Trump administration moves ahead to rescind rule that protects national forests, open them up for logging

Trump administration plans to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, lifting restrictions on logging and mining in national forests. This change aims to empower local managers to improve forest health, despite concerns about increased wildfire risks and impacts on ecosystems.A sign gives directions to the Bridger-Teton National Forest on Sept. 19, 2021 in Wyoming. (AP)The Trump administration announced Tuesday it is moving ahead with plans to rescind a quarter-century-old rule that blocked logging, road building and other development on national forest lands. The proposed rule filed by the US Forest Service would rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which bans logging, road construction, and mining in undeveloped forests, and transfer authority to local national forest managers, according to a press release from the Department of Agriculture.Roadless Area Conservation RuleThen-President Bill Clinton had signed the rule to safeguard undeveloped national forest land from commercial logging and mineral leasing, to keep ecosystems pristine and protect water supplies. The Roadless Rule limits development on nearly 59 million acres of forest, about 30% of the National Forest System.The agency described the Clinton-era rule as a one-size-fits-all restriction that has frustrated land managers and served as a barrier to reducing wildfire risks in the nation’s forests.“Our forests can’t afford another decade of inaction. Across the country, we’ve watched preventable conditions — overgrown stands, insect outbreaks and disease — turn healthy landscapes into tinderboxes,” US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a statement.According to the Associated Press, Rollins said the Trump administration’s proposal calls for restoring authority to local forest managers and removing barriers that have kept them from improving forest health across millions of acres.The Trump administration first announced its intention to get rid of the 2001 rule during a meeting last summer in New Mexico, even as environmental groups opposed the move, arguing that it would increase wildfire risk.Environmentalists warn of more wildfiresThe US is suffering one of its worst years for wildfires, with 7.3 million acres burned in around 49,000 fires through August 17, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.Scientists say that worsening wildfires are driven by a combination of climate change that warms and dries out forests, less logging and decades of fire suppression that has allowed fuels to build up.Environmentalists have been sounding the alarm since then and reiterated Tuesday that lifting protections would have detrimental effects for old growth forests, wildlife and water supplies.“Americans across the political spectrum have made it crystal clear that they don’t want political appointees removing protections from public lands,” said Chris Krupp, an attorney with the group WildEarth Guardians. “It would be a gross misreading of public sentiment to take the roadless rule away from Americans and our wildlife, and politicians do so at their jeopardy.”During the latter part of Trump’s first term, the federal government lifted restrictions on logging and road-building in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, something the Biden administration later reversed.Emma Powell, the Alaska Wilderness League's government affairs manager, described the Tongass as a global treasure that serves as a home for salmon runs and abundant wildlife. She added that cultures and livelihoods are connected to the forest.“From fisheries to tourism and outdoor recreation, these landscapes also support thousands of jobs and generate billions in economic activity each year,” Powell was quoted as saying by AP.David Jenkins, president of the Virginia-based nonprofit Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship, criticized the proposal as fiscally irresponsible and pointed to an existing maintenance backlog that stretches into the billions of dollars.“The agency doe