The trees may continue to grow. The birds sing. The deer to walk down trails and drink from streams sparkling from leaf-filtered sunbeams.

The Jefferson National Forest, just down Interstate 77 in Virginia, is a testament to the beauty found in America’s woodlands.

Last week, the first step was taken to protect it for our children and grandchildren — and their children.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns agreed last Wednesday to develop regulations for limiting development in more than 380,000 acres of undeveloped roadless land in this forest and the George Washington National Forest, as well as others in North Carolina and South Carolina.

While many believe national forests are protected from timbering and other development, that hasn’t been the case since last year.

In 2005, the Bush administration repealed a 2001 regulation that banned most development of wilderness areas nationwide. In its place, a process was implemented requiring states to petition for the amount of protection they desired.

Virginia’s leaders did just that.

Former Gov. Mark Warner petitioned the USDA in December 2005, “requesting the initiation of a state-specific rulemaking to address the management of inventoried roadless areas.”

And a few months later in March, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine asked that the U.S. Forest Service manage Virginia’s roadless areas according to the terms of the national 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which prohibited new road building in these natural areas unless necessary for public health and safety.

The acceptance of the petition is indicative of the potential for the Bush administration and individual states to work together to protect key woodlands.

“We’ve always been green,” Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey told the Associated Press after the announcement. “We’ve just haven’t gotten credit for it.”

Rey said they hoped this action would show states across the country the administration is willing to work with them.

We hope so.

We have always believed advantageous results can be brought about through cooperation and unity.

In the East, Virginia has the most roadless acreage of any state, with these remote areas of publicly owned national forest — 22 percent of the state’s national forest — providing outdoor recreation and a home for wildlife.

They are also vital for tourism.

“I believe that, by moving toward the more balanced management of these areas envisioned under the 2001 rule, these roadless areas will continue to provide vibrant wildlife habitat, outstanding recreation opportunities, and clean drinking water for Virginians, now and into the future,” Kaine said. “I look forward now to working with the Forest Service to develop rules that will achieve the strongest, long-term protection of the maximum amount of undeveloped acreage in our national forests.”

The overwhelming support for Virginia’s roadless areas by its residents — 90,000 sent comments to the Forest Service asking for full protection — indicate how important these undisturbed scenic tracts are to the people of the Commonwealth. We encourage Virginia and the administration to continue working together to keep the state’s roadless forests pristine and safe from development.(bdtonline.com)