Colorado bucked acceptance of a federal roadless rule on National Forest land in large part to ensure that coal mines would be able to expand, preserving mining jobs in the process.

The North Fork coal mining exception was included in the state’s petitions for rulemaking to give the state some flexibility that the 2001 rule wouldn’t allow. Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper’s administration has supported the exemption as part of its mantra of balancing environmental impacts with economic benefits – especially for a beleaguered area of the state.

We might have expected Hickenlooper to endorse a Bureau of Land Management proposal to approve a royalty rate reduction for a tricky coal seam at the West Elk mine near Somerset. But he’s painted himself into a corner with two powerful brushstrokes.

Read more at The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.