WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Forest Service is taking its next steps in repealing the 2001 Roadless Rule, announcing Tuesday that it has filed a proposed rule to rescind the 25-year-old rule in its entirety.
The agency has taken progressive steps towards that goal since its initial announcement to rescind the rule in June of last year.
The Roadless Rule, established in 2001, has prohibited new roads and industrial logging on around 58 million acres of National Forest System lands. Conservation groups attribute the rule to protecting environmental resources, habitats and recreational experiences. The rule also keeps the areas open for recreational activities, such as climbing, hiking, mountain biking, paddling, and backcountry skiing.
These areas constitute a combined 80,000-plus acres on the Tahoe National Forest and the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit forest, according to maps on the Forest Service’s website.
The U.S. Forest Service’s reason for the repeal is to remove regulatory burdens that they say have frustrated land managers and served as a barrier to wildfire risk-reduction work across the designated areas due to restrictions on road construction.
“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,” said Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. “For too long, outdated restrictions have kept tens of millions of forested acres off-limits to the very treatments that improve forest health and reduce wildfire risk to our communities.”
The service also says that repealing the action will place decisions about roadless areas in the hands of local national forest managers.
In the Tuesday announcement, the service said rescission removes the national designation on roadless areas but does not mandate timber cutting or road construction, which are concerns expressed by opposing parties.
Although the announcement explicitly states it does not mandate timber cutting, the announcement also states the rescission aligns with multiple Executive Orders, including Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production (Executive Order 14225), and Unleashing American Energy (Executive Order 14154), as well as others.
Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter has opposed the rescission from the start and has conducted a town hall to collect input on the decision. In response to Tuesday’s announcement, the chapter’s Executive Director Olivia Tanager said.
“The Tahoe region is one of the clearest examples of why the Roadless Rule matters. From the forests surrounding Desolation Wilderness to the roadless lands throughout the Lake Tahoe Basin, these protections safeguard some of the Sierra Nevada’s most important remaining wild forests, clean water sources, wildlife habitat and backcountry recreation opportunities.
“Rolling back the Roadless Rule puts these places at greater risk of new roads and industrial logging, while doing nothing to address the root causes of catastrophic wildfire. In Tahoe, where protecting water quality and the Lake itself is a shared priority, keeping intact forests standing is critical to protecting the watersheds and ecosystems that sustain this region.
“Roadless areas are places that communities and visitors rely on for clean water, recreation, wildlife and a healthy forest ecosystem. Sierra Club will fight this rescission tooth and nail to protect roadless forests and Tahoe and beyond.”
The U.S. Forest Service has filed a draft environmental impact statement along with the proposed rule to rescind, which was filed Tuesday in the Federal Register, and is seeking public input. To comment on the proposed rule and draft environmental impact statement, go to Regulations.gov. Public comments must be received by midnight on Sept. 21. Information will be available Aug. 19 on the Forest Service Roadless Areas webpage.
