Conservation: Road Construction Blocked in National Forests

Text by Alyson Sheppard 

Good news: At least 40 million acres of national forest are now protected from road construction, according to a ruling passed yesterday in a federal court (read more on the New York Times Green Inc. blog). The judges upheld the 2001 "Roadless Rule"—which had been reversed in 2005—to prohibit "commercial logging, mining, and other development" across 38 states and Puerto Rico.