Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced Aug. 18 that the U.S. Forest Service filed a proposed rule to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which has governed approximately 58 million acres of national forest land for 25 years.
The proposed rescission would represent the most sweeping change to federal forest management policy in a generation, affecting roughly a quarter of all National Forest System land. The Clinton-era rule has restricted road construction and most commercial timber operations on inventoried roadless areas since its adoption.
USDA said the rule has contributed to catastrophic wildfire risk by limiting the agency’s ability to conduct land management activities and access remote areas for fire suppression operations, according to the department’s announcement.
If finalized, the rescission would open those lands to potential logging, energy development, and road construction under new state-by-state environmental review processes. Each state would evaluate management plans for formerly protected roadless areas within its borders.
The proposed rule triggers a public comment period before the department can take final action. Environmental groups are widely expected to mount legal challenges, as they have done with previous attempts to modify the Roadless Rule.
The 2001 rule has survived more than a dozen legal challenges since its adoption under President Bill Clinton. Previous attempts to create state-level exemptions, including a 2005 Bush administration effort, were struck down or withdrawn.
The timber industry and some western state officials have long argued the rule prevents responsible forest management and economic activity. Conservation groups counter that the rule protects some of the last large tracts of undeveloped forest habitat in the lower 48 states.
The Forest Service manages 193 million acres of national forests and grasslands. The 58 million acres covered by the Roadless Rule include watersheds, wildlife corridors, and recreation areas used by millions of Americans annually.