(Denver Post) Colorado officials are making an intense final push to establish their own rule for managing the last roadless national forests in the state.

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Jane Danowitz, director of the Pew Environment Group’s U.S. public lands program, issued the following statement regarding a notice from the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver that it will not reconsider its October 2011 decision that upheld the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. A request for a rehearing of the case had been made by the State of Wyoming and the Colorado Mining Association.

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(Associated Press) A federal appeals court on Thursday rejected Wyoming's request to reconsider a decision upholding a 2001 rule barring development on nearly 50 millions of acres of roadless areas in national forests.

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(The New York Times) A road into the piney woods can be fraught with consequences. That was the premise, more than a decade ago, behind a Clinton administration rule that restricted road building on millions of acres of national forests in the West. The so-called roadless rule, fought over in court from the start, was validated last year by a federal appeals panel, setting off a wave of euphoria among supporters and consternation among critics.

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Jane Danowitz, U.S. public lands director for the Pew Environment Group, released the following statement in reaction to a final U.S. Forest Service management plan issued by the Obama administration today.

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(Associated Press) The Obama administration says new rules to manage nearly 200 million acres of national forests will protect watersheds and wildlife while promoting uses ranging from recreation to logging.

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(Ecopolitology) If you’re wondering what a boreal forest is, you’re probably not alone. It is comprised of forested lands in the northern hemisphere that contain mainly coniferous trees and reside just south of the frozen tundra region near the pole. These forests are also referred to as taiga. In layman terms, it is one of the largest areas of forested land on the planet; sparsely populated, full of wildlife, and largely appreciated for its natural beauty.

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Governments, scientists, and conservation groups are taking important steps to protect the boreal and to showcase its importance. Learn about five developments from 2011.

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(Vancouver Sun) In an unexpected departure from year-end environmental doomsaying, a leading Canadian conservation group has compiled a Top 10 list showcasing major gains in 2011 for the country's vast boreal forest.

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(Boulder Weekly) Six years ago, in the interest of protecting Colorado’s pristine wilderness areas while the national roadless area rule was being contested in court, the state began development of a roadless rule. Two drafts and 200,000 public comments later, local conservation organizations are now looking to scrap that rule and go back to the national roadless rule, which has since been validated twice by circuit courts, including the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver in October.

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(The Star Tribune) Debate over border security and illegal immigration is a constant in GOP presidential debates. Now, a Utah congressman wants to give greater authority to U.S. Homeland Security to stem immigration and drug trafficking.

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As the forests of the East changed this fall into their seasonal reds and oranges, a remarkable migration of birds headed south. About 30 million ducks, cranes and other species cross the U.S.-Canadian border each autumn day.

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The result of more than two decades of effort, the roadless rule turned a patchwork of local management practices into a balanced federal strategy that now protects America’s last undeveloped national forests.

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Twelve Colorado and national conservation organizations called on President Obama today to enforce the Roadless Area Conservation Rule in the state’s national forests. They also asked his administration to reject a state plan that would open those areas to new drilling, logging, and coal mining.

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(Minneapolis Star Tribune) The Border Patrol would gain unprecedented authority over Minnesota's environmental landmarks on our northern border, including the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Voyageurs National Park, under legislation winding through Congress.

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