FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 5, 2008

CONTACT:
Elyssa Rosen 775.224.7497

Statement of Jane Danowitz, U.S. public lands program director at Pew Environment Group

on the latest development in protecting Colorado's Roadless forests

WASHINGTON Jane Danowitz today issued the following statement in reaction to a letter from the state of Colorado asking the U.S. Forest Service not to finalize the Colorado Roadless forest rule.

"Governor Ritter made the right call to ask the Bush Administration not to issue its proposed rule regarding Colorado's national forest roadless areas until the rule's serious flaws can be fixed. With 4.4 million acres of the state's best backcountry on the line, there's no need to rush through a rule that, among other things, would allow roughly 100 new oil and gas leases to move forward in these pristine areas. It's wise to wait."

For more information:

• Read the letter from the Ritter Administration to the US Department of Agriculture [PDF]
• Read the press release from the Colorado Department of Natural Resources [PDF]

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