Before leaving office, President Clinton protected 58.5 million acres of American untouched Forest Service land from any development, including logging and road building. The Forest Service received two million comments supporting the measure, a record amount of comments on a federal environmental action. Despite the overwhelming public support for the rule, the Bush administration immediately delayed the rule's effective date upon taking office and then later refused to defend the rule against legal challenges.

A new regulation will now open up 34.3 million acres of that land to potential development. The rule will allow governors to petition the Forest Service for changes in the land management plans protecting the roadless areas. Governors have 18 months to file petitions challenging the current land management plans.

This rollback is the culmination of a steady attack on the roadless rule. Several states have challenged the rule in court, seeking to overturn it. In 2001, a federal judge in Idaho overturned the measure, but it was reinstated on appeal in December 2002. In July 2003, a Wyoming federal court struck down the rule again. The Tenth District Circuit Court of Denver heard appeals earlier this month from environmental groups seeking to have the rule reinstated.