In South Carolina, about 4,000 of the 622,081 acres of national forest land would be open to new roads and logging under the new federal guidelines, if Gov. Mark Sanford petitions for it.

Sanford is still analyzing the guidelines, but he has a bias toward protecting those types of pristine areas, said spokesman Will Folks.

Building new roads is expensive, and timber companies in 2003 cut only one-fifth of what is allowed on areas of Sumter and Francis Marion national forests that already have roads.

The issue is more important in North Carolina, where 142,000 acres could be opened for roads and logging under the new guidelines.