JACKSON - A federal official told Gov. Dave Freudenthal this week he expects the state and the federal agency to come to an agreement on roadless areas should Wyoming choose to petition for a certain fate.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Undersecretary for Natural Resources and Environment Mark Rey told Freudenthal in a letter dated Monday that a national committee will review state-submitted petitions for roadless areas, but stopped short of saying what that committee will look for.

"We foresee that each petition will be unique and specific to the management, resources, and other circumstances for inventoried roadless areas in that State; therefore, each petition will be evaluated on its own merits rather than against specific criteria beyond those already provided in the rule," Rey wrote.

And, in answer to Freudenthal's questions submitted to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns in July, Rey said there is no standard to which petitions will be held.

"We expect that the final decision will be one in which the Governor and the Secretary of Agriculture will be in agreement," Rey said.

The governor's office received the letter Wednesday and said it will review it before making comments.

Rey's letter comes after months of questions coming out of the governor's office, asking what new federal guidelines for roadless areas really mean for the state.

In May, the national agency put forth a new policy, striking down a Clinton-era rule identifying areas around the country as roadless. The Bush rule calls on state governors to petition the federal government should they want areas to either retain roadless characteristics, or if they want those protections removed.

If no petition is submitted by a governor, roadless areas will be addressed in specific federal forest management plans in that state.

The federal government can accept or reject a state's petition, prompting Freudenthal to question the purpose and clout of a state petition. In his July letter, the governor repeatedly asked what criteria will be used to judge a petition, and if certain uses carried more weight.

Rey also told Freudenthal a state petition will be generally given top priority amid competing Forest Service priorities.

Divergent expectations

Around the state, different groups have different hopes for the outcome of the roadless issue.

Lisa Dardy McGee with the Wyoming Outdoor Council said if the governor decides to submit a petition, "we hope he would safeguard all roadless areas in Wyoming."

"Our hope is that roadless areas remain roadless," she said. "In the discussion of roadless areas, the true places and their names and importance to people get lost. These are well-known and well-loved places - places where people go to fish and hunt and recreate year after year. There is overwhelming public support not just in Wyoming, but across the country, because there are only so many of these special places left."

But Bruce Hinchey, president of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming, said that as a sportsman and representative of industry, he believes roadless areas prevent access.

"There are areas I believe are roadless now that should never have been designated," Hinchey said, adding there are areas people drove into on roads that are now designated as roadless.

As a sportsman, Hinchey said roadless designation makes areas inaccessible. He said there are plenty of wilderness places in Wyoming, set up that way because of geography.

For industry, Hinchey said, making an area roadless where there are oil and gas reserves "doesn't always make sense."

He said the government made a good step in allowing the roadless decision to be made on a more regional level. And if the governor needs input on where roadless areas should and shouldn't be, "People are willing to help."

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