State officials have not decided whether to petition the U.S. Forest Service to continue roadless protection for any specific areas, but Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. said in a statement the Bush administration's decision gives governors the opportunity to work cooperatively to determine the best management for the forests.

“This rule gives great flexibility to governors to respond on a forest-by-forest basis,” Michael Styler, director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources, said in a statement. “It also allows the needs and concerns of local communities to be addressed.”

The roadless areas in Utah that had been protected under the Clinton-era rule include parts of the Uinta Mountains, Boulder Mountain in Dixie National Forest, the LaSal Mountains near Moab and the Abajo Mountains near Blanding.

“They're places that Utahns know and love that very well could be negatively affected by this decision,” said Lawson LeGate, the southwest regional representative for the Sierra Club. “Nobody's going to give up protecting our wild forests. We can't be taken backward by this decision by the Bush administration and the timber interests. We can't let that happen.”

Brian Hawthorne, public lands director with the off-road advocacy group Blue Ribbon Coalition, said the term "roadless area" suggests it is pristine forest, but in many cases trails and mechanized paths snake through the forests to areas popular for camping and off-road use.

Hawthorne said the areas should be managed on a case-by-case basis according to individual forest plans, rather than with a one-size-fits-all national policy.

Some forest areas should be open for recreation while some deserve protection and others need to be treated for insect and disease outbreaks or to prevent fires, said Utah Rep. Chris Cannon's spokesman, Charles Isom.

“These decisions are best made at the local level, not by the government in Washington,” Isom said.