquility of naturally preserved forestland, the majority of people that I know need some sort of access to the forest.Whether you ride horses, snowmobile, ATVs or motorcycles, or even if you’re just a casual day hiker, you have to reach the trailhead before you can begin your chosen activity of “recreating.”

In fact, any experienced horse rider or snowmobiler will agree that some of the best places to ride are old logging roads found throughout our forest land.They offer limited and controlled access into the interior of some of the most beautiful lands on this planet.Without this limited access, few families would be able to enjoy the very land that belongs to them!

Another issue of concern is fire suppression, safety and preservation of our forests.Without some access (i.e. roads) into remote forest land, hundred-acre fires become thousand-acre fires, and thousand-acre fires become million-acre fires.Allowing our firefighters road access to the scene will enable fires to be put out more quickly, more effectively and more efficiently, saving money and possibly lives in the process.

In my opinion, the roadless rules land management plan is a potential scar on our individual and state rights.And, it seems, the Obama Administration is looking to solidify the roadless rules plan by actively working to make this policy the law of the land.I urge citizens who feel as I do to contact our members of Congress, our Senators and the President to express objections over this federal government land grab.

I’m not advocating for all-out development of our national public lands, nor am I suggesting a paved road at every mile.It just seems to me that the public should have access to public lands.Just knowing the land is there to enjoy is not enough.We need to be able to see it, touch it, smell it, and recreate on it responsibly.Indeed, I truly believe that this land was made for you and me.