Oregon Public Broadcasting

The Bush administration dropped an appeal this week of a 2007 federal court decision that overturned new management rules for national forests.

Conservationists say the administration hasn’t given up its fight. Pete Springer reports.

In 2005, the Forest Service issued new regulations eliminating mandatory protections for wildlife and clean water.  At the same time, mandatory limits on logging were ruled out.

A federal judge threw out the new rules, citing the lack of an environmental impact statement among other concerns.   

The Bush administration appealed that decision, then dropped the appeal on Monday and  agreed to do an environmental impact statement.

But a draft impact statement on the Forest Service website found no impact from the 2005 rules—meaning the issue will end up in court again.  

Trent Orr is an attorney for Earthjustice, one of the groups who challenged the rules.

Trent Orr: “One of the things they’ve been systematically trying to take away both in this action and a number of others is just the public's right to participate in decisions about the national forests.”

The Forest Service plans to issue its final environmental impact statement on the 2005 rules within a month.