The biggest problem with the roadless rule was because the Bush 2 administration appointed some terrible people to Interior and Agriculture. With the presidency tied up in the sandbox, and with the Republican leadership in Congress scared of their own shadow (kind of like now with Obamacare, right), Bush wasn't interested in sticking his neck out and rescinding the "roadless rule" outright. So, a half-measure. And while the timber people acceded to both CO and ID, keep in mind that by 2004, the industry as we know it was already gone, killed in the ten years since the spotted owl in Oregon, the grizzly bear in Montana, and Denver environmentalism in Colorado -- and at the national level by Bush appointees that saw National Forest supply as "competition" against private forests in other regions, not allies. The few survivors cared only about "wood now," just the little they needed to keep in business. They really had no incentive to care about the loss of trees or habitat from fire, they were kind of like Jake and Elwood in the tunnel with Carrie Fisher, "please please don't kill us." Never mind that Idaho had the Statesman and Rocky Barker telling the story during that time frame. He treated the concept of multiple use about like the New York Times reports on firearms issues. And the Denver papers?
Up hills slow, Down hills fast Tonnage first and Safety last.
