Governors petitioning the federal government to maintain roadless areas in the state will have access to federal monies to conduct research, a Forest Service official said last week.

Mark Rey, undersecretary of the Department of Agriculture, which oversees the U.S. Forest Service, said there is "a couple million to help states with some degree of assistance" with petitions.

While the undersecretary does not expect all 50 states to submit petitions, perhaps a dozen will, he said.

"We think that the exercise of going through this process should be something that a state could do for a couple of hundred thousand on the outside," Rey said in a meeting with the Star-Tribune editorial board Thursday. That number does not include expenses a state might incur from conducting additional public involvement or "due diligence," he said.

And, governors will likely get an extension past the 18-month deadline for submitting petitions if they ask, Rey said. The rule went into effect in May.

The new roadless rule, announced by the Bush administration earlier this year, rolls back the blanket roadless protections a Clinton-era rule put into place. The Clinton rule was challenged by courts and deemed illegal by a Wyoming court. The Bush rules allow for state governors to petition the federal government, asking for certain areas to be maintained as roadless. The federal government then has the final say whether that petition will be upheld.

All that has been unsettling to Gov. Dave Freudenthal. In a July letter to Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns, Freudenthal repeated his concerns, asking how much weight will be given to a state's petition and whether certain criteria will be used to judge a petition.

"To what standard will state petitions be held?" the governor's letter asks. "Against what criteria will the state's petition be judged? Will the criteria be quantitative (how issues are addressed), qualitative (weight given to certain values) or a combination? Will the criteria essentially be the same law and regulations applied to the planning process?"

Freudenthal also asked if a successful petition will take precedence over subsequent forest plans.

"What will be the priority of these petitions amid competing Forest Service priorities? Will the environmental analysis for the rulemaking suffice for any subsequent forest plan amendments, or will additional analysis be required to amend forest plans?" the governor wrote.

Rey declined to answer any of Freudenthal's questions last week, saying he preferred to answer him directly in a forthcoming letter, expected in the next few weeks.

Still, Rey said the governor's questions were "fair," and ones that other governors - "particularly governors of the opposite party" - have asked. He said Democrats may feel "less comfortable" with the process.

And Rey vigorously defended the new roadless rule, saying it was something the Western Governors Association had asked for in 2000. And, he said a history of ineffective and illegal roadless-type rules dating back to the 1960s meant this administration had to try something entirely different.

Rey said his agency has been asked why states would spend time and effort to give input "only to get you to do what you're going to do anyway."

He said governors are free to publicly say the agency is not living up to expectations. But, Rey said, "Why would we do that? It just makes us look bad."

News Tracker

Last we knew: Gov. Dave Freudenthal was skeptical of state involvement in petitioning the federal government for roadless protections.

The latest: Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey said the agency is interested in adopting a new approach and is willing to help states with money for petitions.

What's next: Rey's agency intends to respond to a letter with specific question from Freudenthal in upcoming weeks.

Environmental reporter Whitney Royster can be reached at (307) 734-0260 or at royster@trib.com.