Mead Sees Trouble For State In Roadless Rule Decision

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals denied a state of Wyoming Mining Association petition that sought to to overturn the 2001 National Forest Road-less Rule.

By doing so the Court upheld its reversal of the decision by Judge Clarence Brimmer and reaffirmed the legality of the rule that prohibits development on nearly 60 million acres.

Governor Matt Mead says the reversal has serious implications for Wyoming.

"Wyoming has over 3 million acres of National Forest which would be subject to restrictions under the Roadless Rule. So I'm going to review this decision with the Attorney General and decide on a course of action."

Mead says Brimmer's opinion was based on the belief that only congress has the power to create wilderness, something that he believes the Roadless Rule does in a de facto fashion. He says the state will consider whether to take further legal action.