n August 18, Donald Trump’s United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) officially proposed eliminating the national Roadless Rule. If finalized, the repeal would strip protections from 44.7 million acres of wild intact forest.
The rule, passed in 2001, protects in total 58 million acres of forest from road building, logging, fossil fuel extraction, and other development. Forests in Idaho and Colorado, which have their own state roadless laws, would be exempt, at least for now.
The USDA, which oversees the U.S. Forest Service, initially gave the public only 30 days to comment on the plan. They were forced after public pressure to allow 15 additional days, until October 6. Opponents are aiming to mobilize 1 million public comments during this short period, as well as sponsoring public events speaking out against the repeal.
One hundred and eighty environmental, conservation, and citizen’s groups have been joined by tribes, sportsmen, wildland firefighters, and businesses dedicated to tourism, in submitting a joint public comment or otherwise speaking out against this decision. A letter in support of the Roadless Rule and opposing recission has been signed by 164 congressional representatives.
The recission is “the largest evisceration of public lands protection in American history,” according to Randi Spivak, public lands policy director at the Center for Biological Diversity. Spivak told Truthout the Roadless Rule shelters “hundreds of threatened and endangered species. It provides incredible recreation opportunities — hunting, fishing, hiking. These were really the last of the forests outside of wilderness that had not been opened up to industrial development.”
