A masterful analysis of the ugly truth behind Forest Service policy sausage-making offers many lessons for future land management lobbying.

Ray Ring’s exhaustive review of the ongoing federal roadless rule battle, just published at WyoFile, is a must-read for environmental proponents and foes alike. Ring adeptly avoids the emotionally-pitched ephemera of countless roadless rule stories and provides a rarely reported, insider look at the high stakes game being waged in the halls of Congress and mountain state communities.

But a closer look reveals things that the environmentalists might rather keep under wraps. The details behind the making of the rule, along with the PR campaign, demonstrate how all interest groups — from liberal enviros to libertarian Tea Partiers — carry out their goals using a mix of idealism, cynicism and brute-force politics.

Go. Read it. Now.