What others say: Forest politics

  • Wednesday, August 5, 2015 8:34pm
  • Opinion

On Jan. 5, 2001, during the final moments of Bill Clinton’s administration, the then-president announced the Roadless Area Conservation Final Rule.

Known thereafter as the Roadless Rule, the administrative policy has been bludgeon deployed against the economy of Southeast Alaska by barring access to natural resources and potential energy sources within significant areas of the Tongass National Forest.

On Wednesday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals narrowly upheld the Roadless Rule on a 6-5 vote, saying, in part, that the administration of George W. Bush erred when it effectively reversed the Clinton-era rule in 2003.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

The Bush-era Forest Service, according to the court majority, shouldn’t have reversed the 2001 rule without providing a reasoned explanation for why it reached a different conclusion than the Clinton-era Forest Service, based on the use of the same “factual record.”

Opposing that view, the court minority’s opinion was that elections have legal consequences, and the Bush-era Forest Service did not act arbitrarily in heeding the Bush administration’s policy direction to amend the original Roadless Rule.

We tend to agree with the court minority on this one.

That the Clinton-era Roadless Rule was born of politics was referenced by Mike Dombeck when the then-chief of the Forest Service wrote this thought to agency employees on Jan. 5, 2011: “Both of these rules (the Roadless Area Conservation Final Rule and the agency’s road policy) were shaped by the involvement of literally millions of people.”

In other words, the Roadless Rule was shaped by the perceived public opinion of that day.

However, by the time the Roadless Rule was announced in early January 2001, the public already had voted in a different administration with a clearly different view than its predecessor. The Bush administration took office on Jan. 20, 2001.

Why bother having elections if those elected cannot act within the mandate and expectations of the public who elected them?

Dombeck’s letter contained other concepts of interest.

We see, for example, that the “transition” concept frequently being voiced now for the Tongass National Forest has been a core goal of the Forest Service for many years.

“Over the past decade or longer, the Forest Service has made the transition from emphasizing resource development and production to focusing on conservation, stewardship and restoration,” Dombeck wrote in that Jan. 5, 2001 letter.” The roads rule’s emphasis away from new road construction toward managing a transportation system, providing safe access through improved maintenance of the existing roads system is emblematic, of that shift.

“Similarly, completion of the roadless rule signifies the shift away from the timber controversies of the past over roadless entry and old-growth harvest,” Dombeck wrote.

We haven’t noticed much end of controversy here in the Tongass, watching the current furor over the Big Thorne timber sale that contains a relatively small amount of old-growth timber harvest.

As for maintenance of existing roads, the Forest Service sure has put a lot of effort into removing access to existing roads in the Tongass during the past decade or so.

And, what of economies? The only economics mentioned by Dombeck regarded the Forest Service itself.

“This year we received a budget increase of over 40 percent and plan to hire as many as 5,000 part-time and full-time employees,” he wrote in 2001.

Super! We’d be curious, though, to see how actual Forest Service employment in Southeast Alaska (and nationwide) has fared since Dombeck’s letter.

It’s easy to pick at something written years ago. Circumstances change, as can the political winds.

For the court to say that the Bush administration of 2003 was off the mark in reaching a different conclusion than the Clinton administration of 2001 — especially on a policy originally shaped by politics — seems, to put it kindly, a stretch.

The State of Alaska should continue to pursue its legal opposition to the Roadless Rule. The policy’s absence could allow for a positive transition to multiple use of public lands in the Tongass National Forest, and provide a glimpse of hope for a diversified economic future for Southeast Alaska.

— Ketchikan Daily News, July 31

More in Opinion

U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, speaks to Anchor Point residents during a community meeting held at the Virl “Pa” Haga VFW Post 10221 on Friday, May 30, 2025, in Anchor Point, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
Opinion: Big beautiful wins for Alaska in the Big Beautiful Bill

The legislation contains numerous provisions to unleash Alaska’s extraordinary resource economy.

Deena Bishop, commissioner of the Department of Education and Early Development, discusses the status of school districts’ finances during a press conference with Gov. Mike Dunleavy at the Alaska State Capitol on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Opinion: The fight to improve public education has just begun

We owe our children more than what the system is currently offering

President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia at a joint news conference in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018. (Doug Mills/The New York Times file photo)
Opinion: Mistaking flattery for respect

Flattery played a role in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: Life is harder when you outlive your support group

Long-time friends are more important than ever to help us cope, to remind us we are not alone and that others feel the same way.

Deven Mitchell is the executive director and chief executive officer of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. (Photo courtesy of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp.)
Opinion: The key to a stronger fund: Diversification

Diversification is a means of stabilizing returns and mitigating risk.

A silver salmon is weighed at Three Bears in Kenai, Alaska. Evelyn McCoy, customer service PIC at Three Bears, looks on. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Opinion: Will coho salmon be the next to disappear in the Kenai River?

Did we not learn anything from the disappearance of the kings from the Kenai River?

Jonathan Flora is a lifelong commercial fisherman and dockworker from Homer, Alaska.
Point of View: Not fishing for favors — Alaskans need basic health care access

We ask our elected officials to oppose this bill that puts our health and livelihoods in danger.

Alex Koplin. (courtesy photo)
Opinion: Public schools do much more than just teach the three Rs

Isn’t it worth spending the money to provide a quality education for each student that enters our schools?

Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks to reporters at the Alaska State Capitol on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)
Letter to the Editor: Law enforcement officers helped ensure smooth, secure energy conference

Their visible commitment to public safety allowed attendees to focus fully on collaboration, learning, and the important conversations shaping our path forward.

Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire file photo
The present-day KTOO public broadcasting building, built in 1959 for the U.S. Army’s Alaska Communications System Signal Corps, is located on filled tidelands near Juneau’s subport. Today vehicles on Egan Drive pass by the concrete structure with satellite dishes on the roof that receive signals from NPR, PBS and other sources.
My Turn: Stand for the community radio, not culture war optics

Alaskans are different and we pride ourselves on that. If my vehicle… Continue reading

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) delivers his annual speech to the Alaska Legislature on Thursday, March 20, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: Sullivan, Trump and the rule of lawlessness

In September 2023, U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan established his own Alaska Federal… Continue reading

UAA Provost Denise Runge photographed outside the Administration and Humanities Building at the University of Alaskas Anchorage. (courtesy photo)
Opinion: UAA’s College of Health — Empowering Alaska’s future, one nurse at a time

At the University of Alaska Anchorage, we understand the health of our… Continue reading

You're browsing in private mode.
Please sign in or subscribe to continue reading articles in this mode.

Peninsula Clarion relies on subscription revenue to provide local content for our readers.

Subscribe

Already a subscriber? Please sign in