Under court rules, the Bush administration had until last Friday to appeal the Wyoming judge's injunction but did not do so. A spokesman with the U.S. Department of Justice declined to comment.

The Clinton plan aimed to prevent road construction and the removal of oil and lumber in 58.5 million acres of federal forest land, unless needed for environmental reasons or to reduce the risk of wildfires.

National Environmental Trust, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group and others said the refusal of the administration to challenge the Wyoming injunction was proof President Bush had no intention to back the rule despite overwhelming support by the public.

"At every turn this administration has sought cover for its intentions to gut the roadless rule, and now it is hiding behind an adverse district court decision, rather than defending the law of the land," said Robert Vandermark, co-director of the Heritage Forests Campaign.

A May 2001 decision by an Idaho federal judge also halted the Clinton plan. Green groups criticized the administration for failing to challenge that injunction. The Idaho case was later overturned by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Bush administration has instead proposed a measure that would give governors in most states the ability to apply for an exemption to conduct thinning projects under "exceptional circumstances" such as a wildfire.

The Forest Service, a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, did not return calls seeking comment.