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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 4, 2001

ROADLESS RULE LOCKS UP SUBSTANTIAL ENERGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES "THE PRICE OUR COUNTRY WILL PAY HAS ALREADY BEEN WITNESSED IN CALIFORNIA"

Washington -- "The Final Roadless Area Conservation Rule will clearly result in the loss of millions of tons of coal and phosphates," said a mining industry spokesman in testimony given today before the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee and the Forests and Forest Health Subcommittee of the House Resources Committee.

Greg Schaefer, director of external affairs for St. Louis-based Arch Coal, testified on behalf of the National Mining Association, and the Colorado, Utah and Wyoming Mining Associations and accused the former administration of "going to great pains to dismiss, then - when confronted - underestimate the impacts this rule will have on America's ability to meet it's growing demand for energy."

The Forest Service's roadless proposal will affect 38 states and calls for nearly a third of all the forest land (nearly 59 million acres) owned by the federal government to be designated "off limits" to road building, economic development and public access. That is in addition to 46 million acres already designated wilderness areas by act of Congress. The rule has come under fire from natural resources industries for ignoring our nation's impending energy crisis, while destroying the jobs and the economies that support America's rural western communities.

"The agency completely ignored the existing regulatory scheme, including the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act, and most notably the Wilderness Act, that protects the values this rule claims to defend," said Schaefer. "Despite the countless environmental laws already in place, this directive prohibits recovery of energy and mineral resources in these areas and will shut down many industry operations, costing America hundreds of million of dollars in economic benefit and thousands of high-paying jobs."

The measure reportedly will prohibit recovery of known high-quality coal reserves in Colorado and Utah. The agency's own Environmental Impact Statement reports that this rule could cause a shortage of coal over the next 20-30 years. Currently, over half of America's electricity is generated from coal.

In addition to the loss of important energy resources such as coal, Schaefer discussed other mineral related impacts of the roadless rule including the limits placed on operations which mine platinum, palladium and phosphates. "The environmental, economic and National security implications of denying access to develop these unique and important deposits are significant and the costs will be profound," Schaefer said.