CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, September 19, 2005 Center for Biological Diversity Forest Director Chosen for National Roadless Advisory Committee Todd Schulke, Forest Program Director for the Center for Biological Diversity, was selected to sit on the Roadless Area Conservation National Advisory Committee that was authorized under the Bush administration’s recent Roadless Rule. The committee was organized to provide advice and recommendations on implementation of state petitions outlining inventoried roadless area protection and management strategies that are submitted by governors of states with roadless areas. “Protection of roadless areas is one of the country’s highest conservation priorities.” said Schulke. “We hope this committee will offer a fair and honest opportunity to ensure that our last unprotected pristine areas are saved to allow for clean water and open places for people to hike, hunt and see wildlife.” The Bush administration Roadless Rule repealed a Clinton administration rule that protected all the inventoried roadless areas on national forest land in the United States. The Bush administration rule created a process that allows governors the chance to petition for changes in management and protection for inventoried roadless areas within their states. USDA will accept state petitions until November 13, 2006. Schulke is from Silver City, New Mexico and has worked on forest protection and restoration issues for 15 years. He sits on the Western Governors’ Forest Health Advisory Committee, Arizona Governor Napolitano’s Forest Health Oversight Committee, Senator Bingaman’s Collaborative Forest Restoration Program Advisory Committee, and the New Mexico Forest & Watershed Health Planning Committee. He also oversees on-the-ground forest restoration projects on three national forests in the Southwest and is on the board of Gila WoodNet, a community-based forestry group dedicated to ecologically sound forest restoration prescriptions, implementation techniques, and utilization of restoration by-products. Other members of the committee are: State Elected Official Representative For more information about the National Roadless Committee go to http://www.roadless.fs.fed.us/. (end) |