National Forests Threatened by Roadless Rule Repeal
The Trump Administration announced last week that it would begin rescinding the rule protecting nearly 59 million acres of roadless areas in the U.S. National Forests. Areas protected under the “roadless rule” include pristine forest areas in North Carolina from the mountains to the coast.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins made the announcement at a meeting of western governors in New Mexico on June 23. Environmental groups immediately announced intentions to challenge the change in court, citing the ecological value of these increasingly scarce roadless areas. President Clinton initiated the roadless rule protections in the 1990s. Both Democratic and Republican administrations have retained them until now.
Pushback from Environmental Groups
“In their latest giveaway to billionaire industry CEOs, the Trump administration announced [June 23] they are rescinding protections for tens of millions of acres of national forests that are home to invaluable ecological, recreational, and cultural resources and opened them up to environmentally disastrous practices such as clear-cut logging,” declared League of Conservation Voters (LCV) Senior Vice President of Government Affairs, Tiernan Sittenfeld. “Over the last three decades, millions of people have weighed in to support this rule, and rescinding it is a major abuse of power from this administration and risks destroying forests that are critical to tackling the climate crisis and providing clean water and air to millions of people. LCV stands with local and Indigenous communities who will be harmed by this decision and continues to fight to protect our treasured lands and forests for our future generations.”
“[The] announcement from USDA Secretary Rollins shows that this administration is completely out of touch with what Americans value in our public lands,” said Sam Evans, who leads the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) National Forests and Parks Program. “People in the Southeast and across the country want a place to get away from the noise and commotion of roads and development. The Roadless Rule promises that our least-developed public lands can be enjoyed by all of us for generations to come without the threat of reckless road building and other destructive projects. Getting rid of it will degrade popular recreation areas, imperil already-rare wildlife, and do long-lasting harm to our national forests as well as the communities and local economies that depend on them.”
Negative Effects in North Carolina
According to the SELC news release detailing the southern forest areas at risk on a state-by-state basis, “North Carolina boasts 172,000 roadless acres, from the mountains to the coast. They include the Pisgah National Forest’s Laurel Mountain roadless area, important to backcountry mountain bikers, and the South Mills roadless area, which is beloved by trout anglers.”
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