The Trump administration announced plans Monday to roll back a conservation rule that has protected nearly 60 million acres of undeveloped national forest land for over 20 years 鈥 a decision that has triggered strong opposition from environmental advocates and conservationists.
The proposed changes would pave the way for expanded logging and road construction in some of the country鈥檚 most pristine wilderness, The Washington Post reported Monday.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins revealed that the administration is initiating efforts to repeal protections covering approximately 59 million acres of roadless forest, including a significant portion of Alaska鈥檚 Tongass National Forest 鈥 a nearly 9-million-acre expanse of old-growth wilderness, per the Post. Rollins made these remarks while speaking before a gathering of Western governors in New Mexico.
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Meanwhile, environmental advocates have swiftly denounced the move and vowed legal action against it.
If finalized and upheld in court, the rollback would eliminate safeguards on around 30% of the National Forest System. According to the Agriculture Department, this includes more than 90 percent of Tongass, one of the planet鈥檚 largest remaining temperate rainforests.
In a statement highlighted by the Post, the department 鈥 home to the U.S. Forest Service 鈥 labeled the Roadless Area Conservation Rule 鈥渙utdated.”
The statement went on to say that it 鈥済oes against the mandate of the USDA Forest Service to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation鈥檚 forests and grasslands.鈥
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Chris Wood, chief executive of the conservation group Trout Unlimited, told the Post the administration鈥檚 decision 鈥渇eels a little bit like a solution in search of a problem.鈥
鈥淭here are provisions within the roadless rule that allow for wildfire fighting,鈥 Wood said. 鈥淢y hope is once they go through a rulemaking process, and they see how wildly unpopular and unnecessary this is, common sense will prevail.鈥
Drew Caputo, vice president of litigation for lands, wildlife and oceans at Earthjustice, told The Post: 鈥淭he roadless rule has protected 58 million acres of our wildest national forest lands from clear-cutting for more than a generation.”
鈥淭he Trump administration now wants to throw these forest protections overboard so the timber industry can make huge money from unrestrained logging,” he added.
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Originally implemented in the late 1990s under former President Bill Clinton, the roadless rule was developed to preserve increasingly rare undeveloped areas in national forests. Environmental groups have long viewed these lands as crucial habitats for wildlife threatened by expanding development and industrial-scale logging operations.