Forest Service Moves to End Roadless Rule, Citing Wildfire Risk
The U.S. Forest Service is proposing to eliminate a 25-year-old rule that limits road construction across millions of acres of national forest, saying the change would give land managers more access to reduce wildfire hazards.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Aug. 18 that it has filed a proposal to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. The rule currently restricts road construction and some timber management activities on more than 44 million acres of the 193-million-acre National Forest System.
USDA officials say those restrictions can make it difficult for crews to reach overgrown forests where thinning, removal of hazardous fuels and other management work could reduce the threat of severe wildfires.
According to the Forest Service, more than 40% of inventoried roadless areas, primarily in the West, have high or very high wildfire hazard potential. However, only about 5% of those areas have received hazardous fuels reduction treatments since 2014.
More than 11 million acres of roadless land are already located near existing roads.
“Our forests can’t afford another decade of inaction,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said. “Across the country, we’ve watched preventable conditions, overgrown stands, insect outbreaks and disease, turn healthy landscapes into tinderboxes.”
Rescinding the rule would not automatically authorize logging or the construction of new roads. Instead, it would remove the nationwide roadless designation and allow individual national forest managers to make decisions about roads, timber treatments and other projects under existing environmental laws and forest management plans.
That could include building temporary or permanent access routes needed to reach areas targeted for thinning or fuels-reduction work.
Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz said improved access would allow managers to address wildfire risks before conditions become more dangerous.
Environmental and wildlife groups oppose eliminating the rule, arguing that additional roads could fragment habitat, affect water quality and disturb species that depend on remote forest areas.
More than 95% of inventoried roadless areas are located in Alaska, Arizona, California, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. National forests in Colorado and Idaho are not included because those states operate under separate roadless regulations.
The Forest Service is accepting public comments on the proposal and its draft environmental impact statement through Sept. 21.
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