BOISE, Idaho - Idaho received $150,000 on Tuesday to help pay for meetings across the state to gather input on revised management plans for its 9.3 million acres of roadless federal forest land.

Gov. Dirk Kempthorne says the U.S. Department of Agriculture money shows the federal government is willing to work with states, though critics of the roadless-plan revamp say the amount is so small the effort remains an "unfunded mandate."

On May 5, the Bush administration scrapped a roadless rule imposed by President Clinton in January 2001, a move that opened nearly a third of all remote national forest lands to potential road building, logging and other commercial ventures. The new Forest Service rules have a provision enabling states to petition the agency for changes to existing roadless-area management plans.

Kempthorne has proposed meetings to gather feedback in communities - including those in or near the state's 10 national forests - before sending his petition to the federal government by the Nov. 13, 2006, n deadline.

Only Alaska, with 14 million acres, has more roadless territory than Idaho. Montana ranks third with 6 million acres.

The federal grant will help cut costs for counties and the state "as we work collaboratively to develop an inventoried roadless petition," said Kempthorne, who requested federal assistance in September.

Other states have also gotten money from the federal agency.

Still, conservation groups who criticized the Bush administration to rescind Clinton's roadless protections say the grant is just a "drop in the bucket" compared to what's needed for a meaningful planning process.

"They're doing this really chaotic effort, without direction," said John McCarthy, Idaho forest project manager for The Wilderness Society. "I don't see how $150,000 is going to change the direction of a directionless process."

So far this year, meetings on Kempthorne's prospective roadless revisions have been held in Idaho communities including Cascade, near the Boise and Payette national forests, and Lewiston, not far from the Clearwater National Forest.

Although 9.3 million acres of roadless national forest lands in Idaho are being considered for potential development, Jim Caswell, director of Kempthorne's Office of Species Conservation, has said a much smaller chunk would actually be altered by proposed logging, road building and other projects.

Idaho's plans call for protecting 1.37 million acres as federally designated wilderness, prohibiting road-building on 2.28 million acres and opening 5.66 million acres to some timber harvesting, mining, oil and gas wells and motorized recreation.

Petitions from the states will identify areas that are to remain roadless. They may also include plans to protect public health and safety, cut down on wildfire danger and maintain facilities such as dams and utilities.

Federal officials say the money will help return control of resources to state and local governments. Once Idaho submits its petition and it's accepted, the Forest Service will work to create an individual plan tailored to the state, officials said.

"The Department of Agriculture is committed to working closely with the nation's governors as cooperating agencies in developing regulations specific to the needs and requirements of each state," said Mark Rey, the agency's undersecretary for natural resources and environment.