USFS and Rolls Rule

Also see Florida Equal Access forum

Written by Scott Silver
Monday, 22 January 2007
The USFS won an important legal case involving the RAT. Some would call this a "set-back." I look upon it as an opportunity. (see article below)

Last week a Federal judge in Tucson, Arizona, John M. Roll, made a stinking ruling. He ruled that the USFS could interpret the language of the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act in whatever way suited their needs. His ruling said, in effect, that the USFS's own guidelines for the implementation of REA (aka "the RAT") takes precedence over both Congressional intent and over a clear and unambiguous reading of the law itself.

Some would call this a set-back, for surely the America People and the principles upon which our nation was founded, have taken yet another body blow. I look upon this as an opportunity, because this it not just one more encroachment of our freedoms, this is a flagrant judicial defiance of the intent of Congress, or so it certainly appears. In Judge Roll's ruling he clearly reminds us that:
[ FLREA's legislative history indicates that Congress was concerned that the Forest Service would attempt to charge an entrance fee for access onto federal recreation lands where federal services are not provided. ]

Then Judge Roll ruled in such a way that the Forest Service is granted liberty to charge fees for access into federal recreation lands where federal services are not provided. Roll's Ruling provides this authority using a judicial sleight of hand. Roll's Ruling gives the Forest Service authority to define an "area" such that if within "the area" services are provided, then fees can be charged. In the specific case upon which Roll ruled, "the area" was defined a corridor extending for 28 miles along a public roadway and for one half mile to either side of the highway center line.

Think about that. Think about the specific roads upon which you access your public lands. Imagine the USFS or the BLM having the authority to write you a ticket merely for getting out of your vehicle. That is, for all practical purposes, the impact of Roll's Ruling.

So why do I look upon this as an opportunity? BECAUSE, We the People have been given just cause to show righteous indignation and BECAUSE our Congressional Representatives have been given a powerful incentive to take restorative legislative action. Our Congressional Representatives have been given reason to abolish the ever unpopular RAT completely, or to rewrite the law with such stringent sideboards placed upon the authority of the agencies that federal land managers will find it impossible to subvert Congressional intent.

Scott