Southern Forests Preserved

One of the BetterSouth issues involves ‘rethinking land use.’ With a ruling by a federal judge in northwest California, some of the South’s most pristine land is once-again protected.

A federal judge Wednesday reinstated Clinton-era forest protections, overturning the Bush administration's proposal to open one-third of the United States' national forests to logging.

In North Carolina, the decision would impact 174,000 acres of roadless land in the state's Pisgah, Nantahala and Croatan national forests - about 15 percent of the state's national forest land.

Most of the Southern lands protected are in western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee. In 2005 Bush opened previously protected land to logging and mining interests. The law allowed for individual states to petition for protection. North Carolina Governor Mike Easley was one of the first leaders to petition the federal government for protection.

"North Carolina's wild forests are once again safe from logging and road-building," Margaret Hartzell, field associate for Environment North Carolina said in a statement. "These pristine areas can be enjoyed by generations of future North Carolinians."