Imagine thick, green forests as far as the eye can see. Envisage a rich peat bog and a marshland over which rare eagles soar. Elegant orchids grace the landscape; wolves and lynx slink through the shadows.

Now envision a multiple-lane highway running right through it all.

That's the quagmire Poland is in -- the classic dilemma of economic development vs. nature protection.

And time is running out for solving the quandary: possibly endanger the rare species of animals and plants living in the Rospuda Valley, or give up northeast Poland's and the Baltic states' hopes for a link to the EU's urban centers and the economic opportunities that it could bring?

Nature protection laws

The European Commission has given Poland a Wednesday deadline to stop parts of a planned highway called the Via Baltica from being built. The highway is designed to go through areas protected by EU environmental protection laws.

The commission and environmentalists fear that construction of the highway could endanger the rare species of plants and animals living in the Rospuda Valley.

Marta Wisniewska of the Polish branch of the non-governmental organization World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said the construction of the highway and accompanying fences through the nature preserves would cut off essential migratory routes for many mammals in the region. Traffic noise would also scare away birds.

EU ultimatum

The EU Commission says Poland must first provide an official assessment of the environmental impact of the proposed highway and offer alternative routes to the proposed one to be reviewed before building can begin.

If it does not, the commission says Poland is breaking EU law and would be taken to Europe's highest court.

"If Poland fails to respond in a timely and satisfactory manner, the commission will consider taking urgent action and request the European Court of Justice to look at the case and issue an order to suspend work pending a hearing," said EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas.

Should it go that far, the court could also impose heavy fines on Poland and be forced to halt building.

Via Baltica

The roadway would connect Poland to Finland via the Baltic states, connecting Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to Europe's highway network.

The dispute centers, among other things, on approval by Polish authorities to build a 17-kilometer (10-mile) stretch of the highway through the Rospuda Valley. The river valley hosts an ecosystem regarded as the last of its kind in Europe -- home to rare species of flora and fauna. A highway could put that at risk.

The Rospuda Valley is protected by Natura 2000 -- a branch of the EU Directorate-General for the Environment and an ecological network program -- which aims to work with EU member states to protect their most important wildlife areas and species.

"The Polish government has defied EU requests for impact assessment and gone ahead and signed papers for work to start construction," said Barbara Helferrich, European Commission environment spokeswoman.

The proposed highway would also go through two other protected nature areas, which environmentalists and the EU Commission say is unacceptable.

The commission already issued Poland a warning last December for infringing on environmentally protected areas and in April 2006, Natura 2000 took legal action against Poland for failing to protect biodiversity regions.

Ready for battle

Poland says it is prepared to defend itself should the Via Baltica issue go all the way to the European Court of Justice.

"We are ready for that because we are presenting a matter-of-fact, objective and, I think, very detailed argument of our reasons," said Polish Transport Minister Jerzy Polaczek.

Poland's environment minister, Jan Szyszko, approved the plans for the highway’s construction.

Polish officials argue that it would be too expensive to reroute the highway. Also, the planned part of the Via Baltica known as the Augustow bypass is designed to ease the burden on the nearby town of Augustow, which must cope with over 4,000 heavy goods trucks a day.

In addition, the landscape is lined with decrepit rural roads over which all long-distance traffic must pass.

Officials say the Via Baltica connecting Warsaw and Helsinki would boost transport, alleviate Augustow and help the region begin the climb out of out of poverty. Tourist traffic would also help fill regional coffers, they claim.

Environmentalist protests

But that would come at the expense of the natural environment, say the highway's critics. Activists from Greenpeace and other environmental groups have camped out in the forests for weeks, vowing to chain themselves to trees and block road construction work.

The protestors are not necessarily against construction of the highway, but they argue it should run along a different route that would cause less environmental damage. One alternative would be designing the highway to go northwest -- around the nature preserves -- rather than the more northeasterly route right through them.

"Frankly, we just don't understand why Polish officials don't see that as a viable option," said the WWF's Wisniewska.

A battle of wills

One reason could be possible corruption.

In February, Polish President Lech Kaczynski ordered Poland's anti-corruption office to probe into possible wrong-doing in a public tender to a private company called Budimex Dromex for the roadway’s construction.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski -- Lech's brother -- has proposed a referendum to decide the fate of the Rospuda Valley.

Until now, many local residents have supported the construction of the highway because it could cut down on fatal traffic accidents in the area.

However, Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung quoted a recent Polish survey showing that 67 percent are in favor of the longer, more costly route proposed by environmentalists that would bypass the nature preserves.

Helfferich of the European Commission said it's not just up to the Polish to decide.

"It is a unique nature area in Central Europe, and not only belongs to the Polish people, but also to the people of Europe," she said.