Gilbert ruled that all activities having an environmental impact on the forest be halted and any such activities proposed in the future be subject to the examination of environmental groups.

Gilbert said this arrangement will continue for two to three years while the U.S. Forest Service rewrites or amends its management plan for the Shawnee.

We are pleased with Gilbert’s decision.

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The current plan, which was last amended in 1992, has had more than its share of difficulties. There has consistently been debate and protest over commercial logging, all-terrain-vehicle use and the quality of environmental impact studies while the existing pan has been used a guide to manage the forest.

These clashes are not unique to the Shawnee nor will they be eliminated by redoing the forest’s management plan. Gilbert rightfully noted that pleasing all the groups with an interest in the forest would take the wisdom of King Solomon.

What Gilbert’s ruling will accomplish, however, is opening the line of communication between people who are concerned about protecting the forest and the people who are responsible for constructing a plan to manage the Shawnee.

This communication is vital to streamline the management of the Shawnee. Without input from environmental groups, disagreements over management would prompt more divisiveness and possibly more lawsuits in the future.

We commend members of the Sierra Club and the Regional Association of Concerned Environmentalists for initiating the suit in 1992. Their perseverance through years of litigation and disappointments, such as the logging of Cripps Bend, is a great illustration of the never-give-up philosophy.

Members of these two groups are not the only people who deserve gratitude, however. Scores of people from different grass-roots organizations have sacrificed their time and livelihood to save the Shawnee. They all deserve and have our thanks.

Another benefit of the decision is the time environmental groups will have to inform politicians and citizens of their concerns about the forest because they will not have to focus their attentions on what they perceive as immediate threats to the forest. This will result in a deeper examination of how the forest should be managed.

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Gilbert’s ruling also protects the forest until a new plan is negotiated. Commercial logging, ATV use and oil and gas leases will not be allowed until a new plan is in place. Any other activity that may have an impact on the environment must undergo the scrutiny of environmental groups.

We believe this is appropriate because it ensures that the forest will not be damaged while the plan is being developed.

To some advocates of commercial use of the forest this may seem like a hard-line approach to protecting the forest. Such measures are needed because taking a softer approach would pose too great a risk of damage to the forest. Without a plan to guide decisions regarding use of the forest, more care must be taken to ensure its safety.

Gilbert’s ruling Friday secures the development of a long-range plan that will be made under the scrutiny of people who have devoted much of their lives to protecting the forest. The Shawnee deserves no less.