US court reinstates road ban in national forests

A federal appeals court has blocked road construction in about 50 million acres of pristine national forests in the US.

The ruling reinstates most of a 2001 rule put in place by then president Bill Clinton that prohibited commercial logging, mining and other development on about 58 million acres of National Forest in 38 states and Puerto Rico. The Bush administration subsequently cleared the way for more commercial activity there.

The latest ruling sides with several western states and environmental groups that sued the Forest Service after it reversed the so-called "Roadless Rule" in 2005.

However, another case, where environmental groups are appealing a Wyoming district court decision repealing the Clinton roadless rule, is pending.

"It's up and down like a yo-yo," said Tom Partin, president of the American Forest Resource Council, a timber industry group. "It seems to be bouncing from one court to the other."

Earlier this year the Obama administration cited legal uncertainty when it ordered a one-year moratorium on most road-building in national forests.