Trump administration plans to rescind rule blocking logging on national forest lands
- On Monday, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins revealed that the Trump administration intends to repeal the 2001 Roadless Rule, which impacts close to 59 million acres of national forest land.
- The 2001 rule, adopted in the final days of Bill Clinton's presidency, halted logging and road construction to protect undeveloped forest areas, but the Trump administration views it as outdated and impeding economic growth.
- Rollins said rescinding the rule will allow local decisions on forest fire prevention and timber production, while opponents warn it threatens air, water, wildlife, and increases wildfire risks.
- About 30% of national forests, including 92% of Alaska’s Tongass and 58% of Montana's roadless areas, are affected by the rule, and Rollins claims it causes a 25% economic decrease in Utah forestry.
- Environmental groups promised legal challenges describing the repeal as a massive giveaway to timber companies, while some Republican lawmakers praised it as fulfilling campaign promises to open resources responsibly.
170 Articles
170 Articles
What the end of the ‘roadless rule’ could mean for Utah’s national forests
The Henderson Canyon inventoried roadless area in Dixie National Forest is pictured on March 1, 2019. (Photo courtesy of Tim Peterson, flown by Lighthawk)The U.S. Department of Food and Agriculture recently announced it would try to roll back the “roadless rule,” a decades-old policy that prevents road construction and logging on nearly 4 million acres of national forest in Utah. Brooke Rollins, the department’s secretary, called the rule “over…
Trump admin plans to rescind ‘roadless rule.’ Here’s what that means for millions of acres of forest across Utah.
As wildfires rage across southern Utah, the Trump administration is looking to remove decades-old protections for millions of acres of forests in a move it says will help prevent such blazes.
ForestWatch: Ending Roadless Rule Imperils Los Padres Forest
In a sweeping rollback of longstanding forest protections, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins has announced the agency’s intent to eliminate the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. The federal safeguard has protected 58 million acres of undeveloped national forest lands from roadbuilding and industrial logging for more than two decades. The move, announced at a meeting of the Western Governors’ Association this week, threatens vast tracts…
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