September 29, 2005 (Seattle, WA) - The recent court ruling in the Eastern District of California regarding Categorical Exclusions restores the concept of democracy to our national forests and halts one of the many tactics used by the Bush administration’s to limit public involvement and weaken environmental protections.

On September 16, 2005, the Eastern District Court in California ruled that the Administration must provide opportunities for the public to have input on land management projects on all lands administered by the U.S. Forest Service. In particular, the court ruling affects certain projects that were classified as "categorical exclusions," a process which the Administration has increasingly used to eliminate environmental analysis and reduce public participation. Types of activities include logging, energy development, and recreation development on National Forests and Grasslands.

Americans deserve a say in what happens on our forests because they belong to all of us and because these decisions affect everything from the water we drink, to the way we spend our free time.

In 1992, Congress passed a law, sponsored by Senator Craig (R-ID) and Senator Leahy (D-VT), giving citizens the right to comment on and appeal Forest Service timber sales and other decisions. The Forest Service then adopted regulations that gave the public a reasonable opportunity to voice concerns about any timber sale regardless of size.

However, in 2003 the Bush administration adopted a new set of rules that allowed many logging projects to proceed without environmental review. Their expanded Categorical Exclusions allowed up to 70 acres of live green trees or 250 acres of salvage logging to occur, even in old-growth forests, and also allowed the construction of a half mile of new temporary roads -- all without environmental impact assessments or a public comment process.

The law, as laid out in the recent court decision, requires 30 days to receive public comments and up to 105 additional days for the appeals process. Surely that is not too long to wait, especially when irrevocable decisions about the management of our national forests are being made. Hazardous fuels reduction projects of up to 1,000 acres are still allowed to proceed under Categorical Exclusion.

Many projects carried out under a categorical exclusion are small and non-controversial and move ahead quickly. More often than not, public input on these cases has led to better projects and improved results.

Clearly, the Bush administration has overreached in its zeal to get rid of public involvement in the national forests. The California ruling restores balance and common sense, as well as the original intent of Congress, which was to give the American people a say about logging and other controversial activities in the national forests.