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The
Chattahoochee National Forest is one of Georgia’s most popular places to
relax, hike, camp or fish. The Chattahoochee and other national forests around the country protect clean water, preserve undisturbed
wildlife habitat, and provide backcountry recreational opportunities
for millions of Americans. Unfortunately, only a fraction of these
forests remain undisturbed by extractive industries: 16,000 miles of
roads already traverse their acreage.
In 2001, our staff and their allies won a remarkable victory
with the enactment of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which placed
58.5 million acres of pristine forest land off-limits to road-building,
mining, and virtually all logging.
Unfortunately, the Bush administration stripped away this vital
protection in an effort to give away these pristine forests to the
timber industry and other powerful special interests. Starting with
the temporary exemption of the Tongass National Forest in
Alaska—America’s largest pristine national forest—the Bush
administration went after our forests piece by piece, undermining
Roadless Rule protections. Legal protections for our forests have been
batted around in court for the past several years, and as it now
stands, forests from the Rockies to the Appalachians are not protected
by the Roadless Rule. As a result, they are more vulnerable to the
threat of development.
Environment Georgia is now calling on President Obama to reinstate the Roadless Rule and protect the Chattahoochee National Forests and other wild forests around the country.