State joins 3 others in lawsuit against Bush land policy

[sasha031]

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

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/259069_roadless10.html

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. kick this one up.

We need to protect our public land. It's obvious that Cheney's Western style Libertarianism is behind this. That son of a bitch belongs in a federal prison. Maybe that's why Halliburton was given a no-bid contract to build jails. He's customizing his next home.