Trump administration plans to rescind rule blocking logging on national forest lands

SANTA FE N M AP The Trump administration plans to rescind a nearly quarter-century-old rule that blocked logging on national forest lands Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins reported Monday The roadless rule adopted in the last days of Bill Clinton s presidency in long has chafed Republican lawmakers especially in the West where national forests sprawl across vast mountainous terrain and the logging industry has waned The rule impeded road construction and responsible timber production that would have helped reduce the threat of major wildfires Rollins stated at the annual meeting of the Western Governors Association This move opens a new era of consistency and sustainability for our nation s forests Rollins revealed Scientists say that worsening wildfires are driven by a combination of situation change that warms and dries out forests less logging and decades of fire suppression that has allowed fuels to build up The roadless rule has affected of national forest lands nationwide or about million acres million hectares according to the U S Department of Agriculture the agency over the Forest Function State roadless-area rules in Idaho and Colorado supersede the boundaries of the roadless rule according to the USDA meaning not all national forest land would be affected by a rescission Rollins announcement Monday was a first step in a process to rescind the roadless rule to be followed by a formal notice in coming weeks the Agriculture Department disclosed in a declaration The announcement comes amid modern talk of selling off federal lands in part to improve housing affordability an idea criticized by Democrats as a population land grab Selling general lands drew a mixed reception from governors at the same meeting They expressed enthusiasm for economic expansion and worries about curtailing citizens access to shared lands Speaking to a panel of governors and hotel-ballroom audience Department of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum described a new era of abundance on community lands under President Donald Trump s administration in the enhancement of natural materials including vitality and critical minerals needed for domestic production of cellphones computers and vehicles Outside the hotel entrance in downtown Santa Fe several hundred protesters filled the street to denounce efforts that might privatize federal community lands chanting not for sale and carrying signs that read This land belongs to you and me and keep our population land free for future generations On social media Alaska Gov Mike Dunleavy a Trump ally called the reversal on roadless areas another example of President Trump fulfilling his campaign promise to open up materials for responsible growth The roadless area change meanwhile marks a sharp turnaround from the Biden administration which far from opening up more areas to timber harvesting sought to do more to restrict logging and protect old-growth forests Environmental groups who want to keep restrictions on logging and road-building for places such as Alaska s Tongass National Forest criticized the possibility of rolling back the protections Any attempt to revoke it is an attack on the air and water we breathe and drink abundant recreational opportunities which millions of people enjoy each year havens for wildlife and critical buffers for communities threatened by increasingly severe wildfire seasons Josh Hicks conservation campaigns director at The Wilderness Society reported in a declaration on the USDA s plans Contrary to what Rollins reported about reducing wildfire hazard logging exacerbates situation change and makes wildfires more intense revealed Center for Western Priorities political director Rachael Hamby This is nothing more than a massive giveaway to timber companies at the expense of every American and the forests that belong to all of us Hamby revealed in a comment In Alaska home to the country s largest national forest the Tongass the roadless rule has long been a focus of litigation with state political leaders supporting an exemption to the rule that they argue impedes economic opportunities During the latter part of Trump s first term the federal ruling body lifted restrictions on logging and road-building in the Tongass something the Biden administration later reversed Trump in January called for reverting to the framework from his first term as part of an Alaska-specific executive order aimed at boosting oil and gas growth mining and logging in the state The Tongass is a temperate rainforest of glaciers and rugged coastal islands It provides habitat to wildlife such as bears wolves salmon and bald eagles Bohrer informed from Juneau Alaska Mead Gruver in Cheyenne Wyoming Matthew Daly in Washington D C and Matthew Brown in Helena Montana contributed to this overview Source