Conservation groups have vowed to fight an injunction U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer ruled in favor of  Wednesday that would open 58 million acres of national forest roadless areas to development.

The injunction is the latest in a series of legal wrangling that began after the Clinton administration enacted the “roadless rule” in 2001.

Brimmer made a similar ruling in 2003, but that decision was subsequently overturned. Brimmer’s latest decision responds to a request by the state of Wyoming to issue a permanent injunction against the rule.

Earthjustice attorney Tim Preso called the injunction disappointing.

“We intend to appeal the decision immediately,” he said from his office in Bozeman, Mont. Officials with The Wilderness Society also said they would take legal action against Brimmer’s injunction.

In separate statements, Trout Unlimited and Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership spokesmen said the rule hurts hunters and anglers by allowing roads and logging in some of the region’s most pristine wildlife habitats and fisheries.

“It’s time for lawyers and judges to quit stomping on the very plain desires of Western hunters and anglers, as well as the elected leaders of a majority of Western states, to protect the places vital to our sporting heritage,” said Dave Glenn, backcountry director for Trout Unlimited’s Public Lands Initiative. “This issue is simple for sportsmen and women — roadless lands offer the best of what’s left when it comes to fish and game habitat in the country, and that translates into the best hunting and fishing.”

“Roadless areas have been shown to provide secure habitat for big game such as elk, mule deer and bighorn sheep and clean water for trout and salmon,” said Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership spokesman Joel Webster. “The 2001 roadless rule remains the best law for managing America’s national forest roadless areas.”