The regulation is supported by logging, energy and mining companies, which need to build roads to operate in federal forests.

Green groups and Democratic lawmakers said the proposal was a complete reversal of a 2001 rule developed by former President Bill Clinton that would have kept these forests under federal control.

"The minute this rule is put into effect, the 2001 rule as we all know it is wiped off the books. Federal protections are gone," said Robert Vandermark, director for the Heritage Forests Campaign. "These lands are now at immediate risk to any kind of development from the logging, mining and drilling industries."

Signed just days before leaving office, the Clinton rule virtually halted development on 58.5 million acres of federal forest deemed worthy of special protections to save endangered species or local habitats from irreversible damage.

Under the new rule, governors have 18 months to submit a request to the federal government for any forest land they want protected. A national advisory committee composed of groups "interested in conservation" will review each petition.

The Forest Service, a division of the US Agriculture Department, first proposed the current plan in July.

"The reality on the ground tomorrow will remain the same as it was yesterday," said Mark Rey, the US Agriculture Department's undersecretary of natural resources. "These areas will remain protected ... and that will continue to be so as we move ... to develop state specific rules," he said.

The controversial Clinton rule has been the subject of nine lawsuits since its adoption, mostly from western states where the vast majority of the land is located. Boise Cascade Co., a major paper products company, also was involved in litigation.

Rey said the Clinton rule faced, "at best, an uncertain legal future" and would be mired in litigation that prevented it from being implemented effectively.

A 2001 decision by an Idaho federal judge halted the plan, but it was later overturned by the 9th Circuit Court in San Francisco. The rule also was blocked by a Wyoming federal judge and has been appealed to the 10th Circuit Court in Denver, which heard arguments this week.

"Early in his presidency, the Bush Administration announced their support for President Clinton's roadless rule," said Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the US House Democratic leader.