In a letter to Gov. Brian Schweitzer, the Jefferson County Commission said it won't request any new roads in roadless areas, but it is asking that closed roads be re-opened.

The letter also strongly recommends federal land management decisions be made at the local level.

The commission will discuss the final draft of its letter at a 1:30 p.m. meeting Tuesday in the Jefferson County Courthouse and then hand deliver it to the governor to meet his March 1 deadline.

Broadwater County commissioners are also drafting a letter to the governor, but declined to make the draft letter or much of its contents public on Friday.

The Broadwater commissioners are expected to finalize their letter at the 10 a.m. Monday commission meeting at the Broadwater County Courthouse.

Both letters are in response to the governor's request to Montana county commissioners last June to list any new roads they would propose on federal roadless land, along with their cost, purpose and environmental impact.

Schweitzer's request to commissioners followed the Bush Administration's repeal of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule in May 2005. At that time, governors were asked for management recommendations of inventoried roadless areas in their state.

Montana is home to 6.4 million acres of inventoried roadless area.

Although Schweitzer asked commissioners to focus their comments solely on road recommendations, rather than land management philosophy, the Jefferson County commissioners list a series of management recommendations.

They contend that land management decisions "need to be made at the local level with local decision making, not just input."

"The economy of our county, and the safety of our residents, and the recreational opportunities of our residents, was in the forefront of our thoughts as we developed this response," the letter states.

Some of the letter's major points include:

- U.S. Forest Service's road maintenance costs could be manageable if they were shared by a large pool of users;

- "let it burn" policies hurt the county economically from lost timber sales and a decline in tourism, and could result in major property damage;

- re-opening closed roads would economically benefit ag producers using grazing allotments; and

- re-opening roads would support mineral exploration and the mining industry.

"The impacts of management decisions in our county that are not made in our county are neither fair nor helpful," the letter states.

While the commissioners recognize that some people do want to access the backcountry by foot or horse and some of these areas should be preserved, that this "is not the case in Jefferson County."

"The resources in our county are ones which are best served through having roads and good access," the letter states. "All of our areas are best managed locally, so that we can consider the special requirements needed in our areas."

Broadwater County Commission Chair Steve McCullough predicts the Broadwater Commission will complete its letter at its Monday meeting.

He said he couldn't comment on whether the letter asks for any new roads or that any closed roads be re-opened.

"We are focusing on those items that have been ignored by the Forest Service," he said.

"I know we were focusing on (the fact that) Montana used to be a heavy resource state with timber and mining industry," he said.

"We're asking that resources in Montana be taken into consideration at the federal level in road decisions and management of federal lands," he said.

Neither commission listed the finalization of their letters on this week's meeting agendas, although both commissions intend to take action.