Bush Seeks Shift in Logging Rules

The Bush administration on Monday proposed scuttling a rule from the Clinton administration that put nearly 60 million acres of national forest largely off limits to logging, mining or other development in favor of a new system that would leave it to governors to seek greater - or fewer - strictures on road construction in forests.
The announcement abandoning the so-called roadless rule was made by Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman in Boise, Idaho, where opposition to the rule issued by President Bill Clinton as he was leaving office was most pronounced....

"This doesn't ensure that a single acre of roadless area gets protected," said Marty Hayden, legislative director for Earthjustice, one of several groups that are defending the Clinton rule in federal court.
"Everything could be up for grabs," Mr. Hayden said.
Ms. Veneman's announcement was a signature moment for the Bush administration's environmental policy.