A federal judge in Idaho yesterday blocked former President Clinton’s plan to ban road-building and logging on 58.5 million acres of national forestland. U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge ruled in favor of the state of Idaho and timber giant Boise Cascade and said that if the plan went into effect tomorrow, as had been scheduled, it could cause “irreparable long-term harm” to local communities. Environmental groups said they would appeal the ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. They blamed the decision in part on the Bush administration’s failure to mount a strong defense of the plan. The administration has not yet decided whether it will join the appeal.
