The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary, Brooke Rollins, announced on June 23 that the department will revoke the 2001 regulation aimed at protecting national forest lands from logging and road construction impacts.
The USDA stated in a press release that the “Roadless Area Rule” implemented during President Bill Clinton’s administration was too restrictive, affecting about 30% of federal forest lands. According to USDA data, the rule limited road construction on nearly 60% of forest lands in Utah and Montana, and in the largest national forest in the U.S., the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, it affected approximately 92% of the land.
The revocation of this regulation will open up nearly 59 million acres of federal forest lands for timber production and wildfire prevention. The department highlighted that 28 million acres of the land are designated as high-risk wildfire areas. Rollins stated, “President Trump once again eliminates these absurd barriers, abolishes overly restrictive rules, allowing us to manage natural resources sensibly. This action opens a more consistent and sustainable new era for our country’s forests.”
This decision is in response to an executive order signed by President Trump aimed at eliminating regulatory burdens on local industries.
Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy welcomed the USDA’s decision. “This further proves that President Trump is fulfilling his campaign promise of developing resources,” Dunleavy wrote on social media. “Thank you to President Trump and Secretary Rollins for continuously revoking unnecessary regulations that stifle economic activities and shift opportunities overseas.”
However, environmental groups criticized the move. Drew Caputo, Vice President of Lands, Wildlife, and Oceans Litigation at Earthjustice, argued that the “Roadless Area Rule” had protected national forests from large-scale logging for over a generation. Revoking the regulation could increase wildfire risks since areas with roads are more susceptible to fires. He also mentioned plans to file a lawsuit.
As of the time of writing, the USDA had not responded to Epoch Times’ request for a comment.
In a memorandum released in April, the USDA authorized over 112 million acres of national forest for logging to increase timber production and reduce wildfire risks. Rollins announced in the memorandum that these national forests, accounting for 59% of the total area, were in a state of emergency due to high wildfire risks and unhealthy forest conditions.
He noted that these national forests were in crisis due to severe wildfires, infestations, species invasions, and other stressors. These threats, combined with forest overgrowth, increased residential developments at the urban-wildland interface, and decades of aggressive fire suppression policies, have led to a “comprehensive wildfire crisis” and a “forest health crisis.”
According to data from the University of California, in 2016, federal agencies, including the USDA Forest Service, the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management, and the National Park Service, owned and managed around 19 million acres, approximately 57% of the 33 million acres of forests in California.