Continuing its homage to the timber, mining and oil industry, the Bush administration on Thursday opened up more than one-third of the nation’s national forests to new road construction.

Governors get 18 months to petition the U.S. Forest Service for more or less protection. The rule change reverses a decision in the waning days of the Clinton administration to put more than 58 million acres of pristine forest land off-limits to roads and commercial activity.

In Maine, Gov. Baldacci has said he will petition for the protection of 6,000 acres of roadless area in the Western Mountains. The land, Baldacci said, is crucial for many of the recreation-based businesses important to Maine’s economy.

Ultimately, it will be up to the Forest Service to make final decisions on the requests to prohibit road construction.

Given the Bush administration’s inclination toward reducing environmental protections, we suspect the deck will be stacked against Baldacci and any other governor hoping to keep roadless rules intact.

In December 2004, the administration did away with the requirements that environmental impact studies be conducted before development in national forests. A year earlier, the president opened the Tongass National Forest for increased logging and development. To this day, the government provides huge subsidies to Tongass timber companies that, according to Taxypayers for Common Sense, will cost more than $1 billion over the next 10 years.

Almost 2 million people contacted the Forest Service last year, asking that the Bush administration uphold rules barring new road construction. They were ignored and still are.