The Trump administration has proposed ending decades-old protections for nearly 45 million acres of wilderness in national forests, paving the way for logging and road building on the land.
Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced on Tuesday that the U.S. Forest Service has filed a proposed rule to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, arguing it is a “one-size-fits-all restriction” that has limited wildfire risk-reduction work.
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The proposal would repeal the 2001 “roadless rule,” which was enacted in the final days of the Clinton administration. The rule prohibits road building and logging on roughly 59 million acres of national forest land. The Trump administration has argued that the rule has prevented wildfire prevention work from occurring.
“For too long, outdated restrictions have kept tens of millions of forested acres off-limits to the very treatments that improve forest health and reduce wildfire risk to our communities,” Rollins said in a press release.
There is conflicting evidence about whether logging can prevent wildfires. Some research suggests that forest thinning can slow down the spread of wildfires by making natural firebreaks, and that roads can improve firefighters’ access. Other research indicates that wildfires are more likely to start near roads and that tree removal can create hotter and drier conditions, increasing wildfire risk.
Roadless land makes up about 30% of all national forest land, totaling nearly 60 million acres. The proposal would affect about 44.7 million acres, as Idaho and Colorado have their own regulations that take precedence over the federal rule.
More than 95% of inventoried roadless areas are in 10 Western states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. For decades, Western states have experienced increased wildfire risks due to longer, more intense heatwaves and droughts.
Gov. Mark Gordon (R-WY) said in a press release that “Proper management includes an opportunity to keep our forests healthy and less prone to fire dangers. Wyoming has demonstrated our commitment to sensible stewardship.”
Conservationists and green groups vocally opposed the administration’s move to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule, warning that it would threaten the national forests’ undistributed wildlife.
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“For 25 years, the Roadless Rule has kept our wildest forests intact. The benefits have been incalculable for people, for water, for wildlife, and for the climate,” Earthjustice President Abigail Dillen said in a statement.
“Now, the Trump administration wants to gut the rule and open up 45 million acres of roadless forest to clear-cutting and other harmful development enabled by roading,” Dillen added. “Scientists, wildland firefighters, and hundreds of thousands of Americans have fiercely opposed this attack on our public lands. Earthjustice has successfully defended the Roadless Rule for a quarter century, and we are not going to stop now.”
