Letter to The Honorable Thomas Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture

The Honorable Tom Vilsack
Secretary of Agriculture
US Department of Agriculture
1400 Independence Ave SW
Washington, DC 20250

Re: California, Oregon, Washington, et at. v. USDA
(Forest Service Roadless Rule Litigation)
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Case No. 07-15613/07-15614/07-15695

Dear Secretary Vilsack:

I write again regarding the Roadless Rule litigation. The USDA's recent actions in that litigation have not been easy to reconcile with earlier statements by President Obama. During his election campaign, the President supported the Clinton-era Roadless Rule, which provides far better protection to our national resources than does the rule that the Bush administration adopted in its place.

Since the Roadless Rule was passed, a long trail of political maneuvers and litigation has followed. At present, two court cases remain. The administration's positions in these two cases have not always reflected the strong support that we expected the Clinton-era Roadless Rule to receive.

The first case of these two remaining cases is California v. USDA. In that case, four western states, including Oregon, sued the USDA to protect roadless areas in our national forests. A federal district court set aside the improper Bush-era rule and reinstated the Clintonera Roadless Rule. The USDA appealed, and the new Administration allowed that appeal to proceed, despite its stated support for the Rule. As you are aware, the Ninth Circuit has since affirmed the district court's decision including its order that the Clinton-era rule be reinstated nationwide. Now, I understand that the USDA's attorneys at the Department of Justice may ask the Ninth Circuit to narrow the geographic scope of the injunction that reinstated the Clinton-era
Roadless Rule to those states within the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and New Mexico. I urge the USDA not to take that course.

In the second remaining case, a federal judge in Wyoming has ruled in favor of the Bushera rule and has enjoined the Roadless Rule. I understand that the USDA has filed a notice of appeal in that case. I would hope that the Administration will continue its efforts to stay or limit the Wyoming'
judge's injunction, rather than seek to limit the injunction in the Ninth Circuit
case, which the Administration should support.

The Roadless Rule provides important protections to special places. We look forward to the Administration's support of these unique places, so that the disputes over the Roadless Rule can finally be put to an end. .

Governor

c: Eric Holder, Attorney General
John Cruden, USDOJ
John Smeltzer, USDOJ
Ann Bartuska, USDA, Acting Under Secretary for NRE
Jay Jensen, USDA Deputy Under Secretary for NRE